Sirius To Photography.com

And my least favourite….

admin — Sat, 28 May 2011 10:25:02 +0000

For me, photography is something I do because it’s enjoyable, satisfying and relaxing (even if it can be frustrating at times. I’m far from a top photographer but that doesn’t bother me because my photos are just for me – if I occasionally get a good shot I don’t mind sharing it but that’s not my main purpose.

That’s why my least favourite type of photography is weddings. I’ve only ever done two weddings for friends and I’ve hated them both. The problem is that the photography goes from being something just for me to enjoy to a highly pressurised job (that’s unpaid in this case) where the photos are for other people’s enjoyment rather than my own. If you miss a shot in wedding photography then there’s no chance of getting it back – you can’t go and ask the couple to get married again!

After the last wedding which I wasn’t happy with I decided never to take one on again. I dread being asked but luckily I haven’t had any requests for a while – hopefully it’ll stay that way.

Other types of photography that I’ve tried but haven’t really enjoyed are portraits – too much pressure to make people look good – and pet photography. The latter is an exercise is patience as pets rarely do what you want them to.

What’s my favourite type of photography?

admin — Thu, 26 May 2011 10:24:46 +0000

I question a lot of people ask when they find out that I’m into photography is which type I enjoy the most. I’ve been lucky enough to build up a range of different lenses over the years which has resulted in me being able to try many different types of photography, so it’s difficult to come up with one type that’s my favourite.

The obvious choice for me is wildlife photography as it’s something that I do a lot. Photographing wildlife can be frustrating at times, but once you get a really good shot the hours of waiting are all worth it. I started off trying to do wildlife photography without a big lens and it was even more frustrating – it’s very difficult to get close enough for a decent shot that fills the entire image. If you’re going to try wildlife photography you need to get a lens that’s built for the job.

A less obvious choice is sports photography. I’ve never had the chance to go and photograph a professional sporting event, but I’ve done several local events and always really enjoyed it. Unlike wildlife photography its very fast paced and you need to be concentrating all the time in order to get a good shot. Again, you need a high quality fast lens for this that’s capable of a high level of zoom otherwise you’ll find it difficult to take good shots which fill the frame.

I’ll talk about my least favourite types of photography in the next post.

The Digital Revolution

admin — Wed, 13 Apr 2011 14:06:30 +0000

Photography is a passion of mine – it has been for several decades at least – so I find it surprising that a lot of photographers still seem to regard digital photograph as some form of “cheating”. I constantly hear how photography used to be more difficult “back in the day”, and that’s probably true.

Does that mean that the best shots taken today are somehow devalued though? I don’t think so. There are too many advantages to digital, especially with the latest technology. Here are a few of the main advantages I can think of, let me know if you come up with any more.

The lack of physical film means you don’t have to worry about running out at the crucial moment. Yes, this means that you can take lots of shots rather than having to wait for the best one, but it just makes the end result easier and doesn’t devalue the shots.
Digital editing with tools such as Photoshop is a lot easier. Editing still went on with film cameras, it was just much more difficult! At least everyone is now aware how much a photographer can change his pictures.
Everyone can get into photography now. In the past, expensive cameras meant that fewer people had a chance to enjoy photography. Now, nearly everyone has a digital camera with them at all times (on their cell phone).

I agree that some of the “romantic” parts of photography are lost with digital cameras. Excitedly waiting in the dark room to see how your photo turned out is one example. Overall, I don’t think anyone can argue that digital isn’t an improvement though.