Needs more fill flash...

Right, after handing out a load of advice on what camera to get (Canon; you owe me at least two) I thought I would elaborate on the next step. How to use the blasted thing. Now, as ever, there is one key thing to remember and a few obstacles or urban myths to quell. Firstly:

Photography is about light, not composition

That’s right, sorry Jan Arthus-Bertrand, it’s all about the light; natural, flash, fill, studio whatever. Light is king. Now the biggest obstacle to avoid when learning is that instinctive reaction to acquire knowledge by the world most logical method: the written word. The problem we have here is that

Most magazines are out there to sell cameras

Yep, they have a million adverts and reviews on new equipment but are scantily-clad when it comes to genuine advice. This is not particularly true for books (after all their revenue is generated from a single sale, and you already have the book in your hand) but books tend to be more functional that I, personally, dislike.

So, what to do… hmmm…

The funniest thing is, if you sit down for a second and think about it, you already have everything you need to learn about photography and they are:

• Your camera
• Your eyes
• Your brain

and perhaps the understanding that, when it comes to photography (and as we have covered photography is about light, again sorry Jan) you control three things: the sensitivity (film or digital sensor), the aperture and the shutter. Now, just to make it really clear here:

your camera knows how to take great photos, learn from it.

Loe and behold, all you need to do is point the camera, shoot and check. There’s a four step process you can use to introduce those three elements.

Step 1: Auto

In A (auto mode) point and shoot. If it takes a picture you like then look back at the settings it chose (menu screen EXIF data). This will tell you everything about it. No fuss.

Step 2: Program

In program you can change a couple of features of the camera, concentrate on the ISO (sensitivity) and let the camera do the rest. In P (program mode) point and shoot. Again check the good shots. No mess.

Step 3: A/S

Now we introduce the other two elements. In S (shutter priority mode) you change the shutter and it’ll use the aperture to sort the exposure, visa versa for A (aperture priority mode). Use S to try some cool long exposure effects (dark rooms, lights etc) and A for some cooler depth of field effects. Point, set, shoot, check.

…and we’re done! Now you should be about 6 months into trying all of the above and getting a bit bored. Boredom is good, it means you’re validated in trying something more. Whack it into M (manual mode) and point, set, shoot, check.

Note: If you’re not getting the time you want to take photos, or you’ve not got the conditions that you will be shooting in or you would like to see what others have done then. Well. You know about Flickr right? Yeah? Bottom right corner there’s a little hyperlink that says ‘more details’. There’s your EXIF for you.

Enjoy.

Back to the Old school

So I’ve been asked for advice on what camera to get by two colleagues this week. I’m not saying that I’m any sort of authority on the matter, but I know some things. If you’re thinking of buying a camera then read on. If not well, you needn’t have read this far.

So cameras, hmmm, whether you think digital sensors and the increasing ability for the camera to automatically create magical images is ruining the medium of photography or not digital photography is here. And it’s here to stay. However there are a number of choices to be made, a number of decisions to ponder and a number of opinions to filter. I don’t intend to muddy the water here but offer some honest, agnostic advice.

Firstly one must consider the following two questions:

1. What do I want from a camera? This is a simple question with a world of answers. Do you want a cheap camera to take photos of nights out, family holidays and the occasional garden shot? Or do you harvest, deep in the subconscious of your subconscious, the need to explore photography and, one day, be rated amongst your friends as ‘a keen photographer’?
2. How much do I want to spend? Obviously this is part of the equation but, honestly, it’s pretty redundant. I’ll explain why later.

Secondly we must dispel a common, urban myth: More mega-pixels does not mean higher resolution. The resolution of a camera’s sensor is an absolute misnomer. Today it is possible to cram 10MP into the tiniest of spaces and in such a case the resolution comes down to

‘the ability of the lens to resolve the light accurately enough to utilise the resolution of the sensor’

This means that a poor lens on a small sensor packed with ‘pixels’ will result in poor photos. There are obviously two ways to solve this problem: Firstly better glass. This is going to cost $$$ for the producer so it’s generally not done. Secondly increase the size of the sensor. This is the route taken by SLR manufacturers (albeit with some increase in lens quality).

Now it gets interesting. If you answered ‘family pics etc’ to question one then stop reading and go buy a Canon IXUS, Olmpus Myu, Nikon CoolPix or Canon PowerShot if you want something a little more meaty. If you have a bit more money I recommend Leica and Ricoh. If you’re still undecided read on…

The thing to consider with photography is simple. You’re buying into a system. That system consists of a sensor (film or digital) and a lens. Now, should you buy into a compact or the increasingly popular ‘bridge’ market (compact camera, some SLR features), those two things are locked together. Thus you have the following problems:

1. If one bit breaks, it all breaks.
2. If you get tired of the lens, you are forced to replace the sensor (and visa versa). A caveat here is that some bridge cameras offer support for wide and/or tele screw ins. My advice: don’t bother, get an SLR.
3. See point 2.

That second point is the most important thing to consider and I cannot stress it enough because, in that simple equation lies the potential to waste vast sums of money. Now if you’re still reading you probably want to hear the bit about why you should buy a digital SLR. But I’m not going to do that. Because you’re here. Which means you’ve already decided to get one… Instead I’ll tell you what to look for, and remember, you don’t need a lot of megapixels (the fact is that I have an A2 canvas printed from a 6MP SP500UZ and loads of A3 prints from a 4MP Myu and they look great).

Firstly, seriously, consider second hand: My current Nikon D80 replaced the D70 (6MP SLR) 2 years ago and you can pick up a mint D70 for about £250 or a mint D80 for about £350. Grey’s of Westminster and the London Camera Exchange are great places to start. Secondly consider size, both in terms of sensor and ergonomics: the smaller ‘compact’ DSLRs are not for guys with big hands in my opinion, also they suffer from a loss of useful buttons. Equally most entry-level DSLRs will have a 1.5x or 1.6x factor on lenses as they have a smaller sensor. Full frame’s are better but more $$$. However Olympus offer a middle ground in their 4/3rds systems. Thirdly (and you’ll be glad to read finally) consider the choice of lens and the fact that, of the £1,000 worth of lenses I own, my favorite is the £80 50mm prime. The purest, simplest, most treasured thing I ever found in photography.

Happy hunting.

Tom (from Ripcurl) stalls a natural quarter pipe in Jasna.

This week I’ve been lucky enough to be part of the Propaganda Snowboards crew as a Photographer. I was paid with a free trip and some of the best conditions for off-piste riding I could imagine.

I’ve really enjoyed my week of pretending to be a professional photographer and, personally, I think some of my shots are half decent. I wouldn’t mind sacking off my career in IT security if it wasn’t for the fact that I know, for many photographers, their work is as relentless as it is underpaid and, as such, I think I’ll wait for that big break. However, if you’re interested, you can hire me by emailing me at benjamin [dot] nickolls [at] gmail dot com.

Meanwhile you can check out the Propganda Snowboards page here, the Flickr page here and my personal collection here.