So You Have A Camera

Welcome to Photography, new folks! I presume "speaking with Light" is why you have joined this friendly photo site in the first place?! Please read on...

I wish I could simply convey my experience to all the new folks joining, but there are no brain-to-brain file transfers (yet).

We speak with the Language Of Light. It has its words, grammar, structure, and all else that is needed so as to be understood without translation, but that's its universal beauty.

That said, we only touch the surface. Which is the begining of all depths. All the lines that crisscross the image will make sense.

So you have a camera. Good! ANY camera is good - or a good start. But it is very far from being a photographer. What I mean is, I have a hammer and a chisel, but I am lightyears away from calling myself a sculptor! It requires a [devotion for a] lifetime of learning, and it is the same case with being a photographer, dancer, singer, painter, actor, musician, or any other creative person. Creativity is just another word for self-expressiveness.

There are tools in any activity that will help in expressing oneself, but expression should be proper. One has to know how to use their tools so as to make sense. A newbie violinist is sometimes described as "someone pulling the horsetail hair across dried cat guts". Similar sayings for photogs too, especially the newbies!

Long story short, NO-ONE should dream about be[com]ing a photographer without understanding the technical aspects and limitations of their camera - and the properties of light.

This requires A LOT of learning about such terms as Color, Black-and-white, Monochrome, Aperture, Exposure, Sensor - Film, Lens, Sensitivity, Format, Portrait, Landscape, Shadow, Silhouette, Sharpness, Noise, Grain, JPEG, RAW, TIFF, BMP, PNG... and the list goes on! But all of the above belongs to photo basics. If you're serious about being photographer, there is no way to avoid knowing at least these basics! The finer, in-depth things... need still more time and effort. So best start yesterday!

Luckily, Google and Wikipedia (to mention just two of many) is just a few clicks away. So, no excuse! In this age all knowlege is wide open to everyone, bar the illiterate and the lazy.

Another important starting tip would be: INVEST IN TASTE! It is akin to politeness, and this belongs to Photography - at least on the photo sites like Viewbug. Visual expression should be polite.

Like, you have just discovered the human reproductive organs? Good for you! Welcome to adulthood. Newsflash; we all have those, so why would anyone think it worthy of a worldwide view? Nudity in photography must mean something else!?
True. It is related to body shape, harmony (another word for beauty), light play, texture, uniqueness, etc...
Thus, invest-a-taste, so as not to be perceived as tasteless, or worse, ridiculous. Never forget that your photos are speaking of you; how you see the world! Your archive is yours to collect and view; the WWW is something else.

And let me just add another advice. Photography is not exactly the best competitive activity. No communication activity is, but if you want to have fun in Contests and Challenges, you have to be able to read, understand and respect what the themes are about. Submitting incompatible entries is... plain dumb.
And dumb is what dumb does!

Like, if it requires a Landscape, you should not submit a Close-up. Or if it asks for Black-and-White, it means NO COLOR WHATSOEVER, not even ONE (since that would be MONOCROME, which means ONE SINGLE HUE - also NOT Black-and-White). Would you expect to be welcomed bringing a violin to the piano competition? Same thing! Terms have their precise meanings, and that is why we use them.

All this belongs to those above-mentioned basics which one has to understand to be a photographer. There are no shortcuts.

There's more. And then still more; throughout your photo life. I hope you profit from this text if you've had the patience to read it. Photography is a way of universal self-expression, and you would not like people to think you've stumbled upon it by mistake, right?

So start by learning the basics to rightfully join the folks which precede you by many years of experience. They will never say they know all about photography. They just go on learning!

Wish you success, Good Light, and many beautiful photo stories!
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