After receiving bundles upon bundles of magazines in the mail in the lead-up to Christmas, it is the time of year that make you feel you need more and more equipment. Also, it is easy to get stuck a rut with your photography once you start feeling as though you don't have the right gear. Here are a couple of hints I have found helpful in this regard and try to keep in mind when the junk mail arrives in the postbox.
1. Persevere with the equipment you have, even if the final product seems less than satisfactory. Take lots and lots of photos - digital is fantastic like that! If you stop taking photos, months can easily go by before you pick up the camera again. The likelihood is that you will learn more about light and your camera this way than if you were to let it collect dust in the cupboard. You are also bound to stumble across a few great images in the process. Whilst a student at uni, a string on my guitar broke - I couldn't afford to fix it, so I kept playing without the D string. I learnt more about scales and fingering in those few weeks than i did in the prior months. The same is true of photography.
2. Invent ways to keep yourself interested in taking photos. Instead of taking photos of the same old things, look for completely new things to photograph. Go small, go large, go landscape, go portrait. Again, if you feel finances are limiting you with your camera gear use what you have to improvise the more expensive stuff. Flip your inexpensive standard zoom lens [see image of mealy bug on mulberry] over to capture the very small. Find a cheap tripod and use continuous light sources to shape your image.
3. If all else fails, give up. Photography is not for you...
WRONG
If you want to get some great snaps and make some good images keep at it! If you have an appreciation for good photography, I have no doubt that you are capable of reproducing what is in your mind.
4. :)
1. Persevere with the equipment you have, even if the final product seems less than satisfactory. Take lots and lots of photos - digital is fantastic like that! If you stop taking photos, months can easily go by before you pick up the camera again. The likelihood is that you will learn more about light and your camera this way than if you were to let it collect dust in the cupboard. You are also bound to stumble across a few great images in the process. Whilst a student at uni, a string on my guitar broke - I couldn't afford to fix it, so I kept playing without the D string. I learnt more about scales and fingering in those few weeks than i did in the prior months. The same is true of photography.
2. Invent ways to keep yourself interested in taking photos. Instead of taking photos of the same old things, look for completely new things to photograph. Go small, go large, go landscape, go portrait. Again, if you feel finances are limiting you with your camera gear use what you have to improvise the more expensive stuff. Flip your inexpensive standard zoom lens [see image of mealy bug on mulberry] over to capture the very small. Find a cheap tripod and use continuous light sources to shape your image.
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| Mealy Bug taken with my 6-yr old camera and original 14 - 45 mm lens. |
WRONG
If you want to get some great snaps and make some good images keep at it! If you have an appreciation for good photography, I have no doubt that you are capable of reproducing what is in your mind.
4. :)
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