Pedrosa: Learning The Ropes of Photography

Albert Pedrosa
Photo mania

TO BE be able to learn, one must be inspired and for one to be inspired, one must appreciate.

Learning photography takes more than just understanding the science that creates it.

It is also a form of art that needs to be felt and experienced. There is no trick in photography - only scenes and moments that are captured regardless of its past and future whether it’s done naturally or staged.

In many photography workshops that I conducted, I see those who are naturally talented to see things differently. There are those who struggle to make a difference. No matter which you are, it’s actually the passion that fuels your journey and not talent alone. Passion will dictate how far you will go regardless of your pace.

Some students would ask what other equipment they should buy to be able to enhance their photos. While it is true that hardware will help you do a better job, it has to be understood that its purpose is only to make it better. You cannot enhance something that is not there in the first place. Learning photography is not dependent on the camera you have whether it’s a dslr or a point and shoot.

In the movie “Helvetica”, Massimo Vignelli, a graphic designer, explains that a typeface is not the characters that we see, it’s the space in between characters that defines the character itself. I find it very similar to photography where white is the canvass and the shadows is the ink. The difference is that in photography, we paint not with black but with white. That’s why photography is referred to as light painting.

Typically, if you’re a beginner, you tend to lose interest especially if you can’t seem to find a good subject to shoot. You feel like your shots look ordinary and seems to lack visual impact. This is the time when you need to be inspired by the works of others. Follow the works of photographers that matches your interest. You can try to mimic their work only to propel back your interest.

You can also try some photography experiments that can be done indoors. You can easily find many tutorials in YouTube for you to follow. The idea of these tutorials is for you to see the effect but note that it’s more important to understand how the effect was achieved so you can modify it and combine it with other techniques.

Joining photography club is also a good avenue for you to share and acquire knowledge.

They normally have monthly photo contest and open shoot organized by the club for you to practice on a certain theme. When choosing a club, check out their previous activities and see if it interest you. Note that most photography clubs asks for a periodic fee used for administrative expenses.

There are no shortcuts in learning the ropes of photography but you can always run faster. In my case, no matter how I run fast, photographers that I follow seems to run faster than me. It’s actually a good situation because it keeps me on my toes. Keep on shooting everyone.

For comments and suggestions, you may email me at photography@grp.ph