Getting into photography
Recently I bought a camera and started taking photos. I wanted to write about some of the things I learned so far in this journey.
It’s all started with an advertisement
I was not planning on getting into photography. One day I came across an advertisement for a FujiFilm X100V camera on Facebook. I fell in love with the look of the camera. I’m a fan of well made things and this camera is one of those.
Soon after I purchased a X100V for myself and started taking photos. Since it’s a fixed lens camera, I soon found out that I need an interchangeable lens camera. I later switched to a FujiFilm XT30. Again a very good looking camera from FujiFilm.
Some say cameras are tools and how they look and feel should not matter for the act of taking photos. My stands is, its a personal choice and I do enjoy taking photos in a camera that feels like the makers of it deeply cared about its design choices and aesthetics.
Time to take photos
After buying the camera and getting the initial dopamine hit of purchasing something new, It’s time for me to see If I actually enjoy going out and taking photos.
I enjoy spending time in nature. I decided to combine this with photography and started taking photos of landscapes and my surroundings.
Learning the basics of camera
If you are completely new to handling a camera in a non auto mode, I highly recommend watching a few YouTube videos and understand the very basics such as ISO, aperture and shutter speed. Also famously known as the exposure triangle.
But don’t feel like you have to learn all these before start taking photos. There is no equivalent to actually taking photos so get out there.
Composition, a life long learning
I’m still learning a lot about the technicalities of taking photos. How to get the right exposure? How to get a sharp photo? How to focus stack? How to exposure bracket? and the list goes on.
But the most exciting thing for me is learning about composition and seeing my eye for composition improve everyday.
Composition is the art of placing things in your photo in an aesthetically pleasing way. The more you go out and take photos, the sooner you start seeing interesting ways to place things in the frame.
Feedback loop
I find going through my photos after each session and seeing what worked and what did not help me understand my mistakes. How could I compose a similar situation better the next time? How could I expose better next time on similar lighting conditions and so on.
A fast feedback loop is important to learning any skill. With digital cameras we have the luxury of reviewing the pictures immediately. What’s even better is reviewing the photos you took a month earlier to learn from your mistakes.
Editing
I shoot RAW and edit my photos in Adobe Lightroom. I enjoy the process of editing. I picked Lightroom since its used widely by a lot of photographers and easier to find tutorials on Youtube. But feel free to look for free alternatives if you are comfortable learning them.
Enjoying the process
I think it’s really important to enjoy the process as same as the outcome. Otherwise it’s could be hard to sustain it for long term. If you are thinking about getting into photography, ask yourself do you only like the idea of having a few good photos to show it to your friends and post it in social media or is it more that that? would you enjoy the process of looking for locations, getting out there, taking photos, reviewing them, editing and sharing. I do enjoy the whole process a lot and that’s why this hobby is very rewarding experience for me personally.
If you don’t enjoy the act of taking photos for the sake of it, there is a high chance you will loose motivation after a while.
Zero expectations
Photography for me is just a hobby for the sake of doing it. It’s a creative outlet. It’s very rewarding because its a skill you need to work for but it’s also a skill you can acquire at a decent phase and start seeing results for your efforts.
Going into a photo walk with zero exceptions makes the process really enjoyable. If I come back with at least one good photos, that a bonus.
If you are looking for a creative outlet, I encourage you to look into photography. Don’t invest on too much gear before you figure out if you actually enjoy the process of taking photos. Start light and see how you go.