How to start in photography

Often the idea of taking up photography is born out of the desire to have good images from your children, your family or even your sport or hobby like gardening and plants. Sometimes you simply wish to have something hanging on your walls that is made by you. So how to start?

Most likely you or someone in your family already owns a camera and that is all you need to get started. Therefore, my suggestions for anyone considering taking up photography is:

Get out there and practice, make mistakes, use "Trail and Error". But use your available equipment within its limits.

The more images you shoot, the faster you are likely to learn; but don't make the mistake of making 24 identical images from a subject. A waste of a roll of film, unless you have the good fortune to use a digital camera in which case it would be a waste of time. Try different angles, perspective, different camera shutter and aperture settings, different lighting. It is usually a good idea to get down to your subject's level and get closer than you think you need to in order to "fill the frame." Use whatever technical option your camera offers. Review your images and figure out what you did wrong and right. Photography is about using and controlling available light in both light quality and quantity. The time to photograph is often around sunrise and sunset. Usually avoid midday. Learn to use a homemade light reflector made from a sheet of white cardboard. Learn when to use a light diffuser (a white umbrella or translucent cloth ) which can be a great aid to improve your photographic image. But avoid using flash as much as possible. You can learn more from your mistakes than your successes and you need a way to get feedback on your images. Your friends might not have the right skills or are possibly to polite to give an honest critique.

Here is where the Camera Club comes in. You get your work critiqued and feedback from members of your local camera club. The Clubs competitions are designed to get comments from different corners of the profession and art community. The Club is a great environment for a budding photographer as you meet like minded people with the same goal as you: To make better images

Set yourself assignments on your favourite subjects like landscapes, portraits, close-ups, still life, sports/ action or wildlife / nature. Focus on what gives you the most pleasure as the first thing in photography is to please yourself and make images that you like.

As you strive to improve your work, you will find photography books and articles which match your needs and interests. Photography is a visual art which means studying works from the masters give you the clue to create your own masterpiece. Directing your reading toward your particular interests is a great way to accelerate your development. Your local library will have plenty of books on photographic subjects.

Train yourself to see. This is the most difficult part in learning photography. You need imagination to transfer a three dimensional image (that's how we see) into a two dimensional image (the final print). Once you start to look at the world through a viewfinder, it

will change what you see and how you see. You notice things you previously missed and it changes the world around you.

No matter which camera or which subject you choose to work with, the same hurdles have to be overcome. There are a lot of buzz words in photography. Just a few to get you started:

Rules of Composition, Simplify - less is really more, Get closer to your subjects, Technical details like f-stops, shutter speeds, Depth of field, Accessories like macro lenses, extension tubes and tele-converts, Filters like neutral density, and polarizing filters , Mirror lockup.

Nothing to get scared about, at the Club there are practical nights to learn about these thinks and how to apply them to your work. There is always someone who has been there or knows something about it to bring you that step closer to your goal. You will get there, it takes time, work and patience.