Clicking your DSLR friend !!!

The hardest part for me as a photographer has always been to find a good pic of myself. Everytime I scroll thru pics after returning from trip, they either have beautiful landscapes, cityscapes or portrait of my friends. It is acceptable when you are traveling alone, but hard to absorb if you are accompanied by friends. I very well understand that clicking pic with DSLR is more than just pressing the shutter button, but there is no harm in trying something which makes your DSLR friend feel good, when in return, you are getting high quality, professional retouched portraits, which are most of times enough to get people crazy on social networking. Easier said than done, but worth giving a try, these points might help you in getting the job done and putting a smile on your DSLR friend :

• Snatch the Camera : your DSLR friend might not rely on your abilities as a photographer but you should step forward and snatch the camera every now and then, asking your friend to pose. A pic for a pic is not a bad deal at all.

• No Maneuvering : we all get carried away on getting options to maneuver but we should be very careful while playing with camera. Little tweaking in settings can destroy the complete pic. Unless asked by your DSLR friend or until you are sure about what you are doing, do not change any settings.

• An Opportunity to Learn : learning to shoot with DSLR is not as easy as it might seem, but you do learn as you practice. Be a student and always be ready for any opportunity to learn few tips and tricks about composition, focusing, ISO, shutter and aperture. Ask your DSLR friend to click you as subject, click some pics and discuss with your friend about refinements, you never know that you might develop a new passion soon.

• Click Multiple Shots : always click multiple shots. Even if you know everything is right, there is no harm in clicking couple of more shots. A blink of an eye can spoil a pic and who knows when you will get another chance to visit same place again.

• Preview Pics : previewing pics is almost as necessary as clicking it correctly the very first time. It makes sure that you are clicking at correct settings with perfect composition. If anything goes off, it can be corrected at that very moment instead of spoiling mood later on.

All the best guys and feel free to leave any comments or discuss more about this topic.

Good Cameras Take Good Photos ! Is it so ?

I started doing photography only after I came to United States in March 2012. My first gadget in United States was an I-pod, which I followed up with Nikon D5100 DSLR Camera. Since childhood I was very fascinated about cameras, so instead of buying point and shoot, I decided to go few steps ahead and bought a DSLR. All through these, almost two years since I got my D5100, my photography has improved quite a lot and few of my friends have even started taking me seriously as a photographer.

With people taking you seriously as a photographer, they develop a default mindset – Since I have Good Camera So I Take Good Photos. Well, I admit that I take good photos or you can say, eventually end up making each photo look good, and it is mainly due to a good camera but there are other factors as well which are vital and play equal part. To be precise, first of all you got to have a good camera which shoots in RAW mode, then there should be proper lighting to expose your shot correctly and once you are done with set up of all the required equipments, you have to compose your shot correctly followed by taking multiple shots at correct moment. After shooting, you have to post process your shot in Photoshop or Light Room to get all the relevant details out of it and once you are done with everything, share your shot with friends. This all might seem easy but it is no less than Rocket Science. I have studied thousands of articles, watched thousands of hours of videos, and spent lot of days to learn photography and I do still have a long way to go. Sometimes you even have to drive miles and miles, skip your lunch, wait for hours, climb up hills, explore forests, just to be in prefect moment to capture that shot.

This has happened lot of times to me – friends invite me to a party and either ask me to bring my own camera or just give any camera to me and expect me to take good photos. I do try my level best to make them happy but in case anything goes wrong, most of them completely fail to understand the challenges present and do not miss an opportunity to criticize.Well according to me, Good Cameras Can be Used To Take Good Photos but one should not think that Good Cameras Take Good Photos.

What do you think ? Let’s discuss in comments.