Redefining the Fundamentals of Photography – by Jeremy Spears
Here recently, I had the chance to participate in a workshop that was hosted by Paul Metzgar and Aggie Brooks.
As an amateur photographer, I have struggled over the past 6 years learning just the simple terms and fundamentals of operating a camera that would help me with my craft.
Over the past few years, the camera, whether film or digital, photography has been replaced with camera phones. With the applications that are in constant design, I believe that I have relied on the smart phone to take some very personal shots.
All I have to do is simply click and shoot. There is no feeling or art behind that type of photography. It’s a joke.
Just this past Saturday, at The Fundamentals of Photography workshop, I was finally able to understand depth of field, aperture, ISO, shutter speed and a few other little nuggets of information. I learned about how lenses make a difference in taking photographs, whether it’s a fish-eye, telephoto, wide-angle or portrait lens. This is common knowledge to photographers that have gone to school and studied the art and craft of making a great photographer. But for some of us that have just recently picked up a camera, we struggle at times, to see and understand how important it is to really understand your camera as a whole. When I started doing photography, I just had an old Pentax A10 film camera that I would always set on automatic, let it focus for me, and snap the shot. I thought that’s what photography really was for many years. After having been explained just the basics by Paul, who did a fabulous job in teaching and answering any and all questions, I was finally able to put 2 and 2 together. Between Aggie and Paul both, the years of photography knowledge was finally absorbing and was starting to make sense to me as a whole. When this all started to sink in, my passion to take some great shots had just got a new kick start and a fire to learn more. Now make no mistake, I am still learning and I know that I have a ways to go. But like any photographer, learning and making mistakes is the best thing about a photographer. Whether you see a mistake in the raw or finished product, we have the capability to remember what not to do on the next photo shoot.
Learning how to operate your camera is also key when editing. It will cut down your time on LightRoom 5 and/or Photoshop. Never completely rely and think that you can always fix everything in the editing process. Doing the simple fundamental basics of photography will take your photo to the extreme, and editing will be the icing on the cake.
If you have a desire to learn more about your camera or at times need a refresher, then I would suggest doing a workshop or a course that will help you further in your desire to make a memory last forever. If you have been in the art of photography for years, I would encourage you to do a workshop or create a class that you can use to help others.
Last and certainly not the least: Don’t be afraid. Try. Look for your medium. With so much beauty within an ugly world, we need more people to help capture those beautiful moments and memories of time.
