What’s it take for a Great Picture?
Lake Quinault
Living on the Olympic Peninsula gives us a wide variety of different opportunities for photography, from resident elk herds, to the Hoh Rain Forest and Hurricane Ridge within the Olympic National Park or at the Sequim Lavender Festival. We have all four seasons, a relatively dark sky and, if we’re in the mood, just a ferry ride away from Victoria, BC.
But it’s not the location that provides the opportunities, it’s the eye of the artist and the interests of the photographer that tells the story behind any captured set of pixels.
It’s also not the equpment. Although equipment can provide greater diversity, it doesn’t change the eye of the artist. The cell phone camera’s of today create spectacular images and even shoot in RAW format that allows for greater post processing opportunities. Point and Shoot or all in one cameras provide a great opportunity for increased diversity without the significant investment in camera gear, or the significant weight of equipment when traveling, hiking or just running about.
Personally, I shoot with Canon equipment, carry a 3 year old Samsung phone and always carry a Sony point and shoot in the car, suitcase or pockect, just in case.
Regardless of where you live or what equipment you carry, take the time to know the functions of your camera. Understand shutter speed, aperture, ISO and the difference between shooting RAW or JPEG. YouTube is a great resource as well as may other online venues, and its all free. Then practice. I can say that I have taken well over a million pictures and thanks to the digital realm, it’s very inexpensive and gives you immediate feedback. If you don’t like a shot, delete and take another.
Scarlet Macaw
Look for a story too, action shots or an expression, or a unique perspective are all things to explore. Think about a framing a shot from a childs perspective (or from a snails perspective!), think about a giraffes perspective, if you can get it safely. In the above shot, all I could think about was the two birds talking about the “show-off” flying for the tourists!
Finally, don’t get discouraged. On a given day, chasing birds or looking for a unique landscape, I may take 500 to 1000 pictures in RAW. My work flow starts when I get home and I download and backup my pictures, quickly scan each file and delete 80% for some technical reason (focus, light, blur, etc.). I’ll then go through them slower, checking background, magnifying to confirm focus, validating exposure and that corrections can be made. This will take out about half, bringing me down to 10% of the total.
From there, I look for the best 10 to 20 pictures, run them through post processing using Topaz and Lightroom Classic which results in a final set of files that may or may not make it to publication. But, each time, I critique my work to see where I can improve and put it to practice.
If you have any questions or comments, or have something to add, please submit comments.
Go out and enjoy, life is short but pixels are free!