By I.J. Hudson
“You should write about photography. You’re an average guy, with average equipment, but you take some pretty good pictures.” That’s a quote from a friend several years ago. And I didn’t really think about it until Tookie Gentilcore suggested I write a few columns for the Poolesville Seniors (PS! Postscript).
So, here I am. I’ll offer suggestions based on a lot of reading, a lot walking along the C&O Canal, and things learned from taking thousands and thousands of pictures since the mid-1960s. I have more questions than answers. It’s like one of those decision trees that takes you to your answer based on yes or no answers.
Do you like to take pictures? Of what? Your dog, cat, convertible, grandkids, flowers, bees, birds, farm fields, vistas – you get the point. If you said yes to any of these, that’s a good start. Are they pictures you want to share with friends and family, or do you want to put pictures on the wall? Yes? You’ve come to the right place for some inspiration and a few suggestions.
IT’S IN YOUR POCKET
The old quote, “the best camera is the one you have with you.” True. But many of us carry that camera with us and mistakenly think it’s a phone. Stop thinking like that. Turn on the camera app on your phone and take a close look at what it can do. No, look closer. What kinds of pictures can it take? Photo, video, Slo-motion video, panorama, food and perhaps several other settings. Many cameras have automatic editing that changes the mood of the picture or can blur the backgrounds – and manual editing features.
Your assignment: Look through all the camera settings on your camera phone, take a picture and edit it to look a bunch of different ways. Think of all the possibilities. The point is to get familiar enough with that camera, so you start thinking of possibilities even before you take the picture.
And before you take the picture… what do you want in the background? Is it important? Is the person the most important part of the picture, or is it a crowd of people? Most cameras let you choose the important focus points. And, in shooting people on a sunny day, don’t have the Sun directly behind or directly in front of them. You get bad exposures and squinty eyes.
One last tip. Take way too many pictures of the same thing – a burst. And try different angles. Your chances of getting a great shot will improve a lot. There may even be one picture of a group in which everyone’s eyes are open. Look at ALL the pictures and show your best and learn from your worst.