** Basics in Photography ** Lesson One - Thought, Mentality, Composition and Light. The tile makes this lesson sound quite in depth, but in reality it is anything but. Before I start on the basics of the camera, there are things that as photographers around 60% of us dont put any though into what so ever. Before I have a day out at LHR, MAN, AMS or another of my favourite shooting locations, it doesnt matter whom I am with, be it Mel, Emma or Adam. We will always speak beforehand and work out where we start, where we finish and how we plan the days photography. Lets get one thing straight before we get too in depth, no body wants to see 500 shots from the same position (For example Myrtle Avenue), as they will probably all be the same angle and just have different aircraft in the shot. So I always consult a map, look at the weather forecast and check which runways are in use, before I even think about getting the camera out of the case. Weather is a huge factor in our hobby, will touch on this in future lessons, but why go out when its wet and grey? Unless you are damn good and can can make some arty shots using the bad weather to your advantage, only a few photographers in the world who I know can do this! If the skies are grey, its the middle of winter and rain is forecast, or even if it isnt forecast, unless you have some amazing arty shots in mind...................stay at home. Believe me when I say that most of us semi decent photographers, wont even look at your shots on any FB page if they are taken into great skies and have no decent composition, so thats my first bit of advice. Hopefully by the end of the lessons, we will be able to compose some good shots using bad weather! REMEMBER PHOTOGRAPHY IS ALL ABOUT LIGHT! When travelling around airports, I will always shoot at a minimum of 4 locations, using the sun ALWAYS behind my left or right shoulder, the only time I ever fire ingot he sun is if I am going for the arty composition/silouhette shot or if the cloud comes out, such as 27R line ups during the day, the sun can form great patterns behind the cloud and give a sort of stormy light in your photos. On an average day I will shoot between 250 and 500 photos, this is only because I dont ordinarily take smaller stuff, unless at an airfield I dont get to visit very often or it is a great shot. I will then whittle this down to say 10-15 amazing shots which MIGHT see the light of day. ALWAYS be very choosy bout which shots you put up on any social media sites, if you always post 7/8 shots and they arent WOW shots, you will get a reputation and people will bypass your photos, like i do to 95% of the posts on most social media sites. REMEMBER Less is More when it comes to showing off your work! The mentality part is a very difficult aspect to try and teach, because as photographers we all think our shots are amazing, but actually very few of the photos we take actually are! So always be objective before you go and post up photos from a trip, try and think to yourself What would make me say wow?!, there are and always will be trips where you come away with nothing, or maybe just one decent, sharp, well lit shot, if thats the case, post that one photo, or use the semi decent shot to try and be a little creative (Which we will cover in later lessons). We cannot teach creativity, that is down to the individual, but what we can do is offer advice on the basics. Composition is a problem that a lot of amateurs seems to have, the conundrum of how do i frame the aircraft in the viewfinder, well there is no right or wrong answer. It really depends where your shooting from, let me give you a few examples. If i am capturing 27L take offs from the Esso Garage on the Southern Perimeter road, then I shall try to either get the aircraft just above the fence (Heavies, little aircraft are too high at this location), to try and get a little of the tower in, or I shall get a side on shot or I get a shot as they move away; Just above the fence https://flickr/photos/22240112@N02/14193844430/ Side on https://flickr/photos/22240112@N02/12477758134/ Moving Away from the area https://flickr/photos/22240112@N02/13980833596/ So as you can see there is no right or wrong, the only thing I make sure I get in the shot if the fuselage if its side on or 3/4 shots or if head on its the engines! THERE is absolutely NO EXCUSE when your taking a photo, to capture Lamp posts, Fencing or other obstructions, this is POOR composition and NO THOUGHT in the process of capturing your photo. We see too many shots at the Thistle of people getting the aircraft just before touchdown with lampposts half way up the aircraft fuselage, NO, take the photo three seconds before when there is nothing in the way, LAZY photographers who stand at Myrtle, Esso etc all day, just turning there bodies and getting the pre landing shots with all the telephone wires and lamp posts in the way................WHY, there is NO need for this and this does nothing but give you a bad reputation and wont encourage people to look at your photos..............SO PLEASE think about how you frame your aircraft. Also dont take the aircraft too high to too far away, you need to try and fill the frame with the aircraft in it, this is will save the crop factor and improve the quality (Ask if you dont understand) We will move onto levelling, which is another HUGE Faux Pas in another lesson, these all are all basics!!! Finally we finish with Light. As I have previously mentioned light is your best friend and worst enemy, think about where the sun is. If its a glorious summers day, always have the sun behind you, dont attempt to fire into it, even for that rare photograph, its just not worth it (Unless your an amazing photographer, but if you are you shouldnt be following this course!) and you will not increase your reputation or your prowess as a photographer. Sun/Cloud days are the best, especially if you can have the sun behind you, with clouds in the view in front of you, this will light the aircraft up a peach, making your shots look a lot better, but beware of harsh light (Will cover light a little more in Lesson 2). Example of Good Light - Sun behind me, dark clouds in front! https://flickr/photos/22240112@N02/12100369546/ So the moral (LOL) of this lesson is to think about your trips and plan your days, use a map, look at different locations (Never be afraid to ask, send people personal messages).Check the weather, if its too bad, STAY AT HOME. Think about filling the frame with the aircraft, go for the side on, 3/4 shot of front on, some thought into your photos goes a long way, remember 50 decent shots are better then 750 mediocre ones, think about what aircraft you want to photograph and plan your day around the various times and runways. Use the sun and the dark to your advantage (You will understand this the more we go into the basics), DONT stand anywhere a Lamp post, car or fences are going to intrude on any part for the aircraft. Dont fire into the sun and dont think that you can get away with taking 600 shots of aircraft in the sky on a dank grey overcast day, you wont get good shots. MOST OF ALL DONT BE AFRAID TO ASK QUESTIONS, THE MAJORITY OF US SERIOUS PHOTOGRAPHERS WILL ALWAYS ANSWER YOU. Send us a personal message, dont keep posting generic messages on groups, as this does any others and blocks up the feed on Social Media. My door is always open for photography based or LHR based questions. Hopefully you have all found this useful, tomorrow we move onto lesson two and the first in the camera based lessons. Now who has questions????? Thanks Matt
Posted on: Tue, 30 Sep 2014 07:44:43 +0000
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