For Alessa, who stays up with me until dawn.

Rakenrol! :)

Why do we photograph?

Photography is a part of the lives of hundreds of millions of people around the

globe. The widespread availability and ease of owning a camera is a product of

the digital age – and aren’t we all so fortunate for it. Whether you have a simple

point and shoot to capture family moments and day to day ramblings or a multi-

thousand dollar medium format with a digital back for large production advertising,

photography touches all of us. It begs the question, why do we photograph?

For some it’s as necessary as breathing. It’s as much a part of who we are as the

clothes we wear, the music we listen to, the friends we associate with and the val-

ues we hold dear. It’s who we are. To others it’s an enjoyable hobby or past-time –

a great way to spend some free time or a way to capture little family moments.

Whatever your personal level of involvement in photography is, taking photos is

something we all love to do.

Perhaps there is a deeper psychological explanation. Our time on this earth only

lasts for so long, and a camera allows us to preserve memories far past when

they might have slipped our mind. It helps us pass those memories into the hands

of future generations. Our photos are little legacies of the life we have led – our

travels, experiences, food, family, friends, work relationships and more. Each

photo is a window into a moment, and the collections of images we take over the

years are a window into who we were and what we valued. Ultimately it comes

down to a simple truth – seeing that moment captured makes us genuinely happy.

Photography should make you happy. Never let someone impede on your per-

sonal happiness. You love HDRs and someone else doesn’t – who cares? You

are enamoured with landscapes but your friends think they’re droll – don’t let it

bother you. You’re a fashion nut but no one gets your style – just keep being you.

Enjoy your photography for what it is – your own. Know that not everyone will ap-

preciate it, but if it personally fulfils you, that’s all that truly matters. Be true to

yourself and you’ll never regret a day of your life.

HDR Images

As some of you may know, HDR (High Dynamic Range) photography is a big part of what

I do. I’ve spent countless hours learning, practicing and honing my processing techniques

and I’d like to think that by now I have an eye for a good HDR image. I thought I would do

something a little different. I spend pretty much every day of my life taking pictures and

almost 10% of my photographs are HDRI. Below and the next few pages are some of the

HDRs I took over the past year.

In shooting sunsets

Always keep in mind that in shooting sunsets, you don’t just take your camera and take a photo of it. Watch

it. You must wander in its greatness. Let it overcome you. That is how to shoot a sunset.

Landscapes

According to the dictionary, a landscape is a picture representing natural inland or coastal scenery. To me, it

is more than that. Shooting landscapes make me see the world in a different perspective, It’s vibrant color

and shadows make me feel ecstatic.

Nature: Papa God’s way of showing He loves us

One thing enjoy about photography when I bought my telephoto lens is that I can shoot

my subjects from afar. But mostly, I use it on shooting animals and nature as I can take

their photos like I wasn’t even beside them.

The Moon

I have been for a long time fascinated by moon landscapes pictures and by pictures of the moon alone and

wondered for a long time how can those pictures be accomplished. However, after some personal experi-

ence, it turned out that shooting the moon is not that hard.

People and Portraits

Every face tells a different story, and every photo tells it differently. When I shoot por-

traits, I pay attention to the eyes. The eyes contain emotions. It is the window to one’s

soul.

Still Life

What I love about this demanding art is that it allows me to take full control over lighting,

mood and composition. Same as a painter takes control of oil, it gives me the ability to

control the photographic situation the same as with what I have in mind.

Street: The Photography for Purists

Street photography is a type of documentary photography that features subjects in candid situations

within public places such as streets, parks, beaches, malls, political conventions and other settings.

Street photography uses the techniques of straight photography in that it shows a pure vision of something,

like holding up a mirror to society. Street photography often tends to be ironic and can be distanced from its

subject matter, and often concentrates on a single human moment, caught at a decisive or poignant moment.

It can be viewed not as a type of photography, but a technique used in photography. But let’s face it, starting

street photography is no easy task. For the average photographer, going from shooting flowers into shooting

people in the streets is like stepping into a Ferrari after driving a Toyota Prius. It is intimidating at first, but

quite exhilarating once you try it out.

After shooting on the streets for a long time now, here are a few tips I can you, the first is to ditch the zoom

lens and use either a wide angle prime or the dreaded 50mm normal prime. Not only does a prime produce

sharper images and less depth of field, It makes you look less conspicuous in the street than using a zoom

lens.

Secondly, get close. When I say close, I mean GET CLOSE. Get so close so that when you are taking photos

of people on the street that you can see the perspiration dripping from their forehead or the texture of their

skin. By using a wide-angle or normal prime lens, you will be forced to get close to your subjects.

Third, ALWAYS bring your camera with you. You have heard this a million times and you know that you should, but you always seem to find excuses or reasons NOT to always carry your camera with yourself. ―It’s too heavy, it’s annoying, it’s a hassle, it’s frustrating.‖ I’ll tell you what’s frustrating. Missing the perfect photo opportunity (the decisive moment) and regretting it for the rest of your life. I have to admit that is a bit dra-matic, but it is true. If you always carry your camera with you, you will never miss those ―Kodak moments‖ which always seem to happen at the most unexpected times. I have taken some of my best images at the most unexpected moments—images that would have been impossible to take if I did not have my camera by my side. And lastly, disregard what other people are thinking about you. One of the things that people are worried about when starting street photography is worrying about being judged by other people as being a ―creeper‖ or just being plain weird. Disregard these thoughts. When you are shooting on the streets, you will most likely be alone. That means that anyone who may be ―judging‖ you is people that you do not know and will most likely never see again in your life. So why let them get in your way? We may feel constricted by these ―social rules‖ but remember, they can always be broken. There is no law out there which doesn’t allow photography in public places (regardless of what the police may tell you). As for the purists like me who fell in love with the street, It is also my way of showing people (including my-self) what really is happening to the world. It gives me the curiosity to observe the things happening around me.

With excerpts from:

http://www.digital-photography-school.com/

http://en.wikipedia.org/

http://dictionary.reference.com/

Nikon D5000

AF-s DX18-55mm f3.5-5.6 VR

AF Nikkor 70-300mm f4-5.6

Nikkor Series-E 50mm f1.8

Post Processing Tools:

Adobe Photoshop CS2

Noise Ninja Standalone

Dynamic Photo HDR

Photoscape

Nikon Capture NX2

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This ebook is free and not for sale.