Photographer ≠ a single profession

When I was at high school, I was hopeless at Physics. Nothing could make me understand the equations or memorize the formulas.

Later on, when I took up photography, I found out that contrary to all logic (and most of my preferences) it is all Physics. Light angles, reflections, lenses, mirrors. What was not logic, was technical staff (I was never a tech-bimbo but I've never been a sys-admin either). So, willy-nilly, I learned about Physics and camera parts, how they work together and so on.

Later still, I discovered that being a photographer mean much more than randomly snapping at things around you.

So, I decided to compile a list of all the things a photographer has to do (that photographer is me, by the way) for all those who think taking a picture is a piece of cake and that sums up being a photographer.

You need to know:

• some information about the thing: ideally the historical, cultural and anthropological background of the place - that includes having MORE THAN BASIC idea of archeology, architecture, warfare, social and cultural history, ethnic groups and the list goes on and on and on.
• some social skills - to talk to people and make them pose for you or even to get some information from them.
• camera equipment handling - this means knowing your gear inside out and being able to work with it with your eyes closed. Plus, you are expected to work and 'be fluent' in more than one brand and its specifics - I've had to use five different brands. You need to know about lenses, tripods, filters and so on and so forth.
• posing 
• event shooting and how to behave at that time
• lighting (studio lighting, I mean)
• your rights and the laws about copyright, private property and photography of the respective country - so that you don't get into trouble.
• some social networking skills (Facebook and Instagram at least) and SEO (search engine optimization) in order to promote your work.
• sales and marketing skills to get yourself some clients.
• html codes - because at some point you'll need a website
• blogging to tell your story to the world.
• graphic design - because of the two above and the demands of your clients
• post-processing (on more than one type software)
• videography and video retouching
• sound editing (because you never know)
• licensing and copyright - so that you know which kind of license you lent whom, why and for how long. I mention it again, but it differs in different countries
• printing, color spaces and different materials - this is separate because it is a whole domain in post-production
• networking - you never know who will be useful for what
• presentation skills - for obvious reasons such as portfolio display
• first aid and basic survival skills - everything can happen on location and you need to keep yourself and the people around you safe
• writing - you'll need to write at least the titles of your images and that is not always easy
• basic self-defense - which includes a lot of common sense and self preservation instinct
• basic meteorology - to know which weather causes what and how to handle that.

This list can go for a long time and I intend to update it. Point is, that unlike most people who get a single profession, specialize for it at university for some time and then go on working in that field without having to learn new things which have nothing to do with their domain, photographers have to do that all the time.

Photography means much more than just clicking a shutter.

Lesson 3 - the colour in things - White Balance

Image taken from http://stylopics.com/tag/tumblr-photography/

Welcome to lesson 3 where we are going to let the hardware be and go a bit into software instead. I know you had to wait fro quite a long time to read that and I hope that it's worth the wait.

By now you already know important is to set the correct aperture and shutter speed to get a good exposure in order to get a good shot. Here we are going to talk about another 'minor detail' that can ruin things if you are not careful. That's white balance. 

By now you probably wonder what white balance is and why do we have to care about it. can whiteness can be balanced? Isn't white supposed to be only white? Yes and no. White balance stands for the way your camera sees the light regardless of what you see. It has to do with the computer inside the camera - remember that I mentioned that in the beginning? So that computer processes the shot BEFORE it gets recorded. Thus the light that to us may have no colour gets one in the picture.

So white balance matters -  it's name comes from the way the white colour changes when you adjust the different settings. Most people learn that setting first. Some never get past that post. If you are wondering right now if you have used the feature or not - look below. if any of those icons looks familiar - you already have.

Image taken from http://www.geofflawrence.com/white_balance.html

If you don't know where are they in the camera menu - take a look at the picture below:

When you click there you'll see this:

Image taken from http://blog.uniquephoto.com/quick-tip-how-to-set-custom-white-balance-on-a-canon-dslr/

So - here's the catch - the difference between those is measured in COLOUR TEMPERATURE - usually in degrees Kelvin -  THE SMALLER THE NUMBER THE REDISH IT ALL LOOKS. Check out the table below to see what I mean: 

Image taken from https://romangronkowski.wordpress.com/2014/10/22/white-balance-and-colour-temperature/

So we care about the colour temperature when we take pictures because if we do not select the right one - it will affect the way the whole picture looks like - and exposure will not correct things. Imagine it as an in-built Photoshop that works on your image before you can correct things. If you are not careful - you can get the whole thing wrong.

Image taken from http://www.fotozzoom.com/blog/top-10-photography-mistakes-avoid-beginners/

With some modes and some situations things are OK but sometimes you can get the whole picture looking red or blue or orange, Some photographers use it as a creative device (for example when you shoot a sunset you will want to get it as colourful as possible so you select a mode that would give you rich reds and oranges) but as a rule if you are a novice - TRY TO USE THE MOST NATURAL-LOOKING MODE.  You'll need to switch between modes a bit but in time you'll know what to use when you see the object.

Do you feel knowledgeable already?

A day in the life of a photographer on location...

Courtesy to videohive.net

Hello everyone,It's been a while but yesterday I had some inspiration and I decided to write something that would be fun to read. I want to share with you what goes on in the head of a photographer while on location - I mean the average travel photographer, not the dedicated landscaper. Imagine it is a diary - hour by hour.

• 5 am/ 7 am - getting up

Oh, I hate getting up! 

Second thought: Oh, I had to shoot X - landscape today!

Jumps out of bed.

Courtesy to Thomas Heaton/REX, Shutterstock 

• 8 am - on location X 

Oh, it's cold/ hot here... I hate it but I have to get that shot of X! 

Starts shooting.

5 minutes later - Realizes that the lens ON camera is not the one needed.

20 minutes later - Lens is in place BUT the white balance/ ISO/ aperture is not right.

10 minutes later - All set and then the WAITING BEGINS - for the sky to clear, God to descend from Heaven or any other natural or supernatural phenomena...

• 9.45 - something interesting happens - starts shooting

Actual shooting time - from 10 second to 10 minutes.

Actual time spent - 2 hours+

• 11 am - on the way to the hotel/ camping/ whatever

I'm hungry, I MUST get some food. 

Second thought: Let's get the tripod/ lens/ bag cleaned first. 

• 12 pm

OK, I'm famished! Food - here I come!!!

Goes to the nearest restaurant.

Second thought: Realizes that looks like a brigand/ homeless/ gypsy and goes back to make oneself presentable. 

• 12.30 pm - lunch time

OK, that one looks nice on the menu... Oh, LOOK! Which idiot took that picture, He should get sued for that! And who wrote that? It's not in English, that's for sure...

Image taken from www.independent.co.uk

10 minutes later... - Ordered, waiting for food to arrive.

Another 10 minutes later...- salad arrives. 

Oh, it's so beautiful and tasty... takes the fork.

Second thought: NO, I MUST photograph it! Takes out camera/ phone/ compact camera - whichever is available at the moment and doesn't look like the Terminator to the other guests and starts shooting.

30 minutes later - main course arrives. Salad still gets photographed.

Oh, I forgot I am hungry! Let's eat! 

Eats salad - it's cold and old but too hungry to think. 

15 minutes later - sees that main course is here.

Oh, I have to eat! 

Second thought: Let's photograph that too, for TripAdvisor! 

• around 14.30 pm

Main course still gets photographed. 

Second thought: Oh, I have to be at Y at 15.00 because light is perfect then!!!

Devours food AND dessert, pays the bill and leaves in haste. 

Image taken from Travel | Corbis Images Blog blog.corbis.com 

• 15.00 pm - location Y

Shopping...well, actually photo -shopping :) 

Items bought: 3 

Reason: Ideal for props 

Total number of shots taken: 473

Reason: It's amazing here!!!

3 hours later... My feet hurt! I am tired and want to go to bed! 

Second thought: Wait!!! Sunset is in an hour! Let's go find a good vantage point!

Image taken from www.magic4walls.com

• 19.00 pm - Sunset time - location Z

Tripod - on, right lens - on, right settings - engaged. 

Actual shooting time: 30 minutes

Actual preparation time: 1 hour

Number of shots taken: 30 (depending on weather conditions)

• 20.00 pm - back at the hotel/whatever

Oh. I want to sleep, damn it!!! 

Second thought: No. I'll take a shower first...

• 20.30 - 21.00 pm (depending on location)

OK, sleep will wait. I need food. NOW!

• 21.15 pm - at a restaurant

Orders food - no fussing about this time - too hungry to be critical. 

• 22.00 pm

Food - devoured.

Number of shots taken: 2-10 (depending on how hungry the photographer is)

• 22.30 pm

OK, now is time to take a tour of the surroundings. 

• 22.45 pm

Notices amazing reflections/ scenery/ whatever. Starts shooting. 

• 23.00 pm

I feel like James Bond/ Indiana Jones here! So many new things...

Second thought: Too late to be out with equipment. Looks around. There are all kind of people around here. 

No matter what - keeps shooting for another half an hour. 

Image taken from pixgood.com

• 23.30 -24.00 pm - back at the hotel/whatever

Oh, God! I do need rest!!!

Second thought: Let's see what's the view from the terrace/ window at night!

• 24.01 am - the terrace/window

Wonderful view!!! Let's capture it!

Gets tripod out, puts half the batteries to charge. 

15 minutes later...

Number of shots taken: 3-5

Number of settings changed: 10

OK, now we're all set! Let's wait for that car/moon/ cloud to move in/ out of the way...

• 2.00 am - still there...

OK, now I MUST go to sleep...THAT is the last shot for tonight. I MEAN IT! 

Second thought: Oh, that moved! Let's see what happens...

• 2.30 am - still at the terrace/window...

OK, that's it!!! ENOUGH! 

Shuts camera down. collects all gear, puts the other half of the batteries to charge. 

I'm going to sleep - NOW!!!

• 3.00 am - in bed, thinking...

Oh, I do love sleep...

Second thought: But I love more location H, I'm gonna shoot tomorrow...

Now you can find my portfolio on www.coroflot.com

Don't worry, it would get bigger! 

Here is the link to it - http://www.coroflot.com/BistraStoimenovaPhotography/portfolio

Now there is a whole new user-friendly place to see some of my best work! Hope you like it!

Write to me if you like it, write to me if you have ideas to shareq write to me if you dislike something...

Lesson 2 - Get moving -part 1- Aperture

Lesson 2 - Get moving -part 1- Aperture 

Image taken from https://sites.google.com/a/sduhsd.net/mr-jordon/photography

Welcome to lesson 2 where we'll look at another very important aspect of photography - aperture and shutter speed. If you have read lesson 1 you already know that aperture is important for getting the correct exposure but you may wonder what it is. But first things first. 

So what is aperture and why do we need it? According to Wikipedia (again!) aperture is:

'The iris of the lens that controls the size (diameter) of the aperture is called “diaphragm” in optics. The sole purpose of the diaphragm is to block or stop all light, with the exception of the light that goes through the aperture. In photography, aperture is expressed in f-numbers (for example f/5.6)' 

OK, we started with the Chinese again... Still, let's try to break that into pieces - meaningful bits if possible. 

But before we do that we have to know ho the camera works...

Image taken from https://blog.cameralends.com/2014/07/21/8-photography-terms-that-commonly-confuse-beginners/

In the picture above you see a normal lens (OK, I know that some of you who have compact cameras can't exactly imagine what that is but don't worry - the built-in lens of your camera has the same thing). So - see that strange shape in the middle - pentagonal - like hole? Well, in plain English the HOLE that is formed is called the APERTURE of the lens and the  THING  that forms it is called the  DIAPHRAGM. 

Remember in lesson 1 where I told you about exposure and there was a diagram? If you don't - here it is again: 

Image taken from http://www.dreamstime.com/royalty-free-stock-photography-exposure-diagram-photography-image25034157

So - in that diagram under APERTURE it says SIZE OF THE OPENING THROUGH WHICH LIGHT TRAVELS TO THE SENSOR. Basically the aperture controls how much light would get to the sensor and the diaphragm controls the size of the aperture. So far, so good. But as with anything else in photography (I guess in anything else as well) there is a catch. 

THE LARGER THE APERTURE THE LESS THINGS ARE IN FOCUS! In our diagram that is said in photographic as DEPTH OF FIELD  or as photographers love to abbreviate things to get people confused - DOF. Chinese again, hah?  Here is the point - aperture is measured with F numbers. THE BIGGER THE F NUMBER, THE BIGGER THE DOF. You still don't get me, do you? 

OK, imagine you're shooting a portrait - and you know, portraits have those nice blurry backgrounds - so you'll need a SMALLER F NUMBER (say f/2.8; f/3.5 or something of the sort) to GET THE BACKGROUND OUT OF FOCUS. Here it gets a little messy because SMALLER F NUMBER MEANS BIGGER APERTURE. That is so because you need a lot of light to go through the lens in order to blur the background (in photographic that's called 'out of focus'). See what I mean below:

Image taken from Google images - forgot where I downloaded it from, sorry to the author - meant no offence - If you recognize the author - contact me to change the caption

By analogy, if you want to take picture of that vast landscape you'll want everything in focus (photographic for that - 'pin sharp'). So you'll need a BIGGER F NUMBER (normally ranging between f/8 and f/22) to GET IT ALL IN FOCUS. Confusion continues because BIGGER F NUMBER MEANS SMALLER APERTURE. That is so because the hole needs to be very small in order for the sensor to get it all OK - like the method of camera obscura (I'm not gonna explain that here, just Google it).

Image taken from http://www.freelargeimages.com/landscape-2332/

So let's try to recapitulate what we know here:

Image taken from http://www.robertmackin.com/tutorials/photography/camera-aperture-explained/

Image taken from http://www.crafthubs.com/f-stops-apertures-for-beginners/12520

If you wonder where to find that in the camera menu - look below:

There is only one thing you should know about aperture - THE BIGGER THE APERTURE THE MORE THE LIGHT AND VICE VERSA. That means that at f/2.8 you'll not need abundance of light whereas at f/16 you'll do.

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