My photograph won an international award

Photographer Cambridge

My photograph won an international award

Last month, I have been to Istanbul to collect my prize for the International award that I won. 10000 people have submitted an Istanbul image and my picture has won the competition!I feel very proud and here is a picture of me with my print at the gallery.

 

Professional Photography Tips

Professional Photography Tips

I have been asked many times to write an article about professional photography tips. Now I found some time to share with you some important tips which I think will help you to be a better photographer.

I won’t give you too many technical details. We all know they are not everyone’s cup of tea and might be a bit boring. So here are some practical tips that you can put to use immediately. Enjoy!

  • Shoot RAW. This is probably the most important tip. When you shoot in Jpeg format you will loose quality when processing your photos. I know RAW files are big but storing data is much easier these days with online cloud storage facilities or affordable external discs.
  • Buy the best possible equipment you can afford and keep it. Upgrading equipment is addictive and costly in the end. So ask yourself if you merely fancy it or really need it. If you need a tele lens to shoot weddings from a distance, fair enough. But upgrading your lens for a bit more sharpness is probably not something that will make you a better photographer.
  • Lens sharpness is overrated! Almost every lens is sharp enough at f8 or f5.6, don’t spend thousands of pounds on a lens to shoot a bit sharper and contrasty at larger apertures.
  • Learn about light. Light makes photos. It is very easy to take great photos with natural light coming through the window. Never shoot portraits when the sun is bright without any fill light unless you are after a lot of sharp shadows.
  • Invest in professional lighting equipment. It is absolutely possible to take great photos with only one Speedlight. However, it is limiting when you need a stronger light source or would like to create more dramatic effects.
  • Buy a reflector! It is cheap and absolutely a necessary tool. If you buy a bigger size reflector you can also use it as a background.
  • Develop an interest in arts! It helps to visit an art gallery and observe what makes the artwork special. Seeing work of famous painters or photographers or just being mindful of great architecture will inspire you. I feel very lucky in Cambridge as I m surrounded by fantastic architecture and learnt a lot from it in terms of composition!
  • Simplicity is the key. Try not to put  unnecessary elements in your composition. It is distracting and easily avoidable with a bit of clever framing.
  • Learn how to use your camera effectively. Cameras are more capable than ever now. You can shoot at 12800 ISO and still get acceptable results. Learn how to compensate exposure and bracketing.
  • Don’t be lazy and leave too much to be corrected in Photoshop. Using a reflector is much easier to correct the light on your model’s face. Correcting in Photoshop is time-consuming. After all, time is money!
  • Always have your camera with you. You never know when you see something special and once it’s gone it’s gone. Life is impermanent!

Street photography tips

Street photography is a lot of fun and challenging at the same time. Requires a bit of courage, a good eye for observation and some basic photography skills. It is not overly technical since street photography is capturing the moment, composition and technical perfections come second. Here are my street photography tips from my recent workshop.

Street photography is catching irregular, unusual, contrast, sometimes awkwardness

What we look for is catching a moment which is unusual. For example, someone smoking in front of the ” no smoking” sign. A very tall person walking along a very short person or twin brothers, sisters looking very similar. Simply a composition which is interesting to look at!

Tell stories

Telling stories might be the main goal of photography in general and holds its place at Street Photography as well. You need to be a good observer to tell stories with your photography. Seeing people expressing love or affection, love, kindness or generosity and capturing the moment in your composition will make it truly timeless.

Don’t take pics of homeless people

This is the first thing many street photographers do when they are new to street photography. It might look interesting to take pictures of homeless people but actually, we need to be a bit more creative than this. Also, they are not like to be photographed most of the time in my experience.

Make the picture rather than taking the picture

Making the picture means, setting the scene and your framing in your mind and waiting for the right person in the photograph to be in. I sometimes wait for the right person to be in the picture for more for quite a long time and wait is totally worthed! This is what Steve McCurry and Henry Cartier-Bresson did to create their masterpieces.

Equipment

Equipment is usually taken care of too seriously at photography. It is a fact that high-end fast gear is helpful but it is very easy to take great pictures with your mobile camera these days. Also, being invisible is very easy with a mobile. When you point your camera with a Tele-zoom to someone you will be noticed which is not wanted at street photography. light! Using shadows to create drama and artistic approach.

Light and using shadows

Light makes the photography obviously! We can also use strong shadows when the sun is on top, around noon time to make our composition stand out.

What is your favourite street photography tip? Share below with other fellow photographers!