Getting Experience!

As a beginner photographer, it is good to get a little exposure if you want to pursue it further. I have joined the Waltonian staff, and have become a photo journalist for our schools newspaper! It feels good to have that title, even though it is just for our university's newspaper. I am getting good experience, and it feels great doing something I really enjoy. Sometimes it is intimidating because I am surrounded by many other great photographers. However, it is important to be persistent, and to keep pushing yourself. It is easy to get discouraged by simple set backs, but these are the things that hold us back.
I took this picture at winter music festival at EU. I felt like a little photographer, walking up and down the isles, snapping images with a cool-looking camera. Getting experience may seem tedious, but it is necessary to go further!

The Art of Artistic Thoughts

Sometimes people want to nail pictures so badly, that they forget about the true essence of the art itself. Photography is an everyday thing. By this, I mean everything around us could be a captured image. We do not need cameras 24/7 to capture these 'images'. The point I am trying to make, is that when we look at our surroundings, we should look at it with an artistic perspective. Now I am not saying, that we should analyse every single thing. However, at chosen moments, thinking about art and its relation to our surroundings can be imperative to shaping a photographers mind. Analyses our surroundings in an artistic way can include checking out angles, noticing color, distinguishing shapes in everyday objects, freezing an image of your surrounding and imagining it as a picture, framing just enough of the surroundings to make it a "full" picture, etc. These things might seem weird and unusual, but I find myself doing this on many occasions, and I think it has helped me build strengths in photography.
And so, when you go out to take pictures, you will already know your angles, colors, shapes and sizes from practicing them in your mind.. Might sound Geeky, but it is suggested! ;)

The Key to Photography: Goofing Around.

Today my friend and I got on the roof of my building and took pictures! Sometimes we tend to critique ourselves too much. A key aspect of photography is being able to learn from yourself and the mistakes you make. Also, it is being able to practice and see first hand what photographers go through. I love goofing around with the camera and finding new effects and angles that make my pictures look good! So, if you are like me, a college student that does not have enough amusement, taking pictures can be fun! You never know what you might come up with, always keep snapping :) 

Black and White Madness!

I wanted to re state my love for black and white pictures! I think they tell so much about a picture. Often times, we are distracted by a normal color picture, simply because of the color. We fail to see the emotion and passion that is intended to be portrayed. Here we are able to see the connection the infant has with his blanket. In other words if you want to capture an image that has a lot of emotion, you should capture it in black and white!
It is also suggested that beginner photographers start with images in black and white (Such as college students like myself). For one, it is much cheaper to print - This means us college students can afford it. Also, when capturing color images, it is harder to get better quality just because it takes more skill. With black and white, beginners are more likely to successfully print a pleasant picture because these images have to do mostly with light. This picture is from one of the blogs on my blog list.

Fall break!

Since we are talking about fall break - it is only appropriate to show you some pictures I took recently. I love these pictures because of the color they exude! So bright and pleasant to the eyes. As a beginner photographer, it is fascinating to take pictures that produce a lot of color. It gives a feeling of accomplishment, in my opinion at least!

Taking A Glimpse into the World of Photography

This video gives you the basic essentials of photography. There are good techniques that you can learn from. Even though some of the tools that he used might be too expensive to get, we are able to at least look at how it is done professionally. The tools however, are simple. They are obtainable if you are really interested in photography. Basically, all one needs is a camera, and something for the light to bounce off of.

Welcoming Fall

In welcoming fall officially, I thought I would take some pictures outside my house! Notice all these pictures look and feel "fally". =) I especially like the texture of the tree bark and the vine that is crawling around it. We see the orange and brown leaves on the ground which makes this picture scream fall! However in the tree picture we are able to see that it is just the beginnings of fall because the leaves are still pretty much green with a tinge of yellow. I like the sky picture as it gives a dramatic image of fall. Evenings.. getting darker earlier than usual with much more clouds in the sky. The image was taken during the evening when darkness was peaking in. It looks kind of eerie, but I like it. I thought it would be only appropriate to link you guys to Professor Gidjunis photography website! 

Photography and the Average College Student

It is true to assume that the budget of many college students do not have room for any extra costs. Photography for instance is a very expensive hobby. Elements such as quality paper, ink and cameras do not come at a low cost. A photographer once told me that in order to get high quality images, one needs good tools. However for the average college student I have found ways in which to decrease the cost in ways that are accessible to many people. Using a good camera is key to quality. However here are some ways to touch up pictures after they are taken. 

• Mac computers have an application for photo editing that enhance images. Not everyone has a Mac so photo editors on other computers will do too.
• Contrast: adjust the contrast just enough to enhance the images different tones while still keeping the true color. Too much contrast can make a picture lose its lighter tones and a lack of contrast does not show the beauty of the darker shades. It is important to find the right amount.
• Brightness: Only adjust the brightness if it is needed. Adding to much brightness can lose the details of the image.
• Boost: Using a Mac, this feature is easily available and can fix brightness and contrast together. 

Other elements like saturation and hue are also on many photo editors and can be used if the need arises. A good thing about photography is that you can play around with it until you are happy with the result- like a painting. Playing around with different effects is key to creating photography on a students budget.

 

Capturing Moments

                               

Photography is not simply just about capturing a picture that looks 'cool'. There are many factors in making a picture what it should be and expressing it to its fullest potential. By learning about photography intensely with a well known photographer a few months ago, I was able to study, learn and experiment on the different techniques of photography. One of these techniques is simply to capture a moment. Capturing a moment is essential in telling the story of an image. I took this picture one a regular evening at my house when I noticed my neighbor and her fascination with my pet turtle. Seldom does my turtle raise his head out from the water. However this picture captures not only the turtle and his moment, but my neighbor and her moment with the turtle. They both look so intrigued by one another. The two year old's fascination with the turtle was equivalent to the turtles fascination with her.This is an example of "Capturing a Moment". This other picture also captures a moment; a moment of fascination. The expression on her face was something to capture only in a split second.