Photography Fundamentals - How to shoot like a Pro

This blog is written for the ambitious but not yet skilled photographers. I'm sharing my knowledge to help aspiring photographers to create better pictures with their cameras. I'm going to keep it very simple for you. So find below are the list of 'how' the pro photographer does. I'm assuming you have a camera that is not the one in your phone. 

Pro Photographer knows their camera:

The first step being a good photographer is to learn how to control your camera. The best place to learn your camera control is your camera manual. Your camera has buttons for specific purpose. So open the camera manuals and learn what those buttons do before you head out.

Pro Photographer Never shoot in Auto mode:

Your camera has several shooting modes but we would be interested only in 3 of them i.e. A ( Aperture priority ), S ( Shutter priority ) and M ( Manual ). You can forget about the rest and pay attention only to these three that I'm going to explain to you. However, I need to explain one other important parameter that came in modern digital camera. It is called ISO. There must be a dedicated ISO button to change it's value. Unless mentioned a different value, we will keep ISO at the base ISO value of your camera. Now let's go over those three shooting modes I talked about earlier. 

• A ( Aperture priority ) : This is where you set the aperture value ( f number) while your camera decides the shutter speed. I use this mode while shooting landscapes in good light. I prefer to keep the aperture between f7.1 to f11 which has a nice balance of depth of field, sharpness and avoids vignetting. If shutter speed drops below 1/125s while at f7.1, use a tripod. If photos are too bright at f11 you are probably shooting at the wrong time of the day. Wait for the light to get softer or use ND  filter.
• S ( Shutter priority ) : This is where you choose the shutter speed while your camera decides the aperture. This is not very popular mode but sometimes it comes handy. It is not very popular because your camera does not have many option to choose the aperture value from. Most lenses has limited f stop range, starting from 2.8 to f22 and you often wants to avoid going above f16. However, in situation when you want to keep the shutter speed very high for fast moving actions and you don't mind using the lowest f stop that your lens offer. Another situation is when you don't have a tripod and you want to keep the shutter speed above some number to avoid blurry image from an unstable hand.  
•  M ( Manual ):  You are in full control to choose both aperture and shutter. This is the most popular shooting mode. With the advent of digital camera and ISO button, this mode is now even more interesting. Let me again explain the ISO number bit more.
• All camera comes with a native ISO number.  It is mentioned in your camera specs. If you set the ISO to a different number, the light coming to the image sensor are manipulated ( amplified or reduced ) by camera software before recording the image. This process adds noise ( grains) to the image. So the photographers has to decides the noise level they can tolerate before going for higher ISO. There's only 2 on the lower side ( below native ISO) marked as L0.1 and L0.2 in most cameras.
• Auto ISO is a popular setup in combination of Manual mode. Here, the camera adjust the ISO number after satisfying Aperture and Shutter speed condition. You can set a range for the Auto ISO that your camera would not go beyond. For example, I've setup my max ISO to 6400 and lowest shutter speed as 1/30 secs. In this setup, camera will measure exposure and reduce shutter speed up to 1/30 secs until the exposure is right. If the exposure value is still not met, camera will start increasing ISO up to 6400.

Pro Photographer shoots during golden hours:

How good is your photo often depends on how good the light was during your shoot. The golden hour concept is pretty popular for photography. As the name suggest, the sun light will still be golden which is probably the first 2 hours at dawn and the last 2 at dusk. Let me add, the cloud is your best friend when you need to shoot outdoor, during the middle of the day. An overcast sky provides the soft light that every photographer needs.

Pro Photographer keeps their lens parallel to the ground:

The secret of getting a sharp image is to separate the focal point from the rest of the frame. Your lens does it best when it is shooting parallel to the ground where the subject is located. So if the subject is on an inclined surface, you need to position your lens at the same angle if possible. This means you may need to drop down on your knees, lie down on the ground, walk into water or climb up on something in order to reach your subject level. Please do this only when it is safe to do so. Your life is more valuable than getting the perfect shot.

Pro Photographer uses a support:

It is often disappointing to see so many soft images due to vibration. It takes times to feel comfortable to use a support systems e.g. tripod, monopod, bean bag, or even a  car door. So practice and make it a habit rather than relying on your big muscles which would fail you more often than you can imagine.

 

Pro Photographer checks their gears before leaving home:

These are the common checklist before leaving home:

1. Camera Lens nice & clean
2. Camera battery & backup battery fully charged.
3. Memory card in the camera and spares are in the bags, all formatted in the same camera.
4. Supplement gears e.g. tripod, cable release, rain cover all accounted for.

Here are the two of my favorite shooting setup:

Landscapes:  

Lens: Wide Angle ( 24-70 f2.8)

Shooting Mode: A ( f7.1 - f11)

Focus:  Single Point AF / Static Focus

Support: Tripod mount

Wildlife / Sports:

Lens: Telephoto ( 600mm f/4, 200-500 f/5.6)

Shooting Mode: M with Auto ISO ( shutter speed 1/2000, lowest aperture f4 or f5.6)

Focus: Wide Area or 3D AF / Continuous Focus / eye detection on 

Support: Tripod / Monopod / Car Door + bean bag

For more tips, check my previously published 'How to ...' blogs. Subscribe to my blog to get notified for all future publication. You can see my photography portfolio HERE.