Beyond Phototips

You’re an aspiring photographer or amateur photographer and want to show the world, or maybe just your relatives what you can do with a  camera and some good ol’ light. But where’s that brilliant photograph in which you’ve managed to time the shot just perfectly? Lost in the quagmire of shots that didn’t make the cut? Here’s one small tip with an illustration to help you out.

As a practice, I never used to carry more than two rolls of film on any photo shoot when I used to shoot on film. With digital, however, I’ve become a bit more careless and have found myself shooting around 200 frames on a reasonably long shoot.

At a recent photowalk, I decided to restrict myself just for the sake of old times, to seventy two frames (or two rolls of film. For those of you who don’t remember, film comes in cassettes of 24 frames and 36 frames, unless you buy some kinds of speciality film). I managed to restrict myself to around 100 frames, but I did find that I was actually watching my framing more carefully.

Here, I’m going to be sharing all the photographs that I took on that day. The shots that didn’t make it into my flickr stream as well as the ones that did make it (some that made it were included purely for sentimental reasons and not any aesthetic value).

[Show as slideshow]

Please do note that the pictures above are straight out of the camera and have not been processed at all. What I want you to notice is the promise of a good photograph, or the absence there-of. As you can see, I’ve milked the whole batch of photographs for all that they’re worth, and then went a bit further… with all that, and digital post production, I’ve manage to turn only 10% of the photographs that I took into pieces that may reasonably be put onto people’s walls.

These photographs would never have seen the light of day if events didn’t conspire to bring this post to you today. Everyone would only have seen the pictures you see below (also on my flickr page).

What to show

What to show

What to show

What to show

What to show

What to show

What to show

What to show

What to show

See the difference?

Conclusion

So what is the intention of this long-winded un-necessarily dramatic post? The intention is to show you that you don’t have to post every single photograph that you take. I throw away 90% of my photographs, and I urge you to do the same. Well, not just to throw away 90% of your photos because I say so, but to realise that only some of them have potential and recognise them for what they are: some of your best photographs.

Go through your flickr collections, your family album, your photo drawer and throw the bad pictures away. They’re the ones you don’t show off your photography skills that have bad composition, lighting and telephone poles sticking out of uncle Joe’s head.

By all means, keep the ones that have sentiment attached, but do throw out the ones with bad composition or the ones where big uncle Ben’s butt was stuck in the lens. They’re not going to help show off your photography skills by any means.

I’d love you to share any experiences that you’ve had where a bad selection of photographs have come back later to haunt you. Even otherwise, a nice word wouldn’t hurt.

This is a guest post written by Aarathi Edward, an avid photographer and media relations expert. She is totally in love with the film dark-room and has, at my behest, consented to share the magic that she experienced when first introduced to the gloomy, un-illuminated side of photography.

Photo: WhiskygonebadThe first time I really took notice of a photograph was when I was about 8 or 9 and my Dad had taken a picture of my sister sitting on a tree. Looking at it, you could make out just what kind of person my sister is - prim and proper (even then – on a tree; aged 12 or 13) and always responsible.

I later found another one he had taken when we were much younger. This was also a posed photograph; not much scope for creativity – and yet, he managed to catch the little imp dancing in my eyes with the mischievous tilt of the head and the responsible, seriousness that always was my older sister (she has lightened up a lot in the last 5 years though). One glance at this picture and you knew which kid was the brat and which one the good child.

I think you get by now what I’m driving at. It always amazed me how just one static, two dimensional 5×8 frame could tell so much. Dad’s old Yashica range-finder was hallowed and we were never old enough or responsible enough to ever touch it… So I was thrilled when, in the second year of college we had a whole year devoted to the study of photography. This was when I discovered how to develop film… and began believing in Magic!

Photo: Violator3It kinda dragged in the beginning when we had to sit in class, look at the camera and learn the physics behind it when we were itching to load up and go clicking! Though appreciated a lot more now, it was with great delight that we finally abandoned our books to replace them with the third hand Pentax that the college loaned us. Armed with this and all the black n white film our allowances could buy, my classmates and I were off to make our pictures speak a thousand words.

The golden triangle, the rule of thirds, leading lines, depth of field, perspectives… everything we’d learnt so far had to be brought to life through that tiny viewfinder. Every curved corridor and staircase was photographed to death; every flower had its insides examined in great detail; every single arrangement of stationary, fruits, pretty glassware… Finally when all our rolls were exhausted, we were lead in groups of six to the dark room!

Photo: galo/*The boys were delighted at the opportunity to scare the living daylights out of the girls. The girls were apprehensive about wrecking their carefully manicured nails. I, being the most claustrophobic person I know, just wanted to get out! Not wanting to ruin the film and be made to start over again on a fresh one, I strained to remember everything I’d learnt on those boring afternoons at my desk. To my great surprise, I realized I actually had paid attention. The chemistry was taking over!

The only perfectly developed roll of film of my batch was my reward. The compliments of the faculty and the jealousy of the classmates helped me forget some of the claustrophobia and I was eager to get on with the printing process.

Photo: PujaThe next day I wrangled a spot in the first group so I wouldn’t have to use someone else’s used developer. The icy cold of the water mixed with the crystals made me a little skeptical; for some reason creating images always felt more like a warm process, full of energy. Anyway, we got the machine set up and the tubs filled with chemicals and water. The negative was slipped in place and the photo paper was taken out of its cover. Every single eye was on the timer.

Suddenly you could cut the silence with a knife. As the photo paper was exposed and then immersed in the developing solution, there was not a sound in the room. It was as if the whole bunch of us had stopped breathing. And then it appeared. MAGIC!

I knew immediately that I was hooked for life. I don’t have my own dark room yet; I just hope they still sell B&W film when I do!

Susheel’s Recommended DarkRoom Books and Tools on Amazon.com

The first rule of holding your camera is that it should be steady. This will ensure that you get sharper pictures in lower lighting situations, and that your pictures are sharper in general.

If you’re using a dSLR, put your left hand below, supporting the base of the camera, with the index finger and thumb positioned to adjust focus/zoom. Support your left elbow with your chest and grip the camera body firmly with your right hand, positioning your right index finger above the shutter release.

Posture is important too. Stand firm and erect with your feet spread apart a bit. Do not lean forward, this will make your stance unsteady. Standing straight and with good posture will also reduce strain on your back, especially if you’re carrying a lot of gear.

Do you have other tips on how to hold your camera? Drop ‘em in the comments.

One particular post didn’t make it to Beyond Phototips when we moved over from Photography Tip. I think it makes sense to re-post it here for the benefit of all those who missed out.

If you’re one of those who’s already read this post, why don’t you join in the fun? Add a tip in the comments; I’m sure we’ll all be able to learn something. Now, here’s the post:

Here are some thoughts that I’ve had while shooting on assignment during the last 2-3 months…

1. Make a checklist…
2. Check the checklist to make sure you’ve got everything you need.
3. Check that you’ve checked the checklist. Remember Santa… He made lists too…
4. Always take more equipment than necessary for the shoot.
5. Having someone on hand to assist you, and make sure that you have the equipment where you want it, and make sure you don’t leave anything behind is a great thing. Take a friend along if nobody else.
6. Stay Professional.
7. Stay Funny. It keeps people smiling, and your models pliant.
8. Things will go wrong. When they do, breathe deeply, think of the problem and figure out how to fix or bypass it.
9. Keep the Client satisfied, this may mean that you’ll have to take pictures that you wouldn’t take if you were shooting by yourself… Take them anyway…
10. Make sure you get the shots you want, even if they’re the ones that client said no to… they may actually like them!
11. Remember to have fun… if you’re not having fun, then you’ve got to change something.
12. Plan the entire shoot out.
13. Make a list of shots that you need to take, put down the additional ones to (the ones you think the client may not like, but think that you need to take anyway)
14. Get to the location on time.
15. If you can’t be there on time, blame it on the complexity of the job at hand and the tough choices you’ve had to make when it came to equipment selection.
16. Don’t blame the traffic, most likely your client got there the same way that you did.
17. If you find yourself shooting for one client while you’re supposed to be at another client’s location shoot, do the same as point 2. But remember to finish off the assignment at hand to the client’s satisfaction first.
18. Remember not to take on rush jobs in the first place. They can quickly get messy and will most likely entail more work than you thought they would.

There are a lot more where these came from, but I’d like to hear from you… do you have anything you’d like to add?

We hit 1000 subscribers a couple of times last month. But RSS feed subscription numbers are not absolute. They fluctuate often, sometimes going down, sometimes going up, based on daily feed views (not acutal subscriptions); so I preferred to err on the side of caution before making this announcement!

I decided to use the benchmark of 1000 subscribers over a period of one week; and we just managed to achieve that with your help (8 days now, actually)!

Wow, I’m thrilled about your support! For a blogger who does not post all that often, you’ve shown me a great deal of it. Thank you!

With a Little Help From my Friends

Through our transition from Photography Tip to Beyond Phototips, I’ve had some support from some wonderful bloggers, Brian Auer from Epic Edits Weblog and Umesh Gopinath from Whitespace have been a continual source of motivation. There are others too, but too numerous to mention, and some without a blog for you to check out… However, If you’re one of them, you know…

The graph below shows the steady increase in RSS subscriptions from when Beyond Phototips used to be Photography Tip till the 6th of May, 2008.

The large jump that you see from around 230 subscribers to around 550 subscribers in November 2007 is mainly attributed to Brian’s post about his favourite photography blogs and their RSS feeds.

You’ll find Beyond Phototips listed there at 31 under the name “Photography Tip“. This was before we moved from the blogger platform to an independent domain. BTW, Brian’s site comes up as a “Highly Recommended RSS” addition to your feed reader.

Whats coming…

My work as a Web Designer / Photographer does not give me much time to write for Beyond Phototips, but it is enormously encouraging to see this kind of support for whatever little that I do write. I suppose its also a good reason to try to make some more time in my schedule to write a bit more.

I’m going to take this opportunity to let you all know that I’m working on a new series of posts that I hope will be revealing to some, and engaging for all of you. What is it about? Check your feed reader one of these days, and you’ll find out!

Thanks for the great times so far, but I’m curious to see where this goes in the future. I hope you choose to stick around for the ride!

About RSS Feeds

If you’re wondering what all the fuss is about RSS subscribers, here are a couple of links to help you out, also do remember to come back and subscribe to the Beyond Phototips RSS feed, once you’re done. You could also sign up to receive our posts in your email.

• RSS in Plain English (Recommended Video)
  
• Getting Started with RSS

Also, do remember that your feedback means a lot to me. If you ever want to request a post about a particular topic, do leave a note in the comments, shoot me a mail (at susheel <at> beyondphototips.com) or catch me online at my twitter account. While I cant promise that I will write about it, I certainly will try to fill that request.

If you know what you like to shoot and what you are really good at Photographing, you also have to know the kind of photography in which you can make money. Identify branches of photography where you need to develop your Photographic talent to enable you to make money to sustain a career in photography.

The area where you make money, may not be the branch of photography dearest to your heart! When you make enough money … you can shoot to your hearts desire!

Happy Shooting…

Waiting is difficult to put up with in today’s fast paced world. There’s a tonne of things to learn out there, and we’d never get to learn all we want to learn, or do all that we want to do if we sat around waiting - doing nothing in that time.

But what of those times where you’ve found yourself forced to wait, with nothing to do but to twiddle your thumbs; like when you’re waiting for a bus, a train, or an airplane that’s delayed? Could you use this time to improve your photography, instead of letting your brain cells die a boring death?

Well lets say, you’re waiting for a bus, or waiting for a table at your favourite lunch spot. You don’t have your handy-dandy pocket book, and you’ve left your work at the workplace (a handy place to leave it). You do have your cell phone though, and your phone does have a camera. How handy! Here are a couple of things to do with your cell phone, to improve your eye for photographs, and make you a better photographer!

1. Try Impossible angles: Camera Phones fit in your hand… Your hand fits in places where your head would never go.. Use your hand.

Try putting your hand in a large jar; what does it see? Raise your hand out of your car window, hold it out of your bedroom window, hold it near your skates when you’re skating, hold it 3 feet out of a balcony and look down; you’re likely to find a whole new world, and its all in your hands…

2. Go Abstract: Try to find the unusual in the usual. This is one of those times to “see” the unusual. Many of us try to pick out the unusual only when we’re with a camera - in “camera mode”. Wouldn’t it be more fun if you could do that all the time, now that your cameraphone is with you, in your pocket?

Look for that abstract representation… bubbles in a paperweight, Streaks of coloured light on a wall, Markings on a road taken out of context, they’re all out there for you to discover, and you don’t even need a camera… Just your mobile phone, your cameraphone!

3. Take a Photograph - practice composition: No, not a snapshot, a photograph! See it, think it through… Picture it in your head… Then take the photograph. Look for interesting perspectives, and even more interesting juxtapositions; waiting in an airport has never been more rewarding than now.

4. Try a Panorama: Some camera phones offer the option of making panoramas… They’re a good thing to try, because they offer you a view that you very rarely ever see. I believe that they make you look at the place you’re standing at with a “wider” perspective.

5. Go Back to Basics: Photography students are asked to take photographs of textures, patterns and such, in an effort to make them understand their importance and to teach them how to incorporate them into their regular photographs for heightened impact. You could do the same.

6. Try New Points of View: Ever wondered what your dog or cat sees from its height? You spend hours watching your TV; what does it see? What does your fridge see when you peer into it? Try to simulate this stuff with your cameraphone..

7. Discover: Your cameraphone is with you more often than your camera. Use it to keep records of places and things that you discover. Rename the files immediately so that you remember where / what it is.

8. Try Some Portraits: Bus stops have this great quality about them… They’re a collecting point for people. The same goes for train stations, subways, and airports. If you ever find yourself stuck at one of them waiting for a bus, train or airplane, all you have to do is whip out your mobile phone. It is always a challenge to approach somebody you’ve never met before, especially in a public place where they’re not expecting to be approached, but if you think you can, then go for it. Alternatively, you could take some candid street photography.

9. Record Yourself: Self portraits have always been an intriguing art, and a defining record of who you are, and what you were. Try them out to remind yourself of that…

10. Find Objects: Cities are great places to find interesting things. They’re literally strewn around alleyways, waiting for you to find them and photograph them…

11. Make a Montage: You’ve got the camera, you’ve got the flash memory storage in your phone… why dont you make a montage of everything that’s happening around you?

There are so many more things that you can do in the “camera” mode of your camera phone… These are just a few of them. Do you have some other favourite function for your phone? Let us know!

Photo: Mystereys

Yes, its been a month since the last poll, where you answered the question “How often do you take photographs?” The response was better than I’d hoped! Unfortunately, a tonne of work and a short holiday in the hills have kept me from following it up…

This time we ask you, What do you photograph most often?

Is it your family? Or is it something else? Do you use photography as part of a different passion such as documenting your unique collection of moths?

Do you have a unique area of interest in photography itself? If so, do add it to the poll, we’d love to know what you do with your camera. Drop in a link to some of the photographs that are dearest to you in the comments (No spam, please - I’ll make sure the links are relevant and appropriate). You could also give us some reasons why your attention is drawn to a particular kind of photography!

EDIT: Shikha Pointed out that I’d left out some important categories. I’ve added them in. Do take another peek.

Work towards knowing where your talent (If not your Genius) lies in photography.

Decide what you like to shoot. It may be Birds … Historical Ruins … the Female Form … Portraits; or any one of the good subjects you have around you!

Next… decide what you are really good at shooting! Like Portraits … if you can capture the incredible range of emotions on the Human Face … or may be the real beauty of the human Form.

What ever it is, know what you like to shoot and what you are really good at photographing … and know the difference.

Happy Shooting!

I hadn’t checked out Photography Voter before I made my post yesterday, about how you’ll get better expressions if you can get people to look at you “through the lens”. I just did, and look at what I found. Just on the first page! A whole bunch of posts about Portrait Photography!

5 Tips for Directing Models
Tips for making people relax, who might not be comfortable in front of a camera. This goes perfectly with my last post.

Getting those Portraits right, once and for all
Some interesting pose-related tips for taking better portraits.

Approach to Taking a Portrait
Different people, Same needs when you’re taking a photograph. How to get through to the person being photographed.

Wired Magazine’s top 10 Reader Self Portraits
Some really interesting self portraits here.

About a Pair of Green Eyes
A beginner’s first portrait photo-shoot.

All these just off the first page!