… at least they’re not a Pentax.

Joey L & The Photo Club.

This post was published on Beyond Phototips.com if you like what you’re reading, please visit the website.

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Now, we’re going to look at how you can use that retro dSLR to improve your photography skills and the way you think when you have a camera in your hand.

Your dSLR has a lot of features that help you get your image ‘just right’. Take the modern gadgets away, and you’re back with the fundamentals of photography; and that’s not going to change. Even in the distant future.

Why go back?

Pushing your camera back to the “old days” will:

1. Make you understand the mechanics of taking a photograph.
2. Improve your awareness of the composition in your frame.
3. Help you visualise what you want to capture.
4. Show you the difference between your visualisation and the actual capture. (practise will make you better at reducing this gap).
5. Enable you to make the most out of your camera when it is back in ‘regular dSLR’ mode.
6. Confuse the hell out of you for a while. (For sure, if you’ve never shot in full manual before.)

Guidelines

Some simple guidelines for the project.

1. Retrograde your camera as described earlier… or use an old Film SLR.
2. Try not to use any automatic modes, and do not look at the LCD display for anything.
3. Learn the Sunny 16 rule – Brian Auer’s Sunny 16 guide is brilliant.
4. Take only 36 photographs in a session. Do not cheat by deleting pix.
5. Do not. I repeat “DO NOT” look at the photographs until you download them on your computer.
6. Only use simple retouching techniques at first… Basic “Levels” or “Curves” Photoshop adjustments.

Step-by-step project walkthrough

Step1:

You’re in the dark when it comes to correct exposure (unless you have prior experience). This is because our eyes are so good at adapting to the light that is available to them. A well lit room could look easily look as bright as daylight in summer even though it is not.

Use the Sunny 16 Rule to guide you, and take photographs in sunlit places. Unless you want to live dangerously.

Step2:

Consider every single exposure. Really look at the composition, study the light that’s falling on the object, calculate exposure based on the sunny 16 rule, note the background, take a breath, and gently depress the shutter release.

Remember that you’re only taking 36 photographs for this project. If you take a picture, don’t delete it.

Restricting yourself to a low number of photographs makes you think about the subject:

1. Is the subject worth photographing? Ditch it if you think you’ll get better subjects.
2. Have I got the best angle? Try different angles till one looks great.
3. Is the light right? Come back when you think it’ll be right.
4. Have I set the right Focal Length, Aperture and Shutter speed? Only time will tell

Step3:

Try really, really hard not to look at the photographs before they download. This is the hardest part for many of us. If you’re on a Film SLR, you’ve got to wait anyway, so skip this step.

Step4:

Download your photographs, or get them printed at the photo-store. Analyse the pictures, and re-live the moment in which it was snapped. If you were to take that photograph again, what would you do differently? Log these notes in your memory for future use.

If you do retouch these photographs, try to keep the retouching light in an effort to maintain the original feel.

Step5:

Pick a photograph, either because it came out exactly how you envisioned, or because it failed miserably. Tag it “BP-retro” and share it in our Beyond Phototips Flickr Group, or you could write a blog post about it. Alternatively, you could simply post in in the comments, right here… But do explain what you were trying to do, and whether you succeeded or failed.

I’ll be participating too, so expect to see my misfired pictures in the near future.

Wrapping up

I’ll compile all the photographs that are shared on this website, or in the Flickr group and share them in a post two weeks from now, around the 9th of December. Submit your entries before that. If you write a blog post, mail me from the contact page if you want it posted.

Note: This sort of limited-frame shooting is best tested when on a photowalk. In that case, limit yourself to about 72 frames. The equivalent of two rolls of film.

This post was published on Beyond Phototips.com if you like what you’re reading, please visit the website.

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photo credit: Alex Dram

A Digital SLR is a modern piece of equipment. It has nothing of the old-world charm associated with photography. No “wait till the film is processed“, no “did I get the exposure right“, no “oh, this is not good enough to be photographed“, no “Is the light right?”, no “I’ve got only 2 frames left. They’ve got to count“. Instead, you’ve got instant gratification, with nothing left to your imagination. You see the exact photograph that will be printed (or viewed on your screen) instantly, and if you want to change it, you can experiment till you get it right.

But why not try to experience the magic of not knowing exactly how your photographs are going to turn out? Want to try it? Simple.

1. Set your ISO to 100, 200 or 400, and set your white balance to Daylight because these are the most easily available film rolls available.
2. Set your camera mode to M so that all the aperture and shutter speed decisions are made by your brain, and not the camera’s.
3. Set up your camera to disable image reviews after you’ve taken a photograph. If you don’t have this option, stick a Post-it Note on the rear LCD screen so that you can’t see the image. Post-it Notes leave no sticky residue on the camera once you peel them off, so they’re perfectly safe for your camera.
4. Stick a cut Post-it Note on the top LCD so that you resist the urge to look at the number of frames remaining, shooting / AF mode and other details.
5. Rely on your intuition, and try not to use the light meter readout in the viewfinder.

Any other suggestions? Leave ‘em in the comments.

Watch out for a Photo Project based on your newly set up Retro DSLR in the days to come.

This post was published on Beyond Phototips.com if you like what you’re reading, please visit the website.

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Go ahead, add your best pictures to the group. Make us proud!

Stats.

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However, if you happen to be reading this late at night, you’re tired, and don’t mind a bit of baloney, read on…

Why did I say this?

1. When you have to shoot, Shoot! Don’t talk.

Tuco Says it all. Do use a camera though…

2. Some people read too much.

They theorise, record facts, and they research techniques, look at beautiful photographs, read about the photographers that took them, and the amazing equipment that these brilliant photographers took these enchanting photographs with and then they sit back, too confused to act. They deliberate about what equipment to buy so that they can get the best photographs, ai-ya-yai-a-yai!

Like I said… Just shoot… When you have the need for a gazillion pixel camera, you’ll know… and your fans will be willing to buy you one… Till then, just take out your cameraphone, or your rusty film SLR, or your brand new dSLR that’s been sitting on the shelf, and take photographs…

3. Some people worry too much.

They worry that their cameras will get dirty. They worry that their photographs may not be good enough.

C’mon man! Face facts. Nobody was as good as Ansel Adams when they first picked up their camera. They practiced. They got a bucket load of shitty pics, they figured out what was wrong, corrected the mistakes and moved on…

4. Some people don’t get the time.

Good Photography is about how you see the world around you. When you’re seeing photographs that you should be taking all the time, everywhere around you, and you’re not getting any of them in your camera, you know that you’ve got to make the time… or get a smaller camera, one that you can put in your shirt pocket!

If you don’t have inspiring things around you, you know you’ve got to go out a bit more… When you do, take that camera along with you.

5. Some people are just plain lazy.

And maybe, just maybe… that’s why you’re reading this post? Get off your lazy arse and mess around with your camera… Learn a new technique, or just get better acquainted with your gear!

Know of other reasons why people want to, but don’t take photographs? Leave a comment.

This post was published on Beyond Phototips.com if you like what you’re reading, please visit the website.

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I invite you to take a good look at the photographs featured here and try to pick out which form of symmetry, Reflection Symmetry, Rotational Symmetry, Translational Symmetry or Glide Reflection Symmetry are responsible for making these pictures stick out.

They’re in no particular order, because each one is as visually stunning as the other. Here you go:

Photo by =TrixyPixie

Photo by `gilad

Photo by `gnato

Photo by ~kil1k

Photo by *ambrosia3

Photo by `gilad

Photo by `foureyes

Photo by `zemotion

Photo by `bosniak

Photo by `foureyes

Photo by `gilad

Photo by `gilad

Photo by ~SuzyTheButcher

Photo by `Davenit

Photo by ~Kleemass

Photo by ~julkusiowa

Photo by ~drmarten

Photo by `zemotion

Photo by `TheTragicTruth-Of-Me

Photo by `gilad

I hope you take the time to look at them and really ’see’ that though many of them don’t use symmetry as the primary tool for composition, they do play very integral roles in the photographs.

Take for example, the beautiful photographs by `TheTragicTruth-Of-Me and `zemotion, “Don’t speak” and “Gone.”. There no apparent symmetry, in lines or reflections, but it is the beautiful symmetry of the faces that cause a viewer to stop and look at the photograph. There’s lots more that can be said, but I’d rather leave it to your mind to stop, and pick out the reason for the beauty of these photographs.

I’d love to hear what you think in the comments.

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Does it just mean a ‘reflection’ of what you see on one side? Here’s a bit more info to help guide the way you look at the world and take photographs for the project.

Now, symmetry in mathematics, physics, geometry and aesthetics has a number of definitions, but lets keep it simple.

The kind of symmetry that we’re most accustomed to is “Reflection”. Along with reflection, the four kinds of symmetry that we most commonly deal with are:

• Reflection Symmetry
• Rotational Symmetry
• Translational Symmetry
• Glide Reflection Symmetry

Reflection Symmetry

OiMax

Photo By: Jsome1

Reflection is what you see in a mirror. The regular layman’s understanding of the word reflection… If a line were drawn (usually vertically) through the axis of the symmetry, each feature or point on one side would be equally distant on the other side of the axis.

Rotational Symmetry

Photo By: Retinafunk

Photo By: cotaro70s

Rotational Symmetry is what you see when a shape or pattern is rotated around a point (also called the origin). To observe it, take a look at earthen pottery or even just a circular plate.

Translational Symmetry

Photo By: *Solar ikon*

Photo By: POSITiv

Photo By: pareeerica

Translational Symmetry is simple to show, but a little complicated to explain. It is as if an object has been slid along a plane. It is not flipped, or rotated about an axis; rather it is as if a duplicate of the object has been created.

Glide Reflection Symmetry

Photo By: Matt McGee

Photo By:  Ryan Holst

A good example of Glide Reflection Symmetry are animal tracks, or human footprints in sand. They are seemingly reflected, but also displaced along the axis.

Wikipedia lists other interesting forms of symmetry, and I encourage you to visit the page for more descriptive explanations. I find Scale Symmetry and Fractals to be of particular interest.

As always, feel free to leave a comment and let me know if you found this useful.

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Symmetry

Symmetry is a key element of nature itself, and more importantly to us, in man, and his creations. In your composition, and in your subject, symmetry brings out simplicity amongst complex shapes, and makes things easier to understand.

Symmetry is everywhere. It is when you look at a perfect square, or a bar of chocolate, when you push all your chairs in at your dinner table, or when you look at a racing car. You see it in your architecture, in domes, in arches, in staircases and in doors. You see it in your computers and cellular phones. It is possible that it also makes things more beautiful to behold, and is hard to ignore once you start looking around… Symmetry is everywhere.

Symmetry is not always the best choice for a subject though, and knowing when to use symmetry to enhance the features of the subject, or the subject of your photograph is something that comes with practice and a critical eye.

Take Part – Show off your Symmetry

To be part of the Photo Project, take three photographs with the theme ’symmetry’ kept in mind. Upload them to Flickr, and add them to the Beyond Phototips Flickr Group with the tag “BPP-symmetry“.

10 days from now, I’ll pick at least one photograph from every participant’s submissions and post them all up here on Beyond Phototips for everyone to see. So be on your toes, and think before pressing that shutter-release button. You don’t want to be showing off anything but your best work, right?

If  you find the process interesting, why not write about it and put it up on your blog so that others can benefit too? If you’ve got any thoughts to share, but just want to jot them down quickly, do leave a comment at the bottom of this post.

Some Examples of Symmetry in Photography

photo credit: James Jordan

photo credit: Netream

photo credit: goandgo

This post was published on Beyond Phototips.com if you like what you’re reading, please visit the website.

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