Making the Most of Any Camera

We've heard it before haven't we? It's not the camera that matters, but the photographer using it. That doesn't stop us from wanting the best gear, constantly dreaming of camera body upgrades and faster lenses, the idea being that more expensive equipment will help us to take better photos. After all, having the right equipment is important for any craft.

So, where does that leave the rest of us? With our entry level DSLRs, point and shoot, or cell phone cameras?

Both photos shot with Nikon D3000 (Entry Level DSLR)

No matter what equipment you have, be it a DIY Pinhole Camera or a top of the line DSLR, the fundamentals of photography remain the same: light, composition, knowing your gear inside out. Mastering these fundamentals will allow you (with practice) to take the absolute best shots that you can with what you already have.

Photos taken with my iPhone and uploaded to instagram (@satakieli)

Light is the most important aspect of photography, it is how your camera sees the world and not only that but it can make or break your images. Check out this exercise for practicing with various lighting by Melissa.

Composition is the arrangement of visual elements in the photograph, the act of combining elements to form a whole. This includes (but is not limited to) things like perspective, posing your subjects, and focus. Check out Brooke's tips on Working your Subject.

No matter what you are shooting with, knowing your gear is hugely important. You should know the strengths, weaknesses, and quirks of what you are shooting with. If your camera has a manual setting you should learn to use it. If it does not, then you should learn how to use other settings to your advantage. You should know how your camera works, no matter what camera it is.

Photos taken with my iPhone and uploaded to instagram (@satakieli)

Some of my favourite photos that I've ever taken were shot with my cell phone camera, using the same principles that I would use with my DSLR. You can read more about making the most of your cell phone camera in Audrey's post here, and on this post from my own blog. Even the most unlikely equipment can give you fantastic results, check out these beautiful photos taken with toy cameras or this article from Adorama on shooting great travel photography without a DSLR.

Don't let your gear hold you back, get out there and shoot!




 Written by Rebecca of Bumbles & Light

Finding Your Style

After mastering manual mode on your camera, and learning any number of shooting and post processing techniques, the next thing on the photographers checklist is often: Find my style.

Your photography style encompasses everything you do. Not only your own personal tastes but also the way you shoot, the lenses you prefer to use and your post processing technique. Your style can be influenced by possible limitations of your current gear, even the climate and surroundings where you live. It might sound strange, but I've noticed that my style is a little different now while I'm currently staying at my parent's place in England, than it was when I was back in Chicago simply due to the different surroundings.

It's relatively easy to fall into the trap of thinking that you quite like a specific style, perhaps one you've seen a fellow photographer using, and because you quite like it you might decide then and there that you're going to use it for your own. It is great to try out new things and be open to influence, after all that is how we learn and grow as artists. But we should also strive to make something that is all our own.

You might absolutely adore a current clothing trend, you're in the store looking at clothes and decide you should try something on. But you get into the fitting rooms looking in the mirror and you find that this trend just does not suit you. I, for one, simply cannot wear pastel colours and as much as I might love them it will never change the fact that they look truly terrible on me.

Photographic styles, and art styles more generally, do work in a similar way. You might admire the style of a fellow photographer, or love how a Photoshop action you recently purchased looks in the preview images on the website, but find that when applied to your own photography it just does not suit your style of shooting or your vision.

You can visually enjoy a style without committing to it.

I love the soft tones of vintage style processing, the pretty yellows and creams... the gorgeous staging and props. But that style of processing does not suit my way of shooting.

Just as your personal style, your taste in clothing, make-up, hair and home decor, develops as you grow, your photography style does too. Your style is not the destination, but a journey influenced by the things you learn on the way, the people you meet, and the situations that you find yourself in. It is always present and always changing.

So don't worry so much about finding your style, because you already have. Your style is you, and it will grow and develop as you do. Keep on shooting and experimenting always.

Stop and look at your own photographs. How would you describe your current style?



 Written by Rebecca of Bumbles & Light