Captured Moments Photography

Emotion Driven Photography

Take a photograph that is set up perfectly, composition, lighting, scale, its all right. You take the shot and feel pleased with the outcome, but how much personal emotion went into the shot?

This is a question you should ask yourself every time you press the shutter down. For human emotion is a powerful tool to equip your images with. It avoids images taken without reason or understanding. It evokes feelings and emotions within the viewer of the photograph, and it gives the image a much greater level of meaning.

As a nature photographer, any image I take has been the result of an instinctive feel for the environment being shot. We all know that feeling you get when you reach the summit of a mountain, or when you step into the warm sea for the first time. Something within gives you a great satisfaction, a buzz that you cannot keep hold off. How incredible would it be to find a photograph that could capture that feeling and record it within an image? An image that unleashes these very emotions when viewed. This however is no easy task. It requires a photographer that is sensitive to their surroundings and understating of their subject. The images do not require being laboured over, for it should be instinctive, driven by the emotion of the taker. If it feels right, take the shot.

Of course, not everyone will see in an image what you see, and will not feel what you feel. This is unavoidable, but you do take away some of the static feel that can suffocate a photograph. Make your photos exciting, make them feel alive, make them look real, and most of all, equip them with emotions.

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Photography - Your Undiscovered Skill?

Ask yourself the question; Are you the next undiscovered photographer? Anyone can take a photograph of course, but it’s that creative spark and seeing the unseen that makes a photographer stand out and be noticed.

Choose an area of photography that holds the strongest fascination to you. For me it was nature photography, but this is one of many areas including still life, portraits and wedding photography to name a few. Once you’ve chosen an area, try experimenting, taking shots on impulse, varying the viewpoint, altering the lighting, basically - try the untried. As one of my favourite sayings puts it, ‘Walk the un- walked path.’

Many people don’t posses the belief within them that they have what it takes to be a good photographer. Challenge that perception! It can be changed through exercising your skills and gaining experience. In the now digital age there has never been a better or more exciting time to take up photography. There has also never been a better chance to experiment with images. With the ability to view your taken photographs within seconds, you have the opportunities to better your shots instantly. Once you have mastered the basic techniques, photography can be a wholly satisfying and rewarding hobby. And who’s to say it will stop as a hobby? It could turn out to be your future profession!

My best advice would be, don’t stick to any rules! Free your mind and photograph what you want and how you want, have fun and be adventurous!

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Photography Online 

As photography itself has embraced technologies like digital, we ourselves as photographers must embrace advancing technologies like the Internet. The door has been opened to showcase your work to not only a national but also an international audience. Once online, your photographs can be viewed from countries as far apart and varied as America to Australia and Russia to Africa.

A website has become an essential tool for any serious creative person. Indeed so much so, that it has got to the point that if you don’t have an online presence, you simply don’t exist. A website is the perfect place to show your images, sell your images and to build your reputation as a photographer. It is also the chance to familiarise yourself with the marketing practice of ecommerce, i.e. doing business on the Internet.

I have recently had a website designed to showcase my photography at www.capturednature.com I have found this to be wholly useful in both attracting business and as an interactive portfolio of my work. It is important to make your website look professional, and to be built in the most effective way that compliments your images.

Another positive side to using the Internet for imagery is that in the whole it is universally viewable. Of course text may cause a problem and come up against language barriers, but the images viewed can be understood globally.

On the cautious side, you need to look after your work and make sure your images are copyright and protected. Don’t let this put you off though to the benefits that can be harvested by taking your photography onto the online stage.

Written and brought to you by http://www.capturednature.com

Photography - Colour vs. Black & White

A debate that could rage on for eternity, but let’s look at the basics. Every photographer has their own unique style, developed over time and moulded by their background and personality. Some photographers stick religiously to black & white images, whilst others swear by full colour. Which is right? The question to ask though is which is right for the individual image.

Take a photograph that has been shot in full colour. Change that same image to black and white and the whole feel, mood and emotion of the image changes drastically. In-fact the entire message that the image portrays is different. This can be a powerful tool in the photographers armour if used in the correct way.

In today’s digital world, a colour photograph can be changed from colour to black & white in the click of a button, enabling instant viewable results. And if colour vs. black & white wasn’t enough to contend with, Sepia has been added to the mix, also holding a strong case for selection and use, and having choice IS a good thing.

Once you have chosen the most effective colour(s) you can then perfect the image in programs like Photoshop. Personally I don’t like to alter the original image too much. I do however correct the colour, lighting and contrast.

If your framing your image then you have more considerations, you need a frame that will compliment your image and enforce your message. For example, if you have a strong black & white image of a natural scene, how does it look set in white card with a dark wooden frame?

Have a go and experiment with your own images, first ask yourself what kind of mood and message you want your photograph to give out. Try it in full colour, black & white and Sepia. Each will have its own effect on the image.

Written and brought to you by http://www.capturednature.com

Photography Blogs

A look at the current phenomenon of blogging, and how it can aid your photography. Have you got down with the latest craze sweeping the Internet? Blogging.  Everyone’s doing it, everywhere you look.  Such a simple concept but with amazing capabilities.  The power to spread news, gossip, and of course…images.

Getting more to the point, photography blogs.  What a great opportunity to share your images with the rest of the world.  You can post your images daily if your keen enough, people can write comments about your images, and at the same time you build up an online journal of your photography.  All that is needed is a bit of time and dedication.

Blogs are useful in a number of ways.  Not only will they be useful as far as showing off your images goes, they will have a positive effect on traffic to your website.  Search engines love them, there easy to pick up and before long you will have people coming onto your blog directed from search engines.

So how do you go about setting up a blog?  There are plenty of places you can go to set up a blog, I personally use Movable Type.  Once set up you can start talking to the world.  There are a few things to remember to make your blog more effective.  First off, update regularly.  This will keep a fresh supply of information on your blog and show it is used and updated regularly.  Make your submitted information / images appropriate to the type of blog you have. In doing these simple steps your blog is more likely to attract repeat visits.

A good idea for photography blogs is to try and match the images you show to the time of year.  For example, in December show images containing snow and ice.  Around Halloween show eerie looking images.  The point I am trying to make is, be imaginative but at the same time relate your images into the context of time.  This makes the blog more appealing, interesting and appropriate.

Try it yourself and join the craze!