Thinking about a potentially photogenic moment and getting yourself in the right place, selecting and framing the composition and exposing correctly are all important in capturing a successful image.

When faced with a photogenic moment, don’t be afraid to take a photograph. I always used to be hesitant about taking a photo because I was using up my film. It is better to use all of your film in a short span of time (if you are getting good shots) rather than saving film for later ‘in case you see something better’. If you’re shooting digital, then this is less of a problem, you’re only limited by the size of your memory card and you can delete poor photos as you go. It may be advantageous to enable the burst or drive mode on your digital camera if it has one. There is a school of thought out there that says you should ‘shoot from the hip’ and not concern yourself about perfection in terms of focus, framing, and camera settings. This is the post-modernist view, and the biggest post-modernist photography group is lomography, thousands of people worldwide that pride themselves on using cheap equipment with little or no flexibility, the resulting artwork tends to be more abstract, conceptual, and occasionally kitsch. The opposite of this is modernist, where the photographer strives for perfection. Which method you choose is entirely up to you. You can even blend the two. It’s important to note that photography really has ‘no right answers’ and that there are a million and one ways to create something that is beautiful.

With a changing scene it’s also sometimes difficult to know whether all the elements that have caused you to raise your camera are going to gel better with time or suddenly evaporate into normality. That wonderfully balanced and perfectly framed moment could be rudely interrupted in an instant so shoot it whilst you can. Taking a sequence of shots will give you the luxury of being able to select the best. Remember, that un-noticed split second blink of an eye can ruin a potentially great shot.

Translating a scene or personal vision into successful image demands the skilful use of equipment. Without mastery over your camera and lenses you will at times fail to capture the moment.

Practice using your equipment until it becomes second nature. Spend time using your camera in the various modes if your camera has them: M is always manual; A or Av will cause the camera to auto calculate shutter speed based on aperture settings; and Tv is the opposite, I’ll tell you more about using these later.

Letting the camera think for you is fine for most situations but this will hinder you mastering the technical aspects of photography. Gradually you will learn how to correctly gauge exposure and how to put this to your artistic advantage. There are times when you will need these skills.

Shooting slide film will also help you improve your skills as it is not very forgiving if incorrectly exposed. The results will clearly indicate whether you’ve got to grips with things. If the images are too dark, try and ascertain what you did wrong. Predominantly white scenes (e.g. snow scapes) will fool the camera’s internal light meter and lead it to believe that there is actually more light available than there is – this will result in shooting faster or using a smaller aperture than actually is required. Conversely, if the scene has a lot of black in it, it will give also the wrong signals to the light meter, advising the photographer to shoot slower or open the aperture wider, resulting in an overexposed slide. If the camera were left to it’s own devices in these situations it would result in incorrectly exposed frames. Furthermore, in aperture priority (A or Av) mode, your camera will shoot at the speed according to the available light and the aperture setting. As long as you’re aware as to the speed the camera is shooting at, this is fine, but if you forget, the shutter might operate too slowly to capture a sharp image – this is called ‘camera shake’, and is also dependent on the length of the lens.

A telephoto lens has a limited depth of field – in fact, the longer the lens, the more limited it becomes. This makes focusing even more crucial, and requires an understanding of how the aperture setting on the lens will determine what appears in focus. The smaller the aperture (larger the f-stop number) the greater the depth of field. Remember however that there is a trade-off to be considered – a smaller aperture means that less light is available to make a correct exposure and a slower shutter speed will be required to compensate. Use a wide aperture to induce a narrow depth of field. Controlling depth of field in this way allows one to eliminate untidy or uninteresting backgrounds (or foregrounds) by throwing them out of focus and leaving the eye to be drawn to the subject itself (a portrait perhaps.) Remember that the widest aperture (commonly f1.8 on a standard 50mm lens) may mean that whilst the subjects eyes are in focus, their ears or tip of their nose may not be. There are also further disadvantages to consider. While stopping down to f16 will yield great depth of field, and nearly everything will be in focus, stopping down that far will actually soften the whole image slightly, as extreme aperture settings cause light to bend in unpredictable ways. A lens is most sharp around the middle of it’s range, generally f4 to f11 on a 50mm lens. You have to consider if you want shallow depth of field, broad depth of field, or the sharpest image possible when selecting aperture. With portraiture you will want a shallow depth of field, and the sharpness of the image will go down as you open up to say, f2, but this is actually an advantage in portraiture as it will give the image a natural and soft effect. If you want sharp portraits with shallow depth of field you need a longer lens (say, 90mm), and you will need to stop down further to maintain the whole of your subject in focus. However your longer lens will now be in it’s aperture sweet spot and you will get a sharper image.

Concentrate on the quality and direction of the light. Taking photographs when the sun is high in the sky creates huge difficulties for taking aesthetically appealing images due to sharp differences between the light and dark areas of a scene. In portraiture this can result in harsh shadows on the face created by the brows and nose (or the whole face if the subject is wearing a hat). Using a flash can help fill-in these dark areas, but can produce slightly artificial results. Try and use natural light whenever possible, reflected if necessary, and search out areas of diffuse light (such as areas of uniform shade) when photographing people. Shoot when the sun is lower in the sky.

Low light levels will not readily permit the luxury of being able to use a smaller aperture – the iris will need to be wide open to ensure that enough light hits the film. If you’re using a longer lens, this will also require a faster shutter speed so light intensity is very important, especially with slower films. Using faster films, tripod or flash can ease these limitations. Faster lenses can facilitate shooting in lower light but the problem of a limited, even restrictive depth of field is exacerbated.

Exactly what a photographer decides to include in a composition is just as important as what he/she decides to exclude. Do this by selectively cropping out the superfluous, untidy elements that fail to make a significant contribution to the overall composition. If necessary, move around your subject and shoot from an alternative perspective. Zoom with your feet where possible. Posts and overhead cables are obvious examples, but also watch for scraps of rubbish at peoples feet, and exterior elements that might unwittingly add an appendage to your subject. Try not to cut off people at their joints, it looks unnatural. Generally the best places to cut off a person when framing are just below the shoulders, around the waist area, around the thighs, or just keep the whole person in the shot. Cutting off at the hips or the knees just looks weird – try it and see. Don’t, under any circumstances, be afraid to not hold your camera level. If you think your shot looks a bit boring, try tilting the camera. It’s a really simple thing that a lot of people forget to do. Practice walking around and tilting your head from side to side. You’ll look like a flamin’ drongo but you’ll see more than what you would if you adhered to horizontals and verticals. Creative framing gives an image more energy. It can also be inappropriate, so have a think about what you want to convey. If you want to capture a peaceful or moody scene, you might be better off keeping the camera horizontal and moving around to reframe your shot by changing the juxtaposition of the subjects within it.

So what makes a good photograph? In my opinion, a good photograph elicits an emotional response; it is beautiful, or maybe it makes you laugh or it looks ‘cool’, like something that would appear in a magazine. It may say a lot or very little, but it has something to say. A photograph of a person should look into their soul. I am not a believer in art for art’s sake, although this is because I am modernist. A post-modernist would disagree with me here.

When hand holding, cameras with longer lenses attached are more prone to camera shake (blurred images through movement of the camera during exposure) than shorter lenses. Learn your limitations when hand holding. To guard against such pitfalls, employ a simple rule. That is, shoot at a speed that is at least the focal length of your lens. For instance, for 50mm lenses, shoot at 1/60th second or faster; 85-125mm – 1/125th; 135-200 – 1/250; 250-400 – 1/500th. A shutter speed of 1/60th is a safe minimum, but with a steady hand you should be able to manage 1/30th (or maybe even 1/15th) with a wide angle or standard (up to 50mm) lens. If you need to shoot slower, and don’t have a tripod, look for a stable platform to help support the camera. Some cameras are easier to hand hold than others; the lack of mirrors in digital cameras, and their use of shorter lenses makes them less prone to camera shake than SLRs.

Film choice is also important to note. You can spend a great deal of money on film, but for run-of-the-mill amateur photography you don’t need to buy professional film, which can run up above $10 per roll. The biggest thing to remember is DON’T BUY KODAK! All consumer Kodak film is rubbish, the only reason you get a half decent photo back is because every mini-lab knows how to correct for all the problems.

Fuji Superia is a much better choice and is cheaper too. You can often find it in 800 and 1600 speed. If you want to step up you can pick Fuji Reala, however this is only available in 100 speed. The contrast and colours you get are very similar to slide film. If you want to shoot in black & white, then Kodak sell a special film that can be processed as if it were colour, and this is the only decent consumer film that Kodak make. It will not look good if done at the chemist, but if you take it to a store that has a proper digital lab and ask for matte prints, it will look very good. You should always go to a proper store anyway. The results that good digital labs produce are far superior to what you get from the local chemist. Ted’s stores around the nation are now upgrading to the Agfa dLab, the output from these is fantastic and is not much more expensive than the cheap mini-labs. If you want to go even more extreme with film choice, then shoot slide film. Fuji Sensia is the first choice here, it’s a little more expensive than negative film ($7/roll) but will yield even better quality again. All professionals use slide film. It is very unforgiving to mistakes but carries amazing contrast and colour. But how do you get an image from slide film? If you have a film scanner at home, you can take your slide film to any professional place that processes slide and ask them to process it and cut it up into strips of 5 or 6 (however many your film scanner takes at a time) – you can then scan the strips, edit and print (on your own printer or take the files to a professional, or to anyone with an Agfa dLab where you can hand over a CD and get back prints)

The other alternative with slide film is to get it processed as negative film. This is known as cross-processing and is a well-documented feature of slide film. What happens when you process slide film in negative film chemicals is that you actually get a negative. The contrast and colours shoot up, as does the grain, and you may or may not get an interesting (and unpredictable) colour-shift. The negatives can then be printed as normal. Some places will do this, some will not. Some will charge you extra to do it – this is bullshit because there is no extra cost involved for them to do it, it’s exactly the same as a normal roll. There a few other ways to do this. One is to downright lie to the person that takes your film and tell them you ‘roll your own’ and it’s actually negative film inside. Some places (especially professionals) will cross-process if you ask them to no worries (because it’s a common thing in the professional world). You’ll pay more for professional printing however. Once again, most places with digital labs will do it, and you can even ask them to turn up the colour for even more extreme effects. The thing is to ask around.

Cross processing is best done with shots with simple subjects, such as still life. It is by far the best with portraiture or photographs containing people, as the contrasts and colour shifts you get give you a very contemporary ‘funky’ and ‘pop’ looking image. Even more so if you have a polariser (on manual focus cameras) or a circular polariser (on auto-focus cameras). Typing in “cross processing” into Google image search shows up a few examples of what you might get. Strong colour casts and interesting shifts and contrasts. Outside you’ll get strong blues, inside under regular lights you’ll get lots of reds, and under fluoro you’ll get lots of green. Movies such as The Matrix have exploited this kind of effect (although it was done digitally for the movie). The best thing to do is pop in some slide film, get it cross-processed and see for yourself. Use a bunch of different films, anything you can get your hand on, and make a ‘swatch book’ of different results… Then you can look through and spot a certain look, and find out which film you used for it. It’s worth also doing this while playing with depth of field so you can see the effects.

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I can only explain so much about what happens when you use a camera. The best thing to do is go and take photos and see for yourself. Next time I’ll go into detail about controlling depth of field and provide plenty of example images. Feel free to request an article on a certain topic by sending me a PM in the forums.

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To read earlier installments in phunkdust’s photography series click below:

| Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 |