Portrait of the Artist as a Young Photographer

I love taking pictures. If you hadn't realised that much by now, then I don't know where you have been. Perhaps not reading this blog or around me when I have my camera. But more than anything, I like taking pictures of people.  Wedding photos, studio sessions or just out and about around town, there is something about taking photos of people that makes me happy.

It's the hidden looks and the personality that shines through when  you least expect it. It could be during a studio session with a person who feels uncomfortable behind a camera. You shoot, you instruct, you try to bring out the best light and the best details, but the photographs are nothing without that little smile that comes with the thought of how silly this all is.

It could be during a recital when a person is singing away, part of a large group, part of a whole and you just see the music overwhelm them, you just see the joy in their eyes that comes from doing something that they love, and you manage to capture that joy in one quick shot.

It could be someone who has not even noticed you standing there, someone who is simply happy for one reason or another. You don't need to know the reason, you don't need to understand to see that the person is just simply, blissfully happy.

It's those photos that make me feel that I have accomplished something. I have a feeling that if someone were to take pictures of me taking pictures of people, that is the kind of shot that they would get. Me, at my element.

To Beach Or Not To Beach

It's not rocket science to realise why taking your camera to the beach might be a bad idea. I can pretty much sum it up in one word: SAND. Well... maybe two: SAND & WATER. There is an abundance of both of them, which makes taking your camera to the beach kind of dangerous.

The danger of water is two-fold. There is the water that makes up the ocean (ie. Do not take your camera into the water with you unless you have a waterproof cover for it) and then there is the mist that is thrown up by the wind that can cause about as much damage as, well, mist! Moisture is not a good thing for your camera. You don't want it!

The danger of sand is slightly less obvious, but makes sense if you think about it. Sand gets everywhere. Anyone who has spent any amount of time at the beach will have realised this. You spend the days after visiting the beach discovering the new and exciting places where the sand has hidden itself. And you do not want your sand to hide itself anywhere near your camera. A grain of sand, as small as it is, can cause a lot of damage when it gets into the wrong place and, with the addition of wind, can be really harmful to your camera. You don't want the sand to get into the zoom mechanism. You don't want it blowing against your lens or getting into the crevices of your lens cap. When I say you don't want sand, I really really mean it! Keep it far far far away!

And yet, the benefits of taking your camera to the beach are clear. Just look at the amazing photos of the beach and you will see what they are. Those aspects that are a threat to your camera are a dream for your photography! So, the real question would be: Is it worth the risk?

I decided to take my chances last week when a public holiday presented itself and I found myself with nothing to do. The weather was supposed to be perfect, so some friends decided that it was the perfect opportunity to drive to Kenton on Sea, about an hour outside of Grahamstown, and take advantage of it. I hmmed and haaed about whether to bring my camera along and eventually decided to go for it. I packed it in my small bag (not wanting to take my full kit with me) along with a spare lens and headed off.



At first, there was no doubt in my mind that bringing the camera had been a great idea. The sky was the perfect shade of blue, the water was stunning and everything was just coming together to create great photo opportunities. We walked up dunes, down sand banks, around cliffs and eventually found ourselves in a secluded paradise. The water was turquoise and relatively warm considering the time of year. We found ourselves a nice spot out of the way and left our stuff behind while we ran into the open arms of the ocean. (Which reminds me - another negative about taking your camera to the beach can be safety if everyone you know is heading away from your stuff, leaving it susceptible.)

And then, from nowhere, the weather turned. The wind picked up into a minor storm and people raced from the beach as fast as they could manage. Having driven an hour to get there and only having had about 5 minutes of beach time, we were reluctant to give up. Instead, we wandered through the sandstorm trying to find a shaded spot. Which we eventually found. But, remember what I said about your camera + sand + wind? Not a good combination! I tried to keep it in the shelter of my handbag, but alas there was sand in there too. Once the wind died down a bit, I retrieved the camera once again and, lo and behold, there was sand on the lens and pretty much everywhere else. And yet, that didn't stop me. I managed to wipe off most of the sand from the camera itself and used my blower to get rid of the grains that were residing on my lens, and I kept shooting. And I got some great shots! I was really happy with the photos that came out of the day!

So was it worth it? To be honest, I am in two minds. I am thrilled with the pictures that were taken, so much so that I want to go back as soon as possible. And yet, I am still worried about my camera and the wear and tear that it may have taken from the outing. Taking your camera to the beach with you is a risk. If you are prepared for that risk and for anything to happen, then I would highly recommend taking it, particularly if you are heading somewhere picturesque. But don't take your camera with you unprepared. Bring your cleaning kit, bring an extra (sand-friendly) bag and if any dangers present themselves, run like the wind. Or hide your camera and keep enjoying yourself. Either way will work :)

What dangerous circumstances has your camera faced recently?

Another Flash Tutorial

I do not own a flash. It is one of the items on my wishlist for this year and I do intend to get one sooner or later. For the moment though, when I need to use one, I need to borrow it. Thankfully, my boss is also a fan of photography, and has one on hand that she has lent to me before (for the last wedding that I had to shoot). With another wedding around the corner, I needed to borrow it again and needed to get used to using it again.

The flash in question is a very very nice one, but the exact specifications are not actually all that important for this blog. What is important to know is that the flash fits into the hotshoe of the camera and has the ability to tilt upwards by 90 degrees and 45 degrees to either side. It is something that I absolutely love about the flash and something that I am definitely going to try to find in whichever flash I end up buying.

Why is this so important then? First of all, having a flash that fits into your hotshoe is very useful when doing photo shoots outside of a studio. When you are in a studio, you can arrange the lighting in any way that you like through the use of umbrellas, reflectors and more powerful lights than a flash can provide. When you are out and shooting, however, you do not always have these available to you. The on-camera flash is too harsh for most situations and, since you cannot adjust where it points, it often ends up only illuminating what is in front of you and not providing sufficient ambient light. This can, of course, be made up for by adjusting the shutter speed and exposure, but when the images are being taken with a hand-held camera rather than a tripod, it can be difficult to perfect. This is why having a flash that fits onto your hotshoe can be useful. Of course, being able to use it off-camera (which this one can do) would also be useful, I imagine, but I have yet to experiment with that, and for the moment will only be talking about using it on a hotshoe. Having a stronger flash on your hotshoe, which can be adjusted in terms of brightness, can have diffusers attached to it and can tilt gives you a lot more flexibility in the images that you can take and make.

The tilt is the other big advantage to having a hotshoe flash. This flexibility is less important when using a flash off-camera, since you can point the flash in any direction that you choose. But, when the flash is attached to your camera, you cannot point the flash in a different direction to the one that the camera is facing unless it has a tilt function. And the tilt function makes a huge difference. By tilting the flash, you can bounce the light that the flash provides to illuminate your subject in the best possible way. I have taken some images to illustrate the point.

In the above image, the first two shots were taken with the flash, a shutter speed of 1/50, an aperture of f/8 and had an ISO of 400. The final image was taken without flash. It was taken with a shutter speed of 1/25, a fairly low one and good for handheld photography, the lowest aperture that my lens would allow for (f/4.5) and an ISO of 3200. All shots are directly from the camera and have not been edited except to put them together in this "collage".

The first image was taken with the flash pointing directly at the guitar. You will notice that the shadows in the centre are dark, the light in the centre is very stark compared to the shadows, the light reflecting off the string and the left side of the guitar is very bright, and you can see the shadows underneath the strings because of the angle that the photo was taken at. If you look to the upper right corner, you will also notice that it is completely in shadow.

In the second image, I had tilted the flash 45 degrees to the left. You will notice that the shadows in the centre are a lot more muted. There are still shadows, but they are less obtrusive and the light in the centre is less bright and less stark because of it. The strings are brighter, but not as reflective and there are no longer any shadows underneath them. The light itself is better distributed throughout the image and if you look at the upper right hand corner of this image, you will notice that it is white (as it should be).

In the third image, you will notice that the photo is not well lit in general, even at a fairly low aperture and shutter speed. However, there are noticable details. The colouring is a lot yellower in the image and the shadows are also distinct, especially when compared to the second image. There are no stark contrasts, however, and everything is fairly muted. 

The third image clearly needs more or better lighting, which the flash provided in both of the photos to the left of it. The second image might be a little too well lit. Shadows do provide interest to images, and there are hardly any in this image. Adding a little contrast would take it a long way. The first image is better in terms of the interest that the shadows provide, but may be a bit too stark and is far from ideal for most situations. I would likely end up brightening it to some extent in post-editing.

The same can be seen in the next images.

None of these are perfect photos, none of them were meant to be perfect. But they do show the usefulness of tilting your flash and bouncing light on a subject. It can have great results if you know how to use it, and it is something that I am still learning how to use. But I can already see a big difference in the photographs that have been taken while I used it. It is something that I look forward to learning more about!

What area of photography do you want to learn more about?

Projects and How They Can Help!

Something to celebrate!

 I don't think I have written a blog about this subject before, and if I have, I sincerely apologise for repeating myself. The new year has begun and it is always at this time that people make resolutions - about their lives, about their photography, about anything and everything. I already posted a list of my resolutions, and you can breathe a sigh of relief that I'm not going to be talking about that today. But what I am going to be talking about is projects.

Whether you are a beginner having bought your first camera, a professional doing shoots for a profit or just someone who is on a big trip and wanting to document every moment of it, projects are your friend. As a beginner, projects help you to get to know your camera for its strengths and weaknesses and learn how to use them to your advantage. As a professional, projects can help you remember why it is that you chose photography in the first place - being on scene all day every day and dealing with difficult clients and stressful situations can often make you forget. And as a traveler, a project can help you capture the new places that you are experiencing and can help you capture them in such a way that you can look back at those photographs years later and remember a moment. Sure, other people may look at them and be like "What the hell is that?" But you will know and remember why it was that you took that specific photograph and the feeling that you felt at the time will be returned to you.

You don't have to have a good camera to do a project. You can use your point and shoot, your DSLR or even your cellphone camera if you like. But the point is that taking photos on a daily or weekly basis, taking photos according to topics that are set out in advance, can help photographers of any level with their photography.

The kind of project that you end up doing is up to you. You might want to start following a blog like the Digital Photography School and taking part in their weekly challenges. Posting a photo each week to match their challenge could be the project that you set for yourself. Some people like to do a 52 challenge - a photo a week for a year. That way they are not bound to bringing their fancy camera with them wherever they go and they have time in between to continue with their everyday lives. Others like to do a 365 challenge - a photo a day for a year. This can be the most challenging or the most relaxed of the projects depending on how you look at it. No one expects you to take amazing photos or to have amazing photo opportunities every day. It almost seems like quantity over quality. And you could see it that way. Or you could see it as a chance to look around you and take more interesting photographs. If you don't think that you have the stamina to last a full 365 and feel like 52 is a little too lax, you may want to try a 31 challenge - taking a photo a day for a month. Whatever you do though, do try to challenge yourself. Try not to become too comfortable with your camera. And by that I do not mean becoming comfortable as in knowing how to use it. What I mean is that you shouldn't become comfortable with it as a fixture in your home that never gets used. Take it out, play with it, experiment and see what comes out!

I tried to do a 365 project before and got to day 203 before failing. There were a number of reasons for this, but I am back and ready to try again. You can find the photos from it here. I figured that the new year was the best time to start. After all, it's a new year with new opportunities and I hope to be there to take advantage of them.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Facebook: Pros & Cons for Photographers

All photographers want to get their photographs out there, to get exposure and gain popularity. One of the best ways to do this is through a photo sharing site. But there are so many sites out there! Which one should you pick? Every photo sharing site has their own benefits and downfalls, and it’s good to know about these before choosing which site to upload your photographs to. You don’t want to be caught off-guard by privacy settings, low quality images or copyrighting. So I am going to look at just a few of the benefits and downfalls of uploading images to specific photo sharing sites.

First and foremost, let’s have a look at Facebook. As a photographer, Facebook can be a great tool for displaying your images and getting exposure. As the most popular social networking site out there (at the moment), Facebook will provide you with a wide audience to show your work to and it is easy to get feedback on that work. In addition, you can divide your private and professional self by creating a photography page for yourself. This means that, while you can post hundreds of photographs on your personal account for people to see, you can also post your most professional photographs to your photography page and have the best separated from the rest. It is a form of advertising yourself which works out well, particularly if you decide to spend some cash and invest in photography adverts on Facebook as well. This can lead to a lot of business that you would not have received otherwise and can certainly be worthwhile.

On the other hand, Facebook does have its downfalls. Many of you may have heard about the mass of people leaving Facebook due to their privacy settings. Some of you may even be those people who left in the mass exodus. The privacy settings that affect your profile also affect your photographs. While Facebook providing others with access to your personal details may sound far more significant than hundreds and thousands of people having access to your photographs (hell, that almost sounds good!) it also means that your photographs are being exposed to people who may use them for their own personal use. This brings the issue of copyright into question, and you will quickly find that Facebook’s copyright protocols leave a lot to be desired. And then, let’s look at the photographs themselves. Though Facebook has recently introduced a new function, allowing you to upload high resolution photographs, for a long while the photographs that you were uploading were compressed to be very low quality. While this is fine for showing off photos from the party last night, for professional photographers it is not ideal. A lot of detail is lost in the process, and your photographs will not come out the way that you pictured them. There are ways around this, but most people do not know these methods. Hell, even though I know that they are out there, I hardly know about these methods!

Facebook may be the most popular photo sharing site at the moment, but that certainly does not mean that it is the best. Personally, I still upload my photographs using Facebook for the exposure, but it is not my only method of uploading pictures. At least I know and understand the risks and problems, and even use them in some cases! Part of the reason why I continue to use Facebook is that it can provide low-res and low-quality versions of my photographs, giving me the exposure that I want, and I can then provide links to better quality versions or, if requested, provide better quality prints of the photographs. If someone wants to steal an image, it then means that they are taking a low-quality image, one that I would not be too concerned about. It is the high-res and good quality ones that I truly cherish.

Check back soon for the pros and cons of using other photo sharing sites such as Flickr, Twitter and Google Plus.

Preparation

Hello guys and gals

It has been awhile since I last wrote a photography post, but that doesn't mean that I haven't been busy! So what have I been busy with in terms of photography? Mostly betting on lenses on bidorbuy.co.za (I lost) and preparing for a wedding shoot. While I could easily write a blog about bidding on lenses and how to go about it (or, more specifically, how not to) I thought that I would take this opportunity to let you know how I have been preparing for the wedding shoot.

The shoot that I am doing is quite an interesting one. The couple are already married and have been for three years. I was in fact with them when they went to the Home Affairs office to tie the knot, and am really happy to be with them to celebrate their three year anniversary by having a wedding. Because they are already married, it takes a lot of stress off the situation. There is no chance of either of them saying no now, no running back down the aisle and no surprises.

While having the wedding after the marriage does take away some of the stress, however, it doesn't take away all of it. There are still guests cancelling at the last minute and family members to juggle, and of course the photographer's job is no less important. This is, all things considered, still a wedding, regardless of whether the couple are married or not, and they are still expecting photographs of amazing quality capturing the special moments of the day. As a photographer who is only just starting out, this leads to a lot of stress. So how have I been coping with it?

I have been writing lists, studying up and borrowing bits and bobs from anyone I can find.

The first thing that I did was sit down with a piece of paper and write down some of the ideas that I had for the happy couple, which shots I wanted to take, where I wanted to take them, and any questions that popped up in my mind while I was doing it. Once I had a preliminary list, I started scouring the net for more ideas. I went onto each of the photography blogs that I follow and looked back into their archives for any wedding photography advice, and I found a ton of it. It gave me further ideas, which I added to my list, and made a number of suggestions that I kept at the top of my mind. One of the suggestions that I came across over and over again was that I should go and check out the venue beforehand.

So, last weekend I made my way to Port Alfred and went to a farm 14km outside of the town to check out the venue and what I could expect. I was glad that I did! If I had pitched up on the day, I would have been far from prepared, and it would likely have been a small disaster. The wedding is outdoors, and the area where the ceremony will take place is hidden under trees. Which means lots and lots of shade - enough of it that a wide open lens would not suffice. Add to that the reception area and the low lighting that it boasted, and I was left with no choice but to give into my most feared form of photography - flash.

I do not have a happy relationship with flash. I learned very early on that flash at night is never a good plan if you want good lighting. At least, not on-camera flash. All that it leads to is unflatteringly over-exposed faces and black backgrounds. Not a good plan for a wedding at all. What I really needed was a hotshoe flash, and I went scouring Grahamstown to find one. It took awhile, but I eventually managed to borrow a Speedlite 580EX, which I have been experimenting with and am now feeling a little more confident about using, even if I am not completely comfortable with my abilities as a photographer.

One I had the flash, I had to learn how to use it - how to bounce light, how to adjust exposure and how to make sure that the backgrounds come out as clear as possible without being hidden in shadow. There was more reading to be done and there was not much time to do it. I felt like I was back in University again, staring at pages that made little sense to me for hours on end until the information was bored into my mind and there was no getting it out. But it wasn't all study. I tried to take my own advice and get a little of the theory and a little of the practice, and have ended up with a knowledge that I am happy with.

So now I am left with a list of photographs that I want to take, a flash that I am feeling a little more confident about using and a day to become comfortable with the fact that tomorrow decides me future. Am I going to be a wedding photographer or am I going to flop on my face? Are my photos going to make the cut, or are the bride and groom going to be in tears (of horror, not joy.) We'll have to see. Wish me luck!

Picking and Choosing

Last week, I promised that I would take a look at building a portfolio. As this is something that I am doing myself at the moment, I am learning as I go along, but I thought that I would share in some of the wisdom that I have found.

Your portfolio is one of the most important aspects of being a professional photographer. It is the sole embodiment of your work. Your prospective clients will not really care about how much you have grown from your humble beginnings, learning to play with your camera and getting to know the ins and outs of the trade. What they will care about is the polished professional before them, and your portfolio will show them the professional that you are.

Your portfolio will show what kind of photographer you are and where your artistic vision lies. No two photographers are the same, the same way that no two people are the same. Two photographers will look at the same scene and take the same photograph, but from a different angle, a different perspective. You want to show your angle and perspective towards life in your portfolio. This means that, while you should value the opinions of those around you and which photographs they think are your best and should be included, you should also value your own opinion. It is you who will be taking the photographs, and it is your slant on life that will come out in the photographs that you take for these prospective clients. They should know what it is that they are getting. This may lead to clients not agreeing with the way that you take photographs - your clients will have a specific idea in mind for what they want, and if you do not meet that criteria, do not try to change yourself to suit their needs. Other clients will come along, and they will often be a better fit. rather wait for the clients who will appreciate your work than attempt to change your style for those who don't. What you will likely find if you try to change is that your photographs will be an uncomfortable mixture of your artistic vision and your client's, leading to something that neither of you is particularly happy with.

So, which photographs should you include and how many should you include in your portfolio? I have taken thousands of photos in the course of the last year alone! I have taken photos of every kind of situation, of every event that I have attended, of each of my friends, of every place that I have travelled, and I have favourites from each of the sessions that I have taken. How can I wittle these down to a few that will show off my depth and my range? Well, most likely you won't want to. You will likely want to decide on a specialisation and stick with it. Are you going to be an events photographer, taking pictures at weddings and parties? Then pick a few of your best from those kinds of events. Are you going to be a photo journalist? Pick some pics of the rallies and gatherings that  you have attended. A shot of a couple in love is not going to convince an editor to hire you, and a photo of a riot is not going to convince an engaged couple to hire you either. If you intend to dabble in the different areas, you may want to consider having a variety of portfolios to show for specific meetings.

In terms of how many  photos to whittle your portfolio down to, there is no guaranteed formula. How many photos you have will depend on how many great photos you have taken, to be honest. You obviously don't want to have your clients sifting through your pics for hours on end, but you also don't want them to be finished in a minute. Pick a couple of photographs from different sessions. I limit myself to having no more than 5 from each session, and try to cut it down to less than that even. Choose photographs that show variety and skill - choose photographs that show different poses, different lighting, different situations and different settings. You don't want to pick photographs that look exactly the same in each session, otherwise it tends to be too repetitive. Choose only your best photographs, and ask around to see which photos others think are your best as well. As I said earlier, you will want to have some photographs that you choose yourself to show your own unique style, but you will also want public opinion on  your side, so while there can be a couple of  your own favourites thrown in, having some photos that others think are your best will also help you along.

A final piece of advice that I read from blogger and photographer, Scott Bourne, is that when you create your  portfolio, you should be sure not to put what  you consider to be your best images in the front. Many people think that prospective clients will only look at the first few pages and decide from there whether they will hire the photographer or not, but this is often not the case. Often, people will turn to the middle of the book and flip through from there, taking note of only a few photos that catch their eye from time to time. You therefore want to spread the best of your work throughout your portfolio,  keeping some at the front, some in the middle and some at the end to ensure that your clients see the best of your work no matter where they start.

I hope this helps someone out there in the process of putting their portfolio together. I know that the advice that I have learned has certainly help me put mine together and I look forward to showing it off once my site is up and running and my first wedding shoot has been done! Let me know if you have any further advice for people trying to build up their own portfolios.

Spring Fever

Earlier this week, I came home from work in a not-so-great mood. You know that saying: "The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again expecting to get different results"? Yeah. That was me. Anyway, I came home from work feeling more than a little down, and opened my car door, and something wafted in with the breeze. Something that lifted my spirits completely. Something that made not only my day, but my week. Do you know what that something was? Jasmine. The epitome of Spring. And it is certainly here. So this afternoon, when I came home from work, I decided to go hunting for the source of the wondrous scent. And sadly, I did not find it. But I did manage to get some great pics of the Spring flowers in my garden while I was searching, so I thought that I would share some of them :)














To make this a little more educational and not so focussed on just my gloating about the weather taking an upturn when most of my Northern-hemisphere friends are about to take a turn for the worse, I thought that I would explain how I go about taking flower shots












I like to get up close and personal when shooting flowers. I like to be able to see the details on the leaves, to see the curves of the petals and the interesting shapes that they make. I like the asymmetry of the placement and I like to take from interesting angles. I tried to shoot with a number of different lenses today, actually trying every single one in my bag to see which I liked most. I think that I ended up liking my 50mm and my 28-80mm most actually, my two first lenses. I found that the 50mm was a good length to shoot at, while my 28-80 allowed me to get a little closer when need be. Sunset is, of course, a good time to be shooting since it casts good light over the flowers, even when you are hidden from most of the sunlight by a on one side, a house on the other and a giant fence on a third, all of which are trying to block your light.












In any case, it's not all about me. Let me know what you think!!

*Edit: The pictures are coming up funny in the blog post. I don't have time to fix it right now, but will try to have it fixed tomorrow.

Mentoring

Everyone needs a role model - someone to look up to, to admire and to aspire towards. For some people these role models are celebrities, for others they are close family members. As photographers we should really have some of both. We should follow the work of famed photographers and see how it is done. However, to really see how photographers work, you need to follow one closely - closer than you could follow a famous photographer from halfway across the world. You need someone to go to shoots with, to watch in action, to get advice from in a close and personal rather than an informal way. What you need, I would say, is a mentor.

Please note that this is all based on my own ideas and opinions, and there is no guarantee that any of it will work. Please also note that this is not the way to go about finding an apprenticeship or becoming an assistant to a photographer. This is merely to find a mentor who you can turn to when you have questions and who you can learn from. Finding

I have had two kinds of "mentors". One was a friend, and I use this term broadly since we only met once and do not know each other particularly well, who I met in Korea. He was studying photography at the time and was as close to an expert as I could find. Whenever I had a question, I turned to him, and he was happy to help. But I do not consider our relationship to be close and personal and I was never able to follow him on the job, so I do not consider him to be one of my serious mentors. I merely think that he helped me stand on my own two feet and get my photography off the ground.

I met my second mentor by pure coincidence. A friend had asked me to take some shots at an event that the University was holding, and they had asked him to take some videos. Paul Mills is a professional cameraman, and has been one for most of his life. Though he is now technically retired, he still takes on projects on the side, and in his spare time he does photography with his Canon 7D. He bumped into me early in the morning and we got onto discussing cameras and lenses, and he let me borrow one of his. From then on a friendship was formed based on photography, and this friendship quickly grew into a mentorship as he began to offer me advice, to let me borrow and test lenses, to critique my photos when asked and to be there for me, night and day, whenever I had a question that needed answering. Paul Mills has become my photography hero!

Finding your own photography hero may not be quite as easy. I found mine by pure coincidence, but it often takes a lot of work and a lot of putting yourself out there and taking the chance of being turned down. Many photographers do not have the time or the patience to take on mentoring or apprenticeships, while others may appreciate the attention or find it flattering, particularly if they are on the cusp of professionalism themselves.

I would recommend attending photography workshops or classes and starting to associate yourself with photographers. Photographers who are involved in these kinds of workshops usually do so because they enjoy teaching and helping others with their photography. It will immediately put you in touch with photographers who you know want to help, and could become possible mentors. Become a part of your local community and make it obvious that you are a beginner photographer who has questions and is willing to listen to constructive criticism.

In terms of approaching the photographers themselves, I would recommend approaching them on a one-to-one basis, being friendly and open and starting out slowly. Do not immediately jump in and say "I want you to mentor me." Do this and you are unlikely to find many photographers jumping at the opportunity. Think about the friendships that you have formed in the past. Did you jump in upon meeting the person and say "I want to be your friend." Of course not. You got to know each other first and the friendship developed because you discovered things that you have in common. In terms of looking for a mentor, you already know that you have one thing in common - photography - but you need to test the waters first, make sure that your personalities are compatible. I can imagine nothing worse than ending up with a mentor with a short temper, or one who I butt heads with when it comes to what we look for when we take photographs. You need to find someone you get along with. Ask if you could perhaps discuss photography over a cup of coffee, on you. That way you will get to know each other and see if it is a good fit before jumping into the deep end and ending up with a mentor that you do not respect or appreciate, or who does not respect or appreciate you.

I would also highly recommend building a portfolio before you approach anyone, as a number of photographers will expect you to have one. Even if it isn't expected, it looks a lot more professional to approach a photographer with something to show them rather than approaching them with just a question or idea in mind. Imagine having someone who doesn't know you walk up to you and say "I need help with my photography. Can you help?" Sure, you can help. But what is it that they need help with? Is it their technique? Is it their eye? Is it merely that they need to gain some experience and confidence? You can't tell unless they give you something to work with.

Building your portfolio is going to be the subject of my next post, so please check back later in the week to learn more on how to go about building a professional portfolio.

Community Values

This saying is no less true in photography than anywhere else in life. The photographic community is one of the biggest assets that a blossoming photographer can find. From feedback to support and inspiration, a photographer starting out in the business can learn a lot by participating in the photographic community.

There are a number of ways to get involved in the community, and how you get involved will depend on a number of factors. For example, the first thing that many blogs recommend that beginner photographers do is to find a photography club to join in their area. Now, I am in Grahamstown, and as far as I am aware, there is no photography club in my area. There also seem to be fewer of these clubs in South Africa than there are in cities in America, though in the bigger cities like Cape Town and Johannesburg you are likely to find something -there just might not be too much choice in which club you can join. However, joining a club is just one way of getting involved in the community. There are many other ways that you can go about it, some of which are done in person, some are entirely online.

• Take a class. Whether it is through a community college or university, a high school or a website, take a photography class. I am not recommending getting a brand spanking new degree (though if you have the time and can afford it, go ahead!), but I am recommending that you find a part time class that you can attend to teach you the basics and to give you assignments and exercises to practice. Remember how I was saying in my last post that you need to have both the practice and the theory under your belt to really get to know your camera? A class will provide you with both of these, and you will get to discuss problems and questions with people who are experienced and there specifically to help you learn.
  
  
• Start a blog. If you want to get your photography out there, share your experiences, share your photos and ask questions, one way of doing that is to start a blog. You may struggle to find readers at first, but the more you comment on other blogs and get involved in the community, the more hits your blog will get. You will find that most blogs in the photo community will give you the opportunity of linking your comments to your blog or website. Take advantage of the opportunity! Get posting and get involved!
  
  
• Read and comment on other blogs. As I explained in my previous post, reading other blogs is incredibly beneficial. You can learn from their experiences and avoid mistakes that might have been made otherwise. There is so much that you can gain by reading other people's blogs, and even more to gain by commenting on them. By commenting and becoming active in the community, you will find that people will be drawn to your blog, particularly when the comments are relevant and appropriate. Of course, if the comments are no more than trolling, you will likely find your blog slightly devoid of activity.
  
  
• Find a photography site and post on it. By photography site, I here mean sites like Flickr and 500px. These sites are aimed at photographers specifically, and allow you to upload good quality images and share them with other photographers in the field. It opens you to feedback and constructive criticism and it broadens your photographic horizons as you will be able to view different kinds of photography and different concepts captured in different ways. This will often lead to inspiration and open your mind to creative ideas that you may not have considered before.
  
  
• Find a mentor. This can be the most difficult aspect of getting involved in the community, as it involves finding a professional to learn from and requires that the professional accept the idea of becoming your mentor. Some photographers simply do not have the time to teach, some are just not interested in it. Some look for mentees who are already skilled or have an extensive portfolio. But occasionally, you will find a photographer who is willing to help, willing to teach and willing to have a novice follow them around and see how things are done. I will be discussing the role of mentors and why they are so important in my next post.

Starting out

I have been reading a lot of photography blogs, as usual, and started thinking to myself today that this blog is not what I want it to be anymore.

I started the blog as a way to post the pictures from my 365 day challenge, and when the challenge started failing earlier this year, the blog ended up becoming a sideline and more of a place to post the photo shoots that I have been doing. While that is great and I am happy to continue using this blog to post the photos from my shoots, I also think that there should be more to it.

I don't just want to have a blog that I post to once a month or once in awhile. I want this to be a photography blog - not just in terms of posting my own photography, but in terms of helping other people along with their photography. Since it is something that I am passionate about, and writing is something that I am passionate about, I want to join the two together to form a blog that other photographers would enjoy, not just the people whose photos I shoot. And so, I have decided that I am going to start writing articles about photography, starting from today. To ease into the transition from photographer to photo blogger, I want to discuss a subject that can be easily understood by looking at this blog from it's conception to this point.

When you are starting out as a photographer, people are going to give you a lot of advice, and that advice will vary from photographer to photographer, from blog to blog. But there is one piece of advice that always stays the same regardless of who you talk to - you need to get to know your camera.

Let me explain a little what I mean here. You can read your camera's manual inside and out, you can read every blog in existence, but if you have not picked up your camera and played around with it, I don't think you can say that you know your camera. While you know about the technical details of how your camera works, while you know the theory, there is a vital aspect missing from your knowledge of your camera, and that is experience. I would say the same thing for people who pick up their camera from the get-go and shoot in automatic mode for months, not reading a blog, not picking up a book, not even looking at the settings that are being used when a photograph is taken. There needs to be a good medium of theory and practice. If you only have the theory, you are going to be lacking in experience. If you only have the practice, you are going to be lacking in knowledge.

So what should you do as a beginner photographer? First of all, I would highly recommend at least flipping through your manual. It will tell you some of the aspects about your camera that will be finicky to learn, even through experience. I speak from experience here. When I first got my Canon EOS 550D, I had very little idea about what the various buttons did. I had played around with a Canon before, but never this model and there were a number of new buttons that made no sense to me. I automatically turned to manual mode and tried to change the aperture. I couldn't. I turned the dial that I had turned on the previous Canons that I had used, I pushed buttons and nothing happened. This is where my manual came in handy. I would never have guessed that the little button that looked like a magnifying glass could be used to switch between settings, allowing me to change them one at a time. Different models have different buttons, different methods and different features. Looking over your manual will at least tell you what some of these features are and how to use them.

While you are reading through your manual, I would highly recommend picking up your camera and testing out the settings that you are reading about. Reading is one thing, practicing is another. Sometimes you need to try your hand at something to completely understand it. Once again, understanding the theory of how it works does not mean that it will come across in your photography. Test your camera out.

Next, I would highly recommend finding some blogs to subscribe to. There is a wealth of knowledge available online from experienced photographers, and a number of people going through the same thing that you are. You can learn from both the experienced and the experiencing. It can help having someone to chat to about the problems that you are experiencing, particularly when that someone has experienced the same problem in the past. At the bottom of this post you can find a list of the photography blogs that I have subscribed to. Make sure that you find one that speaks to you. I subscribed to a large number of photography blogs at the start that either never posted anything of use (or never posted at all), posted articles that were far too advanced for my level of photography, or posted blogs that made me want to fall asleep. Everyone has their own personalities, and you need to find a blog that suits yours. I would also highly recommend looking at other people's photography. By doing this, you accustom yourself to good photography and you will find pictures that will inspire you to greater heights in your own photography.

Finally, I recommend taking up a project. For me, it was a 365 project - a photo a day for a year. This meant that, even when I didn't particularly want to, I felt that I had to pick up my camera and take a photo. I learned a lot this way. For example, I learned how to take photos in a number of different lighting situations - how to juggle shutter speed, aperture and ISO, when to use my flash and when not to, how best to use the light sources that I had. I look back on some of the photos that I took in the beginning that I thought were great at the time, and cringe now and all the mistakes that were made. But I also know that my mistakes back then influenced the photography that I do now. Now, I am not saying that everyone should take up a 365 day project, but I do think that you should set yourself projects and goals, even if it is trying to take a photo a day for a week, or a photo a week for a month, or trying to take pictures related to a particular theme or a particular feature that your camera has. But essentially, I highly recommend that you pick up your camera as often as possible and practice as much as you can using the different functions that your camera has so that, after a few months, you will no longer need to think about the settings that you use - they will just come naturally.

As promised, some of the blogs that I follow. I use Google Reader to follow my blogs, as I find that it allows for a great reading platform and means that I am integrating my photography blogs in with my friends blogs, my news blogs and my humour blogs. Please note that the links below are to the RSS Feeds for the sites. This means that if you use Google Reader, adding them to your reader will automatically let you follow their posts.

Beyond Megapixels is a photography blog that is run by Tiffany Joyce and Steve Russell and occasionally features guest writers on a variety of subjects. I find it useful as Tiffany and Steve cover a large range of topics and often have differing opinions on how things should be done, which makes for both interesting and educational reading.

Digital Photography School is a school run by Darren Rowse mainly, but featuring a large number of guest contributor posts on a range of subjects, camera and lens reviews by a number of experts in the field and challenges and competitions that can be both challenging and educational when you are starting out and just plain fun once you have got the hang of things.

Photofocus is entirely run by Scott Bourne, who has a wealth of knowledge that he is ready to dole out. He is an expert and well known in his field, and does occasional giveaways. While these are usually not open to South African readers, as the prizes need to be delivered to an address in the States, I personally would not mind paying for the shipping and customs tax to have a brand new Canon 7D sent from my Aunt in the States to here.

Through the Lens of Kimberly Gauthier is a blog written by an amateur photographer that I have recently started following. She has a number of insights into starting your own photography business and her blogs are both easy to read and fairly entertaining. While it is extremely handy learning from the experts in the field, sometimes you want to hear form someone a little more on your level, and Kimberly is great in that way. She takes great photos and can share the ups and downs that she has experienced in trying to get her feet off the ground as a photographer.

What the Duck is just a fun comic that I recently stumbled across and absolutely love. LOVE! Very cute, very witty, very funny and often very true.

Confidentiality

So I have been trying to get myself out in the public eye as a photographer recently, and it would seem that some of my efforts have been paying off, particularly after the last photo shoot that I did with Andrew and Adrian.

When I was out tonight, a number of people mentioned that they had seen and loved my photography, and I have one or two possible photo shoots in the near future that came about from people seeing and liking the photos that I took of the couple. I have also gotten a couple of messages throughout the week from people just wanting to mention how much they like my photos. Even better, when I commented on a photography blog that I read earlier this week, mentioning that I was an amateur and linking to my portfolio on 500px, I was informed (by a stranger) that my photography is certainly not of an amateur standard. So, all in all I am feeling very positive about my photography this week.

Tonight I was taking a number of photographs - just silly ones mostly and nothing amazing - and a situation did arise that made me question myself. As I was leaving my friend's house, he asked me to make sure not to put certain photographs of him and his boyfriend on Facebook. He had no issues with me taking the photographs at all, in fact he was one of the people who suggested that I do a photo shoot of him and his boyfriend. He just didn't want his family to know, as they are not particularly accepting. This wasn't a problem - I get requests often from people who do not want their parents to know that they smoke or are in a relationship or are caught in other situations that they do not want people to know about. But it did get me thinking.

If I were to do a photo shoot with this friend and his significant other, he assured me that I could add the photographs to my portfolio. But how far does that allowance go? As readers of my blog know, I tend to do blog posts about the photo shoots that I do, wanting to advertise the photographs that I take for publicity's sake. A lot of the people who know about my photography know about it because of my blog posts and the photos that are shown there. These are also updated on my Facebook page and the Evanescent Photography ZA page (which you must all please, please pretty please LIKE so that I can get more followers). Would his reluctance to have photographs with his boyfriend put on Facebook extend to putting those photos on my blog and having the blog published on Facebook, but without tagging him? How would I be able to get the photos out there without breaking his trust and his confidence? How far should the confidentiality and anonymity go?

These are questions that I need to find answers to, and any advise on them would be greatly appreciated.