#wilap

Another audio-post with full-written text

Some things *I* learned about photography - Pt.26 

46. The value of EXIFs and my presumptuousness

I already wrote about EXIF-data in a previous post (link) in which I tried to explain, how looking at EXIF’s helped me to improve my knowledge about analyzing pictures and the look of them.

In short: By looking at the EXIF data of a picture, you can find out, which camera settings were used in a certain shot and so maybe find out, why a picture has a certain look. I also emphasized, how the “wrong” settings didn’t give me the look I wanted in a certain picture and how I would do things differently today (I completely missed the point, that I’d even process the picture very differently today)

I’m heading in a different direction in this post. I made a habit of looking at the EXIF data of every picture I really like and I learned two things:

In many cases the provided EXIF’s where quite a surprise for me, because they were completely different than I expected. I often wonder why certain settings were used and with my “know-it-all” attitude that I sometimes fall back in (I’m working on it. Promised!) I shook my had not only once. "Come on! Why did you use that aperture?", "You could have cranked up ISO much higher in that shot!", "Why the heck did you use such a fast shutter speed?" What I did, was exactly what I judge others for: I implied that other photographers don’t do things for a reason. I mean, I was not there. I don’t know, what the circumstances were, how the light was, if they used a tripod or not, etc…

So by realizing that and also realizing that this all had to do with pictures I liked, I learned a second thing:

With settings, it’s exactly the same as with all “rules” in all artforms:

Following the rules is a good starting point. Follow the rules when they give you the results you want. Follow the rules if you are unsure or follow the rules if you don’t have the time to play around.

But forget about the rules and go crazy to really make pictures that stand out. Great pictures are not dependant on following rules.

So, actually realizing that all, freed a lot and maybe - some day - I’ll be able to shut my head off and go further in “experimental photography” without thinking too much.

Continuing my personal list of what I learned about photography

8. RTFM! Well, Reading The Fucking Manual is boring, I know and - especially if you’re a beginning photographer - you might not understand a lot of what’s inside. But by reading the manual, you get an overview what your camera is capable of. You won’t use about 90% of the information, but it’s good to know that the information is there, if you’re one day looking for it.

9. Take the manual always with you. Maybe get a digital copy from the web and put it on your smartphone or tablet, so it’s always at hand.

10. If your camera has a digital zoom, switch it off. Forget about it completely. Every photo editing software does a way better job than any digital zoom.

11. Start editing your pictures. Seriously. Load the pictures into the photo-editing software of your choice and play around with them. Crop them, turn them, use weird angles. Try to realize what you can do to your pictures that makes them more interesting. You’ll eventually start doing these things in camera.

12. Go on photowalks - alone or with fellow photographers. If you just take pictures, while non-photographers wait for you to be “finally ready with your picture-making”, you’ll be stressed and the other ones will be annoyed.

13. Get to know your camera and lenses. Every camera and every lens work best with different settings and under different conditions. For example: While one lens might give you the sharpest picture with f 5.6, another lens will be sharpest with f 8. Check with which focal lenght you get the most undistorted picture.

14. Learn the rules but don’t stick to them religiously. Just don’t. The rules work almost every time. And they are a safe way to create pictures that work. But bear in mind that rules are also a safe way to create dull pictures. Take the pictures you like. The way you like them. Don’t get me wrong: Knowing the rules is the basis. But after you took a picture according to the rules, take a second and third one and take the freedom to bend and twist the rules. What’s the worst thing that can happen? Having to delete two out of three pictures.

Reading the great list I re-blogged earlier, I wanted to make a list myself, adding points that weren’t on it and that can - out of my own experience - improve your pictures big time. Here’s the first part.

1. Avoid using the on-camera flash. It will most of the time look awful. If you have to use it, try to diffuse it and/or use the flash exposure compensation to make it a bit less harsh. I only use the on-camera flash either as a fill-light or to trigger another off-camera flash. 2. Try to take pictures with available light whenever possible. This will give you way more natural looking photos. 3. A combination of “hard” and “soft” light can lead to great looking results. 4. Before taking a picture, try to realize where the light comes from and what it does to the scenery. Change the scenery or your point of view accordingly if neccessary. 5. Always try to find a “more interesting” angle 6. Using Auto-modes of your camera is not a bad thing per sé. But if you want to improve, shoot auto and then check the settings the camera made, if you like the outcome. 7. Professional photographers don’t shoot fully manual all the time. Most of them use the aperture priority mode (AV with Canon, A with Nikon) to set the desired aperture. Aperture, focal lenght and sensor size determine the depth of field. So shutterspeed (and ISO, if Auto-ISO is selected) will be set by the camera accordingly.