Everyone is a photographer in today’s world. We all have more extensive tools to capture images with us at all times, than ever before. (Just like access to word processing, email, and social media spawned more ‘writers’ than ever before, so too has the smartphone).
But, of course, with this ability in everyone’s hands, we are also bombarded with a wide range of imagery on social media – not all of it beautiful. However, any amateur photographer can capture a fantastic image with the right conditions and a smartphone but consistent results require some skills and understanding of what makes an image special.
What is “photography”? The word derives from Greek, meaning ‘drawing with light’. (photo=light; graph=to draw). Photography can produce works of art even though, to some, it may seem like you are just recording what is right in front of you, using technology.
Topics to discuss:
What makes an amazing photograph???
- WOW Factor!?
- Light (painting with light, using light in different ways)
- discuss aperture, shutter speed, and ISO
- high and low key images
- Exposure settings (consider the moon and the snow)
- high dynamic range
- Composition – if you are an artist in other mediums, or an appreciator of art, you will likely already have a good grasp of this topic and will be familiar with concepts like the Rule of Thirds
- Landscapes: Think about foreground, midground, background, typically avoid the horizon in the middle of the shot..
- Portraits
- Colour, clarity, tone
- Patterns, texture, details
- Depth of field
- Subject Matter, focal point
- Tripod for low light and slow shutter shots
- Perspectives, angles and viewpoints
Chatter, distractions
- how many pixels do you have? (and does it matter)
- debate about post-processing (is it cheating?), quick and easy editing tips to improve your initial capture
Survey
I sent a survey to the creative club to gauge people’s skill level and interest and got 14 responses. Only a few have camera kits and most just want to use their smartphones with all iPhones, with one Android phone. (If you haven’t filled it in but would still like to, here is the link to the survey)
Subjects of interest based on the survey:
iPhone Tips