It has been 2 years plus since I first bought my very first DSLR. In fact my very first camera. Along the way, I have taken around 20k worth of pictures, gobbled up almost 100GB on my HDD and most of the pics are now just sitting in the hard disk taking up space.
I admit that the number of pics is not really high. Some photography enthusiast can knock up that amount in about 3 months. Nevertheless, it has given me lessons that I will not have come across otherwise. Lessons that many a casual camera users may never realise.
Below are some of the things I have learned:
1. Photography is an expensive hobby!
That's the first thing that will strike you. Photography is expensive! Digital camera bodies are expensive! Lenses are expensive! The only comforting thought is that digital allows you to ditch the processing costs of film. Imagine developing over 20k worth of pictures! What's even more mortifying is that you will end up throwing most of those pictures!
On the other hand, most hobbies will rack up considerable costs if you're serious about it. Take cycling for example. The bicycle and it's equipment can cost quite a lot if you want decent gears! Fishing don't come cheap either. Good rods can cost up to four figures. And you have hooks and lures and lines and what not to consider. That's all BEFORE you even set one foot in a river to actually start fishing.
Heck! Even collecting toy figurines is not cheap! Do you know what a limited edition 'Gundam' mecha action figure can cost you?
2. There are 2 types of users out there.
In photography, you will come across 2 types of users - the gearhead and the photography enthusiast. The most obvious indicator is their pictures. Gearheads are obssessed with gears and their specs and what not. By just listening to them talk you can easily mistake them for being a guru in photography! That notion is quickly dispelled when you look at their pictures. Most will not have many for you to see. That's because they are more interested in discussing specs and functionality rather than taking pics.
The photography enthusiast can seem a little lost when asked about technical specs of cameras and lenses but when you see their pics, it's clear where they spend most of their time - out there taking pictures and improving their shots.
Of course there is the small percentage of users that are both gearheads and photography enthusiast. These are the people you would want to be close with as they are a source of technical and technique knowledge.
3. Taking nice pictures is hard work.
It is rare for a viewer of a pic to realise the amount of work that has been put into a particular shot. Even if the shots look like they were taken with minimal effort, looks can be deceiving. The amount of preparation needed for each shot may not be apparent in the final product but you can bet that it's nothing like taking a casual shot.
For most people, taking a picture means whipping out the camera, pointing it in the general direction of the subject and clicking the shutter button.
The photography enthusiast does way more work. He first have to acertain the correct settings for each location. The settings are NOT the same indoors as compared to outdoors. Heck, the settings are different when you're under shade as opposed to under sunlight even when you're outdoors and the locations are mere meters apart!
Then he has to frame the subjects in a nice way. He has to ensure that the background is pleasant and not distracting. He has to give instructions to pose the subjects (if they are humans) properly. Lock focus to ensure a sharp picture and then only click the shutter button. And he has to do all the above WITHOUT taking too much time that the human subjects begin to tire of the whole process. How long will it take you to start feeling impatient with a person pointing a camera at you trying to take your picture? 5 seconds? 10 seconds? That's the time frame the photo enthusiast has to work with.
You start to realise that every shot becomes very deliberate. Do you want to include the background? Do you want a full body shot or half body shot or a close-up? Which angle will be better? How would you light the subjects? Will you use artificial lighting with flashes or just use the available light? How do you want to pose them? All these questions and more will race through your mind as you are taking the pictures. You will need to be always on your toes to get good shots during a session especially if you're dealing with normal people and not models who are used to being photographed and knows the process somewhat.
After the session, the photographer's job is not done yet! You will have to post process the pics. By post processing I do not mean subjecting the pics to 'photoshopping' like adding in captions or removing blemishes and such. It's the basic adjustment of the digital 'negatives' after the shoot. In film you will have to develop the film negatives in a darkroom. In digital, the workflow is still there. Only difference is that you work using a computer rather than in a darkroom.
After this 'darkroom' post processing is done, you will have to sift through the stack and throw out the bad shots before you can start putting in special effects or 'photoshopping' the pics.
Sounds like a lot of work? You bet! Then why is it that normal compact cameras users don't go through this process? That is because the normal compact cameras has automated all the steps. It gives you the most common settings for all your shots and the development is done in camera using also the most common methodology without any user inputs and gives you the end product straight away. That's why most people tend to get 'funny' results when pictures are not taken outdoors under bright sunlight.
4. You decide where your photography level lies. Not your gears.
It's common when a bunch of photography buffs sit down together and look at each other's gears, those with 'lesser' gears will lust after the better gears. Those with entry level models will wish they had higher end bodies. Those with normal lenses will wish that they had 'pro' or 'premium' lenses.
Although the higher end gears does play a part in the pictures, it is a small part. Lots of time, people have to be aware that no matter what gears you have, it is possible to get great pictures. Your skills are much more important than any gears available. So rather than lusting after 'better' gears, you should be working on your skills instead. Improve your composition. Improve your lighting techniques.
If your picture composition skill is not up to par, you will still take badly composed pictures with the most expensive and most technologically advanced gears. If your lighting technique is bad, you will still have a lot of under or overexposed shots. So if your skills are lacking, upgrading to better gears will not be of much help.
5. When you have a passion for it, you won't mind the hard work.
It's unfortunate that not many people recognise that taking beautiful pictures needs a lot of hard work. To get one beautiful sunrise pic, you may have woken up way before the crack of dawn on many a days and forced yourself to go out there and wait for the sun to rise. Some days, the sun just won't co-operate and you come home empty handed. Some days, the sky may be just too dull or empty. Just the sun and no clouds or just the clouds and not enough sun and you come home empty handed. But there will be a day when all your patience and discipline will pay off and you bag your picture.
What irks me the most is when people take one look and say something like, "Wow! That's one lucky shot!" or "No wonder! Just look at the camera you're using!" Waking up before the crack of dawn for countless days waiting and preparing for the conditions to be right is lucky? Or maybe just buying the most expensive camera gears will get you those shots? Hmph! I would like to see them try to be lucky with expensive equipment!
But then what pleases me the most is just the flip side of that same fine line. You have worked your butt off and someone takes a look and then comments, "That's a great picture! I love it!" That one comment will send me off to the heavens! All the hard work now seems justified. All the money spent on gears now seems worth it. And I'm raring to go out there again to get another shot that will garner similar comments.
But often times, comments like that are few and far in between. What keeps you going in the meantime is your passion for it.
So I have learned much and there is still much to learn but the biggest thing that photography has opened up for me is my eyes! I have begun to see things that I have overlooked. I can now see the beauty that lies hidden in the mundane and the familiar surroundings.
How many of us take the time to look up into the morning sky on your way to work? How many of us really notice the colors that the sunset brings, even in the city? There's beauty everywhere. All we need to do is look. We need to learn to let go of the ugly and take in the beauty. Forget that traffic jam and look at the beautiful sunrise. Don't mind the crowd and see how the sky changes its color when the sun goes down. Look out for the smiles in people faces rather than the frowns. The world is a beautiful place. Learn how to look out for it. For that I will be eternally grateful.
