If we view photographs regularly, we probably resonate with a type of photography done by particular photographers.
And maybe their work inspires us to do our work.
If a specific photographer's
photographs inspire us, chances are good that their words will inspire us too.
A Photographer's Quote: Henri Cartier- Bresson
"To me, photography is the simultaneous recognition, in a fraction of a second, of the significance of an event." Henri Cartier- Bresson
Hello ,
To me, too.
And I imagine that's the way it goes for all of us
Whether that bolt-of-lightning moment of seeing is a found still life or a street scene in flux, we need at least two things to make the picture.
The first is a camera.
The second is understanding how to use the camera we have with us to make the picture we want (composition).
The icing on the cake would be an understanding of the characteristics of the light we're working with.
This is why all my classes teach the participants about camera operation, composition, and light when the appropriate camera is used for the course.
And although
I need to talk about these things separately when teaching, I also need to tie in the other two with whatever I'm discussing.
For example, If I'm talking about composition, camera operation, and light also need to be discussed and
related to composition.
And that's because while it's possible to separate and talk about camera operation, composition, and light as different topics, there's no separating their interdependence while creating a picture.
And regardless of the camera we use, what we do is the same when it comes to camera operation. The only thing that changes is the camera being used.
That means, whatever camera we use, from phone cameras to mirrorless and DSLRs, we have to dig into the owner's manual of the camera and learn how to do what we need to do with the camera.
This underscores that understanding how to use a camera is much more important than the camera we use.
And at some point, we realize that a camera is a camera, and if we understand that what we do with one camera is the same as what we do with all cameras, we can use whatever camera(s) we have to make the best pictures possible.
All we've gotta do is get a copy of the full version of the owner's manual, and we can get that, for free, off of the manufactures website.
I've got a good amount of the full versions of camera owner manuals stored in a folder on my
phone's home screen.
There's manuals representing compact cameras, as well as DSLRs and mirrorless cameras.
And they're there because they're cameras used by photographers who took or are taking private lessons with me.
I've got them sorted alphabetically by brand.
And it doesn't matter what the make, model, or brand is. Every one of those cameras does the same thing, except it does it differently.
And if all those cameras do the same thing, then if we know what to do with one camera, we know what to do with all of them.
All we've gotta do is crack open the full version of the manual to learn how we do what we do with all cameras with that specific camera.
The Getting To Know Your Camera and Introduction To Photography classes cover stuff like this for DSLR and mirrorless use.
The Learn To Think Like A Photographer class uses the camera in your phone
to teach you the compositional thought process and related camera operation.
And remember, we learn and improve by doing, so practice making at least one picture today.
That’s all for now; thanks for reading!
Sam
Be a better photographer; study and practice photography with me.
And if the timing doesn't work
for you in any of my scheduled group classes, we can schedule a one-time lesson or a series of in-person or online one-on-one private instruction that cover the same things as any of my group classes.
Ways to work with me are below.
