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I removed the vocals to Cemetery Drive, leaving only the back ones.

Warning, you may never hear it the same.

Photography Basics

This post is about basics of photography, about what you need to be careful of, specifically for DSLR cameras.

DSLR stands for Digital Single-Lens Reflex. How does this camera work differently from your phone? Well, it has a mirror inside of it, that snaps up when you’re taking a picture so the sensor is exposed to capture the image. Also please understand that I had photography as a class, but I tried to simplify it as much as I could because it was simpler for me and would probably be for those that don’t understand these things as I do.

Don’t go for auto settings!

First thing, make sure that your camera is set up for the best quality, that it’s on manual and that you know where you have to press for adjusting the things I’m going to mention.

The first thing is aperture, which is just how wide your lens is open. It measures how much light comes through, which means that the image is lighter if it’s open wider or darker if it’s closed more. It’s marked as f/n, which means it could be f/8. And each next value is the opening increased to double or decreased to half. Something that always confuses is that the lower the number the bigger the opening. This also determines how blurred the background is (if it’s farther away from the thing that’s focused) and it’s higher if the value is smaller (f/2).

The next one is shutter speed, which is how long your sensor is exposed. The problem if you need slower speed is that the image will most likely be blurry, unless you have your camera on a stand. If it’s at a long speed, possibly 1 second, the sensor receives more light, but when the time is shorter like 1/1000, the sensor receives less light.

The next thing is ISO, which changes the sensitivity of the sensor. The problem is that when ISO is too high like 1600, there’s photographic noise. I suggest you use 100 or 200 on a regular basis, or a higher value only when it’s too dark even if you’ve done everything else with the other two.

Now, you need to adjust these three for whatever you need. For example, if you want to take a portrait of someone in nature, most likely you’ll want to have the background fairly blurry, so you choose f/2.8 and to not have it over exposed, you’ll have your shutter speed at 1/1000 or something like that, and ISO at 100 since you’re most likely going to take those pictures when the natural lighting is great for the picture.

Now, that we’ve finished talking about exposure, let’s talk about lighting. The best time for pictures is in the morning, both for the light (no strong shadows) and because there aren’t as many particles in the air as towards the evening. But if you need to use artificial lighting, you need to be careful that the light is white, as neutral as possible.

Connected to the previous thing, you have to be careful of white balance. This is one thing that I usually put on automatic since it’s pretty accurate, but otherwise, it just depends on the type of light you’re using.

Focus is very important to learn because you’ll always do it better as in on the right thing and it’s faster than auto focus. When focusing on people or animals, you’re supposed to focus on the eyes.

Now, the next thing is composition.

A rule, something you should always try to stick to because it’ll make your pictures look professional. That’s Rule of Thirds. That means that the picture is divided by two horizontal and two vertical lines, so try to stick to them or where the lines cross.

Use diagonal lines (guides) if you want to make something seem active or use horizontal lines (guides) to make something seem static.

Make sure that what you do with focus and such is with a reason. Don’t just do it because it looks better.

There are a few more things you should watch out for, but they’re pretty much self explanatory: perspective, framing with objects in the picture, use natural lines.

Now we’re moving on to post production.

There’s not much that I’d suggest for you to do, but the most important is to utilize the crop tool because you won’t always be satisfied with how it is because you couldn’t stand close enough or whatever. So use that, but use it wisely and don’t crop out things that are part of the message. This is specific to photographic journalism.

The next thing you should do is adjust brightness and everything that comes along. The pictures might look good, but there’s always room for tweaking and just a little bit more brightness could make the picture better.

Then, saturation. I don’t think I’ve been able to take an incredibly saturated picture (the one on top had it’s saturation adjusted to bring out all the colours). Don’t over do it because then the post production might be noticeable and the best post-production is when you can’t really tell.

Then you have different filters, like black and white. But I suggest you to take them with a grain of salt and don’t do every picture black and white or sepia (unless it’s a project where all the pictures are themed). An example of good use of black and white is with old things.

I have actually fallen in love with your photography. Love the way you capture light!! Any tips for someone starting out with photography?

Aww, thanks! Absolutely, I’d love to help however I can.

Whether you’re brand-new to photography or just trying to get better, these are my 10 biggest photo tips!

If it seems daunting, don’t worry, it’s not a list everyone needs to run out and complete tomorrow – just a roadmap of things to think about as you learn.

1. The best camera is the one you have with you. 

Case in point: my Fuji street kit is so light I even bring it on business shoots, but I’d never bring my heavy Canon kit on a street shoot.

Whether that means a little portable camera or even just your phone, focus on learning the device you’re most-willing to bring places.

All the expensive equipment in the world is worthless if you don’t have it with you at the right moment… plus, the quality of the camera matters infinitely less than the eyes behind it.

2. There’s (almost) no such thing as taking too many frames.

During a recent fast-paced play, I took 4,032 photos. Seriously.

On average, whether shooting for myself or work, I take about 5-10 images for every *one* I choose in editing.

Countless variables benefit from numerous frames. Moments come and go, expressions change, settings can be improved or better compositions found, a dog walks by and the photo gets 100% better. Yes, shoot with intentionality, but never be afraid of overshooting as you learn.

3. Mess around constantly…

…because this was just a random long exposure from exiting an elevator, plus a little editing.

Experimenting with weird stuff is how you find techniques and options you didn’t notice before. Look at a scene you find interesting, and figure out how many ways you can inject another element into it. 

The options are limitless. Use an unusual POV or object in the foreground, keep it perfectly symmetrical or extra askew, drag the shutter or let everything silhouette… it trains you to picture how 3D space works in a 2D photo.

4. Look up tutorials/explanations of camera settings, and take a little time to learn what’s affected by a setting so you can control it.

Mastering the fundamentals is vital, and it’s never been easier to learn. Plus, they’re simpler than they seem, I promise!

Getting settings to the point of muscle memory is what lets you catch the quick moments you get one shot at, and troubleshoot situations when something isn’t working.

4. Get lower, higher, or closer… 

…but especially closer.

Practically any shot gets more interesting from one of those perspectives, even those not containing crazy birds.

And if a photo is best completely straight-on, commit to it – make it as precise and flat as possible. Attention to those details makes a composition feel balanced and intentional.

5. Editing is half (or more) of the craft, and is basically magic.

Just some basic image prep turns this… 

…into this. 

There are tons of free photo editing options these days, and a ridiculous number of learning resources available. If you find yourself getting serious one day, though, you can get Lightroom & Photoshop CC for just $10 a month.

It’s easy to overedit a shot, too, but it’s better to go a little far and learn a lot from it than to never try.

Editing can range from just enhancing an image to outright transforming it, so it also benefits greatly from experimentation. Go nuts!

6. Seek out the interesting light wherever you are. 

This applies to everything from practical portraits to street photography – contrasts are always engaging.

Whether you need gentle light to put subjects into or weird light to mess with, more light equals more possibilities. And speaking of light…

7. External flashes can be crazy affordable these days ($36 or less!), and make practical, dim situations like events infinitely better. 

Speaking as someone who uses high-end lighting equipment daily, you don’t need expensive gear and crazy technical skills to get some nice light in tough spots.

Buy a cheap flash and dome diffuser, slap ‘em on the camera, bounce the light into the ceiling when possible, and adjust the power up/down as you go. Google suggested camera settings to use with flash.

See? Doesn’t have to be scary and overly-technical! Don’t get me wrong, you can do way more with a $2000 5-light portrait setup, but while learning, one cheap flash into the ceiling will get you far.

9. Nature is nice, but also not very challenging. 

There’s nothing wrong with it, but you don’t learn a ton from taking photos of already-beautiful things in ambient light. 

Branching out from nature (pun unintended) is a good path to keep growing (pun doubly-unintended). Whatever it is you like to shoot, find circumstances and subjects that push you to make a difficult situation look great.

10. Nothing makes you improve more than consistently closing the loop. Shoot, review, edit, post, repeat.

Yup… that’s the actual number of photos I took last year.

Practicing or researching one aspect of photography is good, but you learn infinitely more by going through the whole process again and again. 

Getting to the point of “I’ve edited this as well as I can, time to post” means you’ve gotten all you can out of it and are moving on… which isn’t always easy, I know.

Perfectionism is good, but can be paralyzing. If it stops you from creating new things because you’re still obsessing on the old ones, ironically, it’s slowing improvement down… the only way to become better is to push through and try to make the next image a tiny bit better than the last.

11. Cute animals.

They make every photo better. No exceptions.

Ok, sure, I said it was gonna only be 10, but that tip matters as much as all the previous ones combined.

–Colin (instagram)

“The story of a man and a woman who are separated by death. The man goes to hell only to realize by the devil telling him that she’s still alive. The devil says he can be with her again if he brings the devil the souls of a thousand evil men and the man agrees to do it, and so the devil hands him a gun.”

Regal Angel Fish, Pygoplites diacanthus, The Great Barrier Reef, Allan Power 1969

Botticelli, Primavera