Just by owning one of the professional DSLRs like Sony A7R Mark IV, Nikon D850, Leica Q2, or a Fujifilm X100V, one cannot become a good photographer. It is more about capturing an extraordinary moment from an ordinary scene, which must appeal to the audience, such that; A basketball court should look like THE basketball court, A farm should look like THE farm or An animal should appeal-like THE animal in a picture.
If you are passionate about this journey from ‘A/An’ to ‘THE’ then you should choose the niche for the photography very carefully. For example, A wildlife photographer must be patient and have good knowledge about the timings of the animals and their habitat. A sports photographer should be quick and agile enough to take good pictures of the players during the match. The niches of photography may differ but there are certain photography skills that must be owned by each photographer in every field! These are Creativity, Camera Settings, Patience, Editing and Retouching Pictures, Choice of Location and An Eye for the Details.
Creativity
To convert the imagination of a photographer into a reality, only creativity can make it possible. A picture that depicts a message that makes sense or connects with the audience is highly appreciated among the photography skills. It also includes the choice of location and how the photographer can use that location.
Through mountain areas, you can get a bird-eye view, the shots of waterfall and mists. Through plain areas, you can get the landscape of sea or ocean or you can capture the taller view or wide-angle for the subjects.
Camera Settings
Choosing the right focal length for a better image serves an important role in photography. It is a distance between the camera sensor and the end of the lens. Zooming in and Zooming out the subject may cause blurring in the image, known as Compressing. This approach is used to focus on the object and remove the details that we don’t want in our photograph.
Another thing to keep in mind is Composition. It is an arrangement that is set by the objects in such a manner that viewers can read the whole picture, not just a part of it.
There shouldn’t be any distracting backgrounds and the elements should be balanced to fill the negative space. Moreover, good use of negative space to create negative moods is looked at as an artistic method and as a good topic to be discussed among the photographers.
Patience
Many beginners start their career as an assistant to an experienced photograph. They learn to fix the lights and stands, adjust the camera or basically be there as “second shooter”. It takes months or sometimes years to reach the camera as a professional photographer. Especially in the case of nature’s pictures, a photographer has to wait for long enough to get the perfect timing of the lighting, rainbow, storm or a lion hunting for a deer, which is very challenging.
You may have seen this photograph which holds different phases of the moon. The interesting story behind this photograph is that it took 28-days to get each phase of the moon at a different time but at the same place! Just imagine, its photographer waited for each night to take every single picture of the moon, hence, because of his patience, he was able to create this masterpiece and surely proved- “Patience and Perseverance overcome the Mountain”.
Editing and Retouching Pictures
The retouching of the pictures gives them a nice finishing. A slight increase in contrast and slightly decreased brightness of the photograph, highlight its details. Some photographers like to omit some unwanted objects through their editing skills to make the picture look perfect. Filters are highly used to blur out imperfections and adding amazing effects to the pictures. There are recommended software and android applications which are being used for the photo-editing:
For software- Adobe Lightroom, Adobe Photoshop, Skylum Luminar and Coral PaintShop Pro.
For applications (available for both Android and IOS)- PicsArt, Snapseed, Adobe Photoshop Express and Adobe Photoshop Lightroom CC.
An Eye for the Details
Take a lot of photos by trying different angles of the subject. Observe the creativity of nature, or pour your imagination to highlight the details of the captured object. A photographer who can see the hidden details within the subject, can use it to convey some message and capture appealing photographs. Let’s take an example of another well-recognized photograph: –
This Afghani girl’s portrait was captured by Photographer Journalist Steve McCurry. This photograph is so appealing that it became the face of National Geographic in 1985.
The sea-green eyes of Sharbat Gula got the attention of the whole world when her face appeared on the cover of National Geographic magazine. Her untold story and struggles of life were now getting noticed by the people.
The dust on her face, her frown expression, her crimson scarf and the green blurred background, depicts her 17-year-old refugee life in a single picture. This is the wonder that detailed photography can do.
So, these are the basic qualities and skills that every photographer must-have. Although, for beginners, it looks like a long ladder to climb, isn’t it? Well, you guys can start with your own phone. Just make sure that it has better camera quality to click a clear picture. Nowadays, phone-photographers are also encouraged and it is good for the practice as a beginner.
