Photography As a Career

Here is a list of most of the branches of photography where one can look to start his/her career with.

Wedding Photography. 

Wedding photographer captures the best moments of your life.

Fashion Photography.
Fashion photographers create portfolios for models.

Portrait Photography

Photographing  portraits of people. This is one of the oldest types of photography.

Event Photography.
Capturing events like parties, conferences, seminars, religious functions, trade fairs etc is event photography.

Travel Photography.

Capturing different people and places by travelling extensively is travel photography.

Macro Photography.

Capturing the things that are not normally visible to the human eyes is macro photography. It brings the minute details of the subject.

Wildlife Photography.

Wildlife photography is a genre of photography  concerned with documenting various forms of wildlife in their natural habitat.

Underwater Photography.

Photographing the underwater world.

Aerial Photography

Aerial photography is that kind of photography where pictures are captures from a higher altitude such as planes, air balloons, parachutes and helicopters etc.

Architectural - Real estate – Interior Photography.

This type of photography deals with taking shots of structures, houses and buildings from different angles.

Photojournalism.

 Photojournalism generally involves shooting pictures of newsworthy events.

Medical Photography.

Photography done for clinical purposes in laboratories, hospitals etc.

Food Photography.
As name suggests it involves capturing different types of food or dishes.

Sports Photography.

Capturing sports action of any sport may be cricket, football, basketball, boxing etc comes under Sports Photography

Forensic Photography.

This type of photography involves police and other related legal matters.

Baby Photography.

The different expressions of a baby are captured in this type of photography.

Astro Photography.

This is a type of photography which involves recording images of astronomical objects and large areas of the night sky.

Commercial Photography.

Product shoot and photography done for advertising purpose comes under commercial photography.

Stock Photography.

Selling your photos online on different stock agencies like shutter stock, Getty Images, istock photo,Corbis etc.

Landscape Photography.

Landscape photographer mainly capture the beauty of nature but can also focus on man-made features.

Photography has different branches most of them are mentioned above. One can choose the type of photography he/she like or is interested in.

Wedding and event photography are most common then the others. They are also easy. When I say easy I dont mean easy in level of skills required but I mean easy to get work. Every household and company always require the services of a photographer for their weddings, birthday parties, conferences and so on. Hence there is a huge market for the same. But please note that bigger the market bigger will be the competition.  

Eid Mubarak

Eid Mubarak

I wish all of you a very happy and peaceful Eid. May ALLAH accept all our good deeds, forgive all our transgressions and sins, and ease the suffering of all people around the globe.

Basics Of Photography (II)

Now Let us go into technical aspect of photography. One of the first things you will want to get your head around in photography is understanding exposure. A “correct” or good exposure occurs when you maintain as much detail as possible in both very bright parts (highlights) as well as the very dark parts (shadows) in an image. In simple terms, the camera's exposure value settings determine if an image will be too light, too dark, or correctly exposed according to normal standards.

The correct or desired exposure is obtained by using a combination of the lens aperture, the shutter speed and the ISO setting. These three functions are commonly known as the "Exposure Triangle". 

Lets take a look at each of these functions individually, and then how they work in relation to each other. 

The Exposure Triangle

1) Aperture

2) Shutter Speed

3) ISO

1)   Aperture

Aperture is ‘the opening in the lens.’ The size of the lens aperture opening determines the amount of light that reaches the camera's image sensor.

Inside the camera lens is a system of blades which open and close to increase or decrease the opening through which the light passes into the camera.

 Aperture is measured in ‘f-stops’. ie. the various lens aperture settings are called "F Stops". The aperture settings with the lower F Stop numbers allow more light to reach the image sensor than the settings with the higher F Stop numbers. ie. f/1.4 will allow more light then f/5.6 and vice versa. Moving from one f-stop to the next doubles or halves the size of the amount of opening in your lens (and the amount of light getting through).

Now this is very important as most of the new photographers get confused. Please note that large apertures (where lots of light gets through) are given f/stop smaller numbers and smaller apertures (where less light gets through) have larger f-stop numbers. So f/1.8 is in fact a much larger aperture than f/16.

Depth of Field and Aperture

Another important feature of the camera lens aperture is its effect on the Depth of Field in an image. Depth of field is a reference to how much of the image, (subject, foreground, and background) will be in focus. 

Large depth of field means that most of your image will be in focus.  Large dept of field is ( large f number, small aperture, less light) is mostly used for landscapes.

Small or shallow depth of field means that only part of the image will be in focus and the rest will be blur or fuzzy . Small dept of field ( small f number, large aperture, more light) is mostly used for portraits. Or in other words large aperture ( small f number) will decrease depth of field while small aperture (larger f numbers) will give you larger depth of field. While the camera aperture plays a significant part in the depth of field of an image, it is not the only factor. The distance from the camera lens to the subject also plays a part when it comes to depth of field. The closer the camera lens is to the subject, the more shallow the depth of field will be. The further the subject is away from the camera lens, the wider the depth of field will be.The type of camera lens that is used may also affect the appearance of depth of field in an image.

In the above two images the first image has large dept of field. As you can clearly see that the full image is in focus while in the second picture only the glass to the right is in focus. The rest ( other glass and chairs) go out of focus hence the second picture has shallow dept of field.

2)   Shutter Speed.

Just as the aperture affects the exposure so do the shutter speed. Shutter speed is ‘the amount of time that the shutter is open’.  More specifically the shutter speed determines the length of time that light will be exposed to the camera's image sensor. The shutter speed is usually expressed in fractions of a second, although the time can be longer during some exposures.  Those times reflect how long the camera shutter will be open during an exposure. A shutter speed of 1/20^th of a second keeps the shutter open longer than a shutter speed of 1/250^th of a second. A shutter speed of 1/250^th  sec indicates that the camera shutter will remain open for one two hundred and fiftieth of a second when the shutter release button is pressed. A shutter speed listed as 1/2^th sec indicates the camera shutter will remain open for one half second when the shutter release is pressed.  More the time shutter is open more light will pass through and vice versa. ie. in 1/60^th sec more light will pass then 1/400^th sec.

 

Shutter speeds are commonly referred to as fast or slow with some falling into a mid range. A shutter speed of 1/1000^th  second is a very fast shutter speed. A shutter speed of 1/4^th  second is a pretty slow shutter speed. Fast shutter speed is mostly use to freeze the action while a slow shutter speed is used to blur or give a sense of movement in the image.

In most cases you’ll probably be using shutter speeds not less than  1/60^th of a second without a tripod. This is because anything slower than this is very difficult to use without getting camera shake. This is because you must hold the camera steady for longer period. This is mostly for a beginner. Of course by holding your breath and holding your hands tight to your chest you can even take a shot with 1/10^th of a second without camera shake or using a tripod. Alternatively you can always use a tripod and take a shot with low shutter speed as low as your camera permits you without camera shake.

Here in the first picture the action of the mother and child playing with water is being freezed by using fast shutter speed. I used a shutter speed of  1/1250th sec to capture this picture. You can even see the small drops of water that the child splashed with his feet.  While in second picture I showed the movement of water. I took this picture with a slow shutter speed of 1/10th  sec.

     3)   ISO

The final leg of the triangle is ISO. The funny thing about ISO is that it is an acronym but nobody knows what it stands for. It is always just called ISO even though it really stands for International Organisational for Standardisation.

ISO measures the sensitivity of the image sensor.  the ISO rating or number is an indicator of how sensitive a camera's image sensor is to light at specific setting.   The lower the number the less sensitive your camera is to light. 

Changing your cameras' ISO setting will amplify or decrease the image sensors' ability to read light during an exposure.  Lower ISO number settings will require more light  for the image sensor to produce a good image than when the camera is set to a higher ISO number. A camera set to ISO 400 will need less light to produce a correctly exposed image than when it is set to ISO 100. That is, assuming other factors such as the camera lens aperture setting, and the shutter speed setting remains the same. Higher ISO settings are generally used in darker situations to get faster shutter speeds. However the higher the ISO you choose the noisier shots you will get. In a crop sensor cameras the noise or grains starts to appear around 1600 ISO. But its always better to keep ISO number to minimum as possible.

Using All Three Together

The camera aperture works with the camera shutter and the ISO function to produce acceptable images. That is why these three functions are called the exposure triangle.

As you know, the primary function of the camera aperture is to allow more or less light into the camera so that an acceptable exposure can be obtained. However, the camera aperture setting by itself does not produce a properly exposed image. Same way Shutter Speed in isolation from the other two elements of the Exposure Triangle (aperture and ISO) wont produce a properly exposed image. As you change shutter speed you’ll need to change one or both of the other elements to compensate for it.

Mastering the art of exposure is something that takes a lot of practice. In many ways it’s a juggling act and even the most experienced photographers experiment with their settings as they go. Keep in mind that changing each element not only impacts the exposure of the image but each one also has an impact upon other aspects of it ie changing aperture changes depth of field, changing ISO changes the graininess of a shot and changing shutter speed impacts how motion is captured.

At some point in time you might also thing why do you need three tools to control the exposure? Wouldn’t One suffice? The answer is a big NO. Let me explain.

If you want to shoot a girl dancing then the first thing that should come to your mind is the shutter speed. You should have a fast shutter speed could be around 1/600 or more. unless you want to show some sense of movement of her hand or skirt. Aperture and ISO will follow next. As I mentioned above if you want to freeze her action then you need to choose fast shutter speed which means less light. Then if you want to make the background blur you need a aperture of say f1.4 or f1.8 ( lesser the f number more blur you will get) which in terms of light its more light passing in your camera. So you can set your ISO around 100 if its outdoor (daytime). or 400 (indoors) depending on indoor light conditions. Again if you want a sharp background as well then you need higher aperture that means again less light. In this case you will need to increase the ISO little more than the previous one which I mentioned above. But always try to keep ISO as low as possible and don’t cross 1600 for crop sensor cameras.

Same way if you want to shoot a flower on a plant then first thing you should look for is aperture. Your aperture should be less ie. f1.4 or f1.8 so that the leaves etc that is there in the background doesn’t disturb the viewer’s eyes and it focuses only on the flower. Here shutter speed is not very important as flower is not moving. You can keep shutter speed which is comfortable to you I mean you should not have camera shake. It could be around 1/100-1/125. And then depending on the light condition set the ISO. If but keeping ISO to minimum ie in most cases 100 the picture is bright then you can increase the shutter speed. By increasing the shutter speed less light will enter the camera. And anyways increasing the shutter speed won’t affect your picture as your priority is aperture. And of course if there is nice breeze and the flower is dancing to the tune of the breeze then you have to increase the shutter speed.

To conclude each shot has its own priorities and all three tools go hand in hand. Before taking a picture always ask yourself few questions like what you want to show in your picture? What should be your priority shutter speed or aperture? Is there enough light? or what is the light source.? Do you have a tripod? etc etc. After you get answers to all  your questions then only go for the shot. This should happen quickly. Initially you may take couple minutes but it should happen within few seconds.

 Also remember the relation of aperture to light, shutter speed to light and ISO to light. ie  what is the effect on light entering the camera if you increase or decrease aperture or shutter speed or ISO values.

Happy Ganesh Chaturti.

Happy Ganesh Chaturti

Photography Composition Rules

1) The Rule of Thirds

The king of compositional rules! The basic theory goes like this: The human eye tends to be more interested in images that are divided into thirds, with the subject falling at or along one of those divisions. Imagine that your image is divided into 9 equal segments by 2 vertical and 2 horizontal lines. The rule of third says that you should position the most important elements in your scene along these lines, or at the points where they intersect. Doing so will add balance and interest to your photograph.

 2) Balance

Placing your main subject off-centre, as with the rule of thirds, creates a more interesting photo, but it can leave a void in the scene which can make it feel empty. In other words a photo with a large subject positioned at one of those sweet spots may end up creating an image that looks tilted, or too heavy on one side. You should balance the "weight" of your subject by including a less important, smaller appearing object to fill the space.

3) Patterns

Patterns and symmetry appear everywhere, in both man-made settings and in natural ones. If you don’t notice patterns all around you, then you’re not looking hard enough. They can be very visually compelling because it suggests harmony and rhythm, and things that are harmonious and rhythmic make us feel a sense or order or peace. They can make for very eye-catching compositions, particularly in situations where they are not expected. Another great way to use them is to break the rhythm – then the eye has a specific focal point to fall upon, followed by a return to that harmonic rhythm.

4) Leading Lines

When we look at a photo our eye is naturally drawn along lines.. There are many different types of line - straight, diagonal, curvy, zigzag, radial etc - and each can be used to enhance our photo's composition. The human eye is drawn into a photo along lines–whether they are curved, straight, diagonal or otherwise. A line – whether geometric or implied – can bring your viewer’s eye into an image and take it wherever you want it to go. Diagonal lines in particular can be useful in creating drama in your image. They can also add a sense of depth, or a feeling of infinity. Converging lines give a strong sense of perspective and three-dimensional depth, drawing you into an image. Curved lines can lead you on a journey around the frame, leading you towards the main subject. Lines exist everywhere, in the form of walls, fences, roads, buildings and telephone wires. They can also be implied, perhaps by the direction in which an off-centre subject is looking. A poorly composed photograph will leave your viewers unsure about where to look, and their attention might drift aimlessly around the scene without finding a clear focal point.  ie. if your image doesn’t have clear lines you will need something else to let the viewer know where to look, otherwise their eye might just drift around the image.

5) Colour

Perhaps nothing can compete with colour as a tool for creating mood in a photograph. Cool colours like blues and greens can make your viewer feel calm, tranquil or at peace. Reds and yellows can invoke feelings of happiness, excitement and optimism. A sudden spot of bright colour on an otherwise monochromatic background can provide a strong focal point. How you use colour can dramatically change a viewer’s perception of an image. Bright primary colours really attract the eye, especially when they’re contrasted with a complementary hue. Scenes consisting almost entirely of a single hue can be very effective. And those with a limited palette of harmonious shades, such as softly lit landscapes, often make great pictures. Pay attention to the colours in everyday scenes and use them according to what you want your viewer to feel when looking at your image. The key is to be really selective about how you isolate and frame your subjects to exclude unwanted colours.

6) Fill The Frame

The “fill the frame” rule, on the other hand, simply means that you’re looking for distracting background elements and cropping them out whenever you can. In other words decide how important your subject is and then give him/her a ratio of the frame that is directly related to his/her importance. When you’re shooting a large-scale scene it can be hard to know how big your subject should be in the frame, and how much you should zoom in by. In fact, leaving too much empty space in a scene is the most widespread compositional mistake. It makes your subject smaller than it needs to be and can also leave viewers confused about what they’re supposed to be looking at. To avoid these problems you should zoom in to fill the frame, or get closer to the subject.

7) Depth

Depth is closely related to background, and is also dependent on the type of image you’re trying to capture. In a landscape, for example, you typically want everything to remain in focus. In a portrait, you may want that background to be out of focus. To isolate your subject from his or her background, use a wide aperture. To include the background, use a smaller one. What exactly this means I will explain in detail in my future blogs to come. Because photography is a two-dimensional medium, we have to choose our composition carefully to convey the sense of depth that was present in the actual scene. You can create depth in a photo by including objects in the foreground, middle ground and background. Another useful composition technique is overlapping. ie you deliberately partially obscure one object with another. Since the human eye is used to seeing closer objects appear to overlap objects that are at a distance, your viewer will automatically interpret this information as depth.

8) Background

How many times have you taken what you thought would be a great shot, only to find that the final image lacks impact because the subject blends into a busy background? This is one of those rules that almost all beginning photographers break. Sometimes we get so wrapped up in our subject that we don’t pay any attention to what’s going on behind them. If the background is busy and doesn’t add anything to your composition, try using a wide lens aperture and a longer focal length to throw the background out of focus or try to change your position or angle. This should enough to replace a cluttered background with one that complements your subject nicely. Don’t just concentrate on your subject – look at what’s happening in the background, too. Not all backgrounds need to be excluded. Just make sure you pay attention to them and ask yourself whether they will contribute to or detract from your final image. Your answer will let you know whether you should get rid of them or include them.

9) Framing 

In photography, the term “natural frame” doesn’t necessarily mean a natural object. A natural frame can be a doorway, an archway – or the branches of a tree or the mouth of a cave or anything you can use in place of one of those expensive wood frames. By placing these around the edge of the composition you help to isolate the main subject from the outside world. The result is a more focused image which draws your eye naturally to the main point of interest.

10) Viewpoint

Before photographing your subject, take time to think about where you will shoot it from. Our viewpoint has a massive impact on the composition of our photo, and as a result it can greatly affect the message that the shot conveys. Rather than just shooting from eye level, consider photographing from high above, down at ground level, from the side, from the back, from a far distance, from very close up, crazy angles and so on. Same subject that looked boring from one angle might look very interesting and appealing from another angle.

11) Break The Rules.

Yes and finally break all the above rules. As the famous saying goes “Rules Are Meant To Be Broken”  It implies to photography as well.. Once you know the rules and then start breaking them deliberately, you will find a situation where things start to get interesting. However try to break one rule at a time. Most of the beginners break the rules by accident. Photo composition is a little like a visual language – you can use it to make your pictures pass on a specific message. However, just as we sometimes use the written word to create a deliberately jarring effect, we can do the same with photos by breaking with standard composition rules.

Basics Of Photography. (I)

Before going into technical aspects of photography let us first see what makes a great photograph.

There are 3 golden rules to be followed.

1) Clear and well defined subject.

Its about someone or something. The subject should be clear and unambiguous. Whenever somebody looks at the photograph he should immediately see the subject. It may even tell a story about the subject.

2) Focus attention on the subject.

In other words, the viewer’s eye is immediately drawn to the subject. It includes those elements that draw the eye to the subject and it excludes those elements that might draw the eye away from the subject.

3) Keep it simple.

It should not confuse the viewer. Keeping it simple is one of the keys to a good photograph.

Let us look at the above photograph and check whether it satisfies all the 3 golden rules or not. Firstly, there is a clear subject ie the man dressed as lord Shiva. Secondly the focus is on the subject. When you look at the photograph your attention directly goes on his face into his eyes. And finally its simple.  

But above all this the most and very very important factor behind a great photograph is you and only you. Nothing will work without your desire and dedicated efforts.

Only reading and listening about photography won’t make you a great photographer. You should practice, practice and practice. You should utilize 80% of your time in practicing and only 20% should be spent on reading or listening etc. 

This 80:20 thing is called Pareto Principle. Of course it has got nothing to do with photography. It is just a management funda. It just came to my mind hence sharing it with you'll. This principle is named after Italian economist Vilfredo Pareto. It specifies an unequal relationship between inputs and outputs. The principle states that, for many phenomena, 20% of invested input is responsible for 80% of the results obtained. It can mean all of the following things: 

• 20% of the input creates 80% of the result
• 20% of the workers produce 80% of the result
• 20% of the customers creates 80% of the revenue
•  And on and on

Now coming back to photography, it is like learning to swim. You have to enter into the water, you can’t just read a book " How to swim in 5 days" and learn it. The book will only help you in knowing some principles and do's and dont's. Water will teach you the rest. And by practice and practice you will gain confidence improve your skills and become master of it. Same works for photography. 

Read, learn, and then experiment and shoot a lot – that’s the only way to become a better photographer. Once you become a better photographer, you will know exactly what you need to get the best results.

Why This Blog.

This blog is just a small attempt to pen down or rather I would say blogging some of the aspects of photography like different tricks, concepts, careers in photography, basics of photography and lots more. I will also share my experience with you'll in this field.

As photography is a vast subject to talk on I will try to cover as much as I can through this blog. If anybody has any suggestion etc please dont hesitate to contact me on saishfotografia@gmail.com

- Saish Pai Raikar.

About Me.

I had thought of putting down a few words that would best describe me, then I thought who the hell reads all what's written between the lines. Then again I thought that since I thought of logging in google blogs, let me go ahead and write something about myself. Don't you think I think a bit too much?? Quite frankly speaking.. i am fed up of telling others "About Me".. I mean this is one inevitable question that u cannot escape in any job interview..!! But i guess telling u guys about me is gonna be a different experience all toghether..!! :) Well bout me... Handsome, Hunk, Sexy, Super cool... I am none of these..!! And honestly, I dont even know wat exactly I shud be writing in this space.. coz believe me I myself am hunting for an identity.. an identity that cud define me.!!

I started writing when I was 3 but that was restricted to the Alphabet and some numbers thrown around. Creativity in writing didn't come into picture till today but the so called “American Style” helped me a lot. So if u find any mistakes here think again!! Its American Style of writing. But nevertheless, lemme share with you some things bout me, that i am not confused about... I have done my Masters in Finance, then worked for cos like Cox  And Kings and HDFC Bank. Then One fine day my heart took over my brain and I left my well paid bank job and went in search to fulfill my passion for PHOTOGRAPHY.

I love to click photographs and travel and explore different places, ride my bike and drive my car, of course I am not a MTV rodiee :). I also prefer sports like cricket, badminton and chess. About music? It depends on ma mood but mostly prefer slow songs may be hindi or english and not to forget our own konkani mandos. Although I don’t like to read much but I prefer photography magazines and my favorite TV channels are sports, news and science, geography and tech channels. Still after all this I don’t have any work I watch movies mostly thrillers and comedy.

As a finance guy I also like to do my own analysis of  the stock market and make some profit by investing in it. And I think the most difficult task to do in this world is to do nothing as u wont know when u have finished!!!

As I have already mentioned to u that I am not a good writer I think I should end here and go to do something that I am good at otherwise u may get bored reading all the bla bla that I wrote. Oh I guess u have reached here reading all that!!! provided if u don’t have the habit of reading backwards like me and that’s the main reason I don’t like to read novels.

Bye for now. Happy Reading.

Saish Pai Raikar..