MY KIND OF ART: PHOTOGRAPHY

People start doing photography (versus taking snaps or selfies) for many reasons. It might be a major life event coming up – new baby, wedding, special birthday – or that overseas trip saved up for over many years. It might be that the capabilities of your phone frustrate you enough to want to get real about photography. However it happens, suddenly you find yourself with an empty bank account and some form of camera gear that you now need to figure out how and where and maybe even, why to use it.

Photography adds so much value to our lives, by recording special events, people, or places, as well as helping us learn and grow as people. It allows you to share your life and experiences in more meaningful ways via images, either online or printed and given as gifts. Or perhaps you might be quietly puttering away in your home studio, perfecting the art of the macro lens. Photography is an art as well as practice. It is not only a snap out of camera. It is a practice of creating a durable picture. Photography doesn’t mean expensive equipment. Many people said that they wanted to become a photographer, but they didn’t have a high quality camera.  An expensive camera will not make you a photographer. Initially as a beginner you might not need one, you can use your phone camera to practice the skill and use its manual settings rather the automatic ones.

 I usually like taking pictures of nature for example sunset with subject infront, birds soaring high in the sky, debutants and many more things. I’m just beginner and I mostly use my mobile phone and a basic DSLR camera to take shots. My friend and I also created an Instagram profile with the name: @mengslzr

SUNSET IN PASEO DEL MAR

SUNSET IN LA PAZ

RINA’S PRE-DEBUT PHOTO SHOOT 

5 Reasons why photography is a great hobby:

#1 Recording events and memories

Photography allows you to create images of events, times, and places. To both record what happened and allow you to share them with friends and family, either in digital format or more permanently with prints or photo books. By being able to capture a special moment in time, you carry the memory of that event forward with you, allowing you to share it and remember it with those that were there. Those memories become part of your history, perhaps family lore, not just stories passed down through the generations – but images as well. As the popular idiom says, “A picture is worth a thousand words”.

#2 Have fun

So much fun can be had with a camera. You could be out with the family at the beach or a picnic, local sports games, randomly roaming your city streets photographing strangers without them noticing, stalking wildlife, hiking up a mountain for a stunning view, or standing under the stars at 2 a.m. watching the Milky Way slowly move across the heavens. So many opportunities to do new, interesting, and fun things with your camera that you likely may not have otherwise done. All sorts of things become interesting when they can provide you with material for photographic adventures

#3 Learning a new skill is good for your brain

Research has shown that learning a new skill helps the brain and improves memory, and the more difficult the skill, the more improvement you get. Coupled with exercise, these two things are considered important for long-term brain health and neuroplasticity. Studies show that slower learning over time helps build strong new linkages within the brain.

New knowledge will accumulate over time, as you keep putting effort into learning a new skill. Given that photography has so many elements, the science of light, the technology of the camera and the creative artistic side, there is a lot to learn. So whatever your age, now is the perfect time to start learning photography.

#4 Creativity

In her book, “Big Magic: Creative Living beyond Fear”, Elizabeth Gilbert writes a great deal about creativity and inspiration. She says it is good for us as individuals, and that the world is a better place for having art in it. That feeling when you finally get the awesome sunrise photo or the perfect candid, maybe the aurora or a meteor shower, or whatever your passion is, that feeling when you finally get the image, makes it all worthwhile.

Being creative is something we don’t tend to allow ourselves to do as adults. Photography is a very acceptable form of creativity that allows endless flexibility in how you adapt it to your own personal style. That style can grow as you learn more and start to experiment with different things.  Creativity is fun and it provides a necessary balance against the stressful demands of the modern lifestyle.

#5 Travel

Traveling to different parts of your own city or country, and if you are lucky enough to afford it, other parts of the world is a likely outcome of taking up photography. There is so much interesting stuff to photograph in other places including landscapes, wildlife, architecture, and people from other cultures. Travel broadens the mind and exposes you to new concepts and ideas and is an excellent learning opportunity. It provides so much creative variety and possibilities for personal growth. Taking the opportunity to travel, even just a couple of hours drive or bus ride away, can provide entirely new situations and vistas. Be brave and venture forth.

If you want to choose photography as a career then you have to follow some tips;

a) You have to increase your photography skills, and only through practice you can improve the desired skills.

b) Soft box can also help you  improve your photography. Lightroom is the best thing, that can change your photography life.

c) You should know each and everything about your camera. If you have no idea about your own camera, it means you have no interest in it.

d) You should collect photographic tips from every photographer even from a beginner. These tips help you capture a better image from a new angle because every photographer has his own angle.

I did not know that one day I will start loving taking pictures so much that I will get into its technicalities and discuss it with you all. Although I’m not a big photographer, but here I want to share a few things with beginner photographers and as well want to reflect upon all that if you love doing something then just do it, your passion should be the enough resource to keep you going rather you keep waiting that one day you will get all necessary stuff required to pursue your passion. I usually like taking pictures of nature for example sunset, birds soaring high in the sky and many more things. I’m just beginner and I mostly use my mobile phone and a basic DSLR camera to take shots. If you love photography and it makes you happy then you should keep doing it. Don’t quit this hobby and passion if someone tells you that you don’t have the appropriate equipment or even a basic DSLR camera or basic lens. Photography also gives me creative fulfilment. It helps me express myself artistically, and for me that’s a wonderful thing. Creativity is a major part of my life. Photography is a hobby that offers so many possibilities for creative expression, technical expertise, and sheer variety of ways to capture an image. Age is not a barrier to learning a new hobby and you can start with the camera on your phone if that’s what you have available.