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Three excellent photographers, who are members of our group. They volunteered.
Why for? First, to answer our newbie questions. Then, to eventually offer their advice in one form or another to improve the photographic world of milesopedia’s travellers.
That is, if you want to.
Here they are:
Aline is this young woman whose beautiful pictures you have surely been impressed by in the articles she published on milesopedia:
100% self-taught, as she says, Aline learned from experience and reading. Photography is her favourite activity while travelling. She aims to tell stories that she then shares with family and friends.
Her favourite subjects are everyday life and landscapes, street and landscape photography as well as lifestyle i.e. photos of families, couples, children, etc.
She accepts contracts from time to time.
Richard is our advanced amateur photographer who has been practicing the art of photography for about 40 years. He never coined his pictures.
He started as a teenager in the school photo club, equipped with his first camera: a Nikon FE.
What he prefers most of all is capturing everything that moves: pets, wildlife, sporting or cultural events.
He also has an interest in night photography while traveling. This requires him to locate places during the day and revisit them late at night under the artificial lighting of buildings.
Bernard is our doctor of physics, specialized in optical science.
Optical designer before becoming team leader, he is very familiar with the technical aspects of imaging and photography.
He writes equipment tests (lenses, cameras, studio equipment, bags, etc.) and articles on technique and accessories. His articles are listed here.
As far as taking pictures is concerned, he has learned partly on his own, by taking online courses, video training, participating in photo clubs and reading books on technique and composition.
He likes to take pictures of landscapes/cities, both during the day and at night. He also does portraiture in the studio and outdoors. He doesn’t take on contracts anymore, because of his family.
From the outset, our photographers agreed not to promote one brand of camera more than another. Each of them uses different equipment. The same applies to the use or non-use of filters.
However, they agreed on the importance of the photographer’s eye to find the right shot. The technique then supports the creative eye.
As mentioned, we’re sticking to the generalities here.
First of all, our three experts tell us, like everything else, you have to do your homework.
But ask yourself before you buy: Is this really what I need?
And beware of the “big brand” fashion which will not make you better photographers if you don’t master the basics, our three photographers say.
So here are some basic tips.
What do our photographers think?
Finally, a “real” camera would bridge the gap in quality and offer some controls that cell phones can’t do.
Our photographers frequently use tripods.
The gorilla pod wins here. It comes in several sizes depending on the type of camera. It is certainly not as stable as a real tripod, but because of its compact size, it has the advantage of being easy to transport.
Otherwise, you can always use street furniture, a rock, a sweater etc. The camera’s self-timer function can also be used for this purpose.
For night shots, however, it is better to use the tripod to get a sharp picture because the exposure time is longer.
A tripod:
And if you want more equipment, there are many types of tripods. For example, as Bernard suggests:
Their recommendations for investing in a tripod are as follows:
However, there are several rules of composition, the two most frequent being the golden ratio (used in art, and frequently found in nature) and its approximation, the “rule of thirds”.
The subject can also be centered depending on what you want to create. The same goes for landscape or portrait format. But be aware that centering the subject is generally not very creative.
Forget about the noon sun with the azure blue sky if possible.
For a portrait, a diffuse light is suggested; for example a cloudy sky is best. Also, light control is paramount, whether it is with reflectors, flashes, etc.. Taking control allows you to go from “pretty memories” to “memorable photos”.
A service like Google Photos offers unlimited storage but limits the size of your images. You can insert links but you can’t share them on a forum, for example.
To send pictures from one person to another, Google Drive, Dropbox and other such applications work well in their free version. The files are kept safe.
To share multiple files, a personal site is often useful, but is not free (ex: SmugMug, unlimited storage with templates, about $US 60 per year).
Amazon photos (included when subscribing to Amazon Prime) displays no size limit on images, but it seems that like Google Drive, a size reduction occurs when sharing.
WeTransfer allows you to send the images without any compression (mandatory when the images are developed in large format for promotional material).
Most members of our group are active traveling photographers. Many use their cell phone camera and get nice pictures. Others go a little further, like Aline, Richard and Bernard to the point of making it a passion and a profession. The results go from pretty to memorable.
In this article, we shared basic tips about image composition, the equipment that needs to be adapted to your goals, strategies to improve your shots, and finally, advice on how to store the pictures.
Aline, Richard and Bernard will soon offer you the opportunity to discuss with them according to the interests you share in a survey on the Facebook group. Stay alert!
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