Favorite Photography Tips

So I have these things that I think about while I’m out in the field photographing, or waiting or driving to a location to photograph , about my favorite things in creating art with a camera. And there are many. But I don’t particularly like reading long articles myself, so I like to keep things rather short if I can.

One thing I love is photographing a subject super close up about half of the time. Why? Because it adds more detail. This image that accompanies this that you’re reading was not zoomed in at all. And I like doing that because not only are you seeing more of the sunset here, but you’re seeing more of the varied color in the distance. If I were to zoom in on, say, somewhere in the distance where it’s yellow, yellow would be all you would see. And that’s fine, mono color has it’s uses, but to me, I prefer that kaleidoscope of color on the horizon. Detail is also more present when not zooming in in another way. And that is that a camera’s lens can retain more detail up close than it can when you zoom into something far away. Not to mention atmospheric distortion that gets in the way of the subject off in the distance that you’re trying to have pin sharp in your photo.

Another thing that I love photographing is during the Golden Hour and the Blue Hour. And the reason for this is because those are the times when the colors provided by earth and the Heavens are the most magical. So basically an hour before and after the sun sets. Before that? Too bright really. After that? Too dark really. There are exceptions to this, but if you’re trying to keep it simple those are good things to remember.

Another favorite thing? Filters. And by that that can mean a couple of things. It can be any number of physical filters that screw onto the end of your camera lens, or, it can also mean a computer generated filter. Lets start with the type that you screw on. My favorites would be a star filter. And what a star filter does is it creates a star effect at night on any bright light source. So if you want street lights to look like stars? You can use a star filter. And these filters come in different varieties. The one’s that I have purchased come in 4, 6, or 8 pointed stars. I prefer the 8 myself as it looks more realistic for a star effect. I won’t go into all the filters that I use in great detail, but I will mention them. I occasionally use a polarizing filter, a neutral density filter, and sometimes a graduated neutral density filter as well. I may write a blog at some point just about the use of filters as it would take up a lot of room.

Shooting in Winter. And the cool thing about this is that presently as I write this it’s winter now! Okay, so, I’m not a huge fan of the cold. But, I dress for it like you wouldn’t believe. I dress in tons of layers, I wear gloves with hand warmers inside, and this usually allows me time to get the shots when it’s super cold that I need. If you don’t dress warm enough, you’ll have to call it quits quickly. Also, in winter there’s snow, which just creates the most beautiful photos. Not to mention that in winter the sunsets tend to be a bit more dramatic. Not better, just more dramatic and that drama is more frequent.

So these are just some of my favorite things about photography. I truly am so very grateful to the people who either follow my Facebook, Instagram, or my WordPress Webpage right here. I’m not a technical camera nerd by any means, I’m just an old soul that loves art and loves the fact that people seem to like what I shoot. And for that I am eternally grateful.