Continuing on my photography-related post from last night, I wanted to post a few quick tips for improving your photography.

Get to know your camera.

When you bought your camera, in addition to the camera itself, there were probably a few other items inside the box. Maybe a battery, some cables, and a bundle of paper. That bundle was probably an owners manual; maybe a few of them in different languages. They include those in the box for a reason, namely that the camera you just bought has more features than the space shuttle.  You should read through the manual at least once. Some creative types have taken it a step further, and posted a picture using every feature in their camera. Most cameras contain a lot of feature that you will likely never use, but you’ll definitely never use them if you don’t know about them.

Learn the three elements of exposure: shutter speed, aperture, and ISO.

Understanding how these three elements contribute to making an image will dramatically improve the images you take. For example, there is a direct relationship between reducing the shutter speed and choosing a smaller aperture that will give you more depth of field. Knowing how they directly relate to each other will open up creative doors that you didn’t know existed.

Learn the basic “rules” of photography.

Learn the rules of composition, like the rule of thirds. Learn how to use focus to draw attention to the subject. Learn how to use subject placement. Learn the fundamental rules so that you can follow them. Learn them so you can break them.

Practice.

Practice makes perfect. Digital photography affords you the ability to take an infinite number of pictures and not have to pay for the cost of developing film. So take pictures. Experiment with the different features in your camera. Experiment with the three elements of exposure. Experiment with the rules of photography, and experiment with breaking those rules. Whether it’s your wife, your kids, your pets, or the food in your refrigerator, there are always willing subjects around you on which to practice. Take your camera everywhere you go, take it out of the bag, and use it.

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creative 365 – no. 75

Tonight’s post is a cross post from davidmonnerat.com. I had another friend ask me for advice on which camera to buy, so I decided to create an online guide.

You can check it out here:

http://www.davidmonnerat.com/blog/2011/04/22/which-digital-camera-should-i-buy-a-comprehensive-guide/

This is one of those nights when I feel as if I have spent all my creative capital earlier in the day. Specifically, I finally processed all of the images from the kids’ production of Jungle Book a few weeks ago. I’m actually in the process of uploading the pictures to Zenfolio now, but the new camera makes really big files, and it’s taking awhile.

So the title is correct. There is nothing to see here tonight, but once the pictures upload, I’ll be sure to provide some links.

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creative 365 – no. 73

I’ve been thinking about it for awhile (pronounced: a-hwile in honor of Family Guy), and tonight I’ve unofficially revived the blog over at davidmonnerat.com.

The main reason for doing so is to create a home for my photography related ideas. Of all of my interests, photography is my most established in terms of skill set and knowlege, and I would like to continue the work I did last year with establishing myself as a photographer, and doing that in a place focused entirely on my photography.

I don’t anticipate doing a lot of cross-posting between kettlepot and the davidmonnerat site, although I will, on occasion, reference one from the other. I really want that site to be more about my photography, the tools of the trade, and photography ideas in general, while kettlepot will be about my journey as a generalist.

So tonight’s post might be a little light in generalist substance, but I spent a lot of time earlier on a post for the other site. I haven’t figured out, long term, if posts on davidmonnerat.com will “count” for the 365, but tonight, it does. well, that, and this post. and i included a picture. so i’m covered.

Goodnight, Cleveland.

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creative 365 – no. 72

after basketball, mom, dad, and hockey (probably in that order), apples are one of junior’s favorite things. he’s got the first part of the word down (English, anyway), and if the saying is true, he’ll be keeping the doctor away for quite some time since he eats them in bulk.

about the picture… i’m going to redo some of the head shots for the school since the wall i used initially was a weird texture and left some unfortunate shadows, and i wanted to play around a bit with blowing out the background. junior let me use him as a model for a few shots, apple in hand (and in mouth). i’m not sure if we’ll use the technique for the head shots, but never hurts to practice.

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creative 365 – no. 69