If you’re interested in getting started learning about photography then there are a few things to begin with. When beginning in photography, one must teach themselves the basics of photography. This is what we’ll focus on.
Learning About Photography – Its Mechanics
The first thing that you need to learn about photography is the mechanics of the entire art form. Photography is a very complex subject that uses special chemical reactions and optics to create images. If you’re working digitally with no film then the learning process is much more lenient on mistakes in exposure. Working with film is much more difficult, however, it can be seen as a more rewarding experience as you actually learn more about photography. This is especially true if you develop your own film as well.
The mechanics of photography include how to use your camera as well as other equipment like tripods, mounts, filters, lenses, etc. This stuff is all necessary if you want to know how to take good pictures. It is the mastery of photography equipment that allows photographers complete freedom to capture the image they so desire.
Lighting 101
Lighting is the most important part to photography. We learn how to expose an image with proper f-stop, shutter speed, and ISO so that we can let the optimal amount of light into our light sensitive devices. It’s all about controlling the light in our environment. If you don’t know how to control the light, you’ll end up with under or overexposed images.
Knowing about lighting will also help you with studio work and lighting sets/people. This is much more complex and requires knowledge of basic lighting setups and what not. Although it is not necessary to know lighting techniques to take good pictures, it does help immensely.
Knowing Famous Photographers
One of the best ways of learning about photography is through the great photographers of the past. Look at their works and analyze what makes the photo captivating. Is it the lighting? Or the composition? Notice the way everything was composed in the shot. Most likely the photographer spent quite some time deciding where things are going to appear in the frame.
Photography is a large subject with lots of mini subjects within it. If you want to learn how to get better at taking photos then knowing about as much as possible will definitely help. It is important, however, to use what you learn in your shots as that helps you understand the principals even better. This is even true for techniques that you do not plan on using.
Source by Simon Takk
