Photography

Photography remains one of the most revolutionary additions to the advancement of artistic human expression. In our not-so-distant past, the closest one could come to having a lasting moment of a person, place or event, was through more human-crafted depictions such as in paintings, drawings or sculptures. Since 1826 when Joseph Niepce created a photograph that he termed heliography, to the Daguerreotype and collodion process and from there to film and then at last to digital, Photography has come a long way. As photography evolves, so too are we evolving as photo makers.

Kodak’s role throughout the history of Photography was one of the most influential. At the same time, it was a rollercoaster of financial and technological mistakes. Without Kodak, none of the digital cameras out there today would be as high performing as they are. Furthermore, without Kodak developing the first digital SLR(Single Lens Reflex) camera, Nikon would not have perfected the functionality and design. Despite experiencing some triumphs since its downfall, Kodak may never reclaim the same prominence it held in the 20th century.

It is impossible to deny that digital photography has made a major impact on society and culture as a whole. Photographers can now take pictures anywhere with many devices including cell phones and store them in these devices or share them online on social media platforms. The current generation has embraced photography as a way of documenting everyday activities. Bloggers, Vloggers, and celebrities use social media as a way to let the world know what they are up to. In conclusion, digital photography has given the profession a fast ride into the future.

Photography has had a long and eventful history and trends have come and gone. But what about its future? What changes and developments can we expect in the coming years? And how will photography change our lives? No one knows what the future holds but we are starting to see some trends emerge from the world of photography.

In his article, Christopher Bryan Smith points out 7 predictions for photography’s future.

IMMERSIVE PHOTOGRAPHY.
3D Photography has been around for a long time and now you can even create 3D images with your smartphone. In addition, thanks to the 360 camera technology, we can roam the streets of cities all over the world from our homes using Google Maps. With these 2, we are entering the world of Virtual Reality and in future, we may have photos that we can walk around and touch.

CONSTANT CONNECTIVITY.
Over the last few years, we’ve seen DSLRs and mirrorless cameras with wireless connections. Wifi technology is moving quickly and in the future, we’ll see wireless charging it’s possible we could see cameras that recharge themselves in the future or ones with their own power source.

THE RISE OF VINTAGE.
People are now returning to film and analogue photography because the digital space is cold and sterile and they feel like they’re losing the personality and warmth that results from a hands-on process. Most brands are strictly digital these days but in the future, many will try to capitalize on the vintage trend in photography, and they might revamp their old systems or perhaps release a new SLR.

REDUCED DEMAND FOR PROFESSIONALS.
Smartphones are now able to perform professional photography tasks both when taking pictures and for post-processing. People no longer need to hire a professional photographer as they can take great pictures on their own and as we head into the future, this trend will continue. Photographers will have to work harder to make their work stand out.

AI(Artificial Intelligence) WILL CHANGE EVERYTHING.
AI is already a feature in many modern cameras and lenses. AI is already making digital photography quicker and easier; this is only going to develop further.

SMARTPHONES WILL KILL THE COMPACT CAMERA.
People are now taking more photos than ever using their smartphones. There’s even no need to take a camera on holiday; people can share holiday snaps with their loved ones in real-time using their phones.

DEATH OF THE DSLR.
Mirrorless cameras are overtaking DSLRs not only because of the image quality but also because they’re smaller, lighter and have fewer moving components.DSLRs still have better battery life and are still excellent cameras, although it’s only a matter of time before this changes too.

In Conclusion, there’s still a place for professionals in the future of photography. New niches will open up and new opportunities will appear, but general demand for photographers will reduce over time. But come what may, photography will still be with us.

As the camera evolves, so do lenses. Though they are the least spoken about, lenses can make or break a shoot, even with the best cameras in the world.

A camera lens consists of several elements each with a different function but working together in harmony. So before you settle on a lens, here are some of the elements to consider.

(i) Focal Length.
This is the measurement of distance(in mm) between the point of convergence of your lens and the sensor recording the image.
The focal length is important because it determines the field of view of the lens. It lets you know how close you need to be in relation to the subject you are capturing.
A short focal length creates a wide field of view while a long focal length creates a narrow field of view.

(ii) Lens Aperture.
The aperture controls the amount of light getting into the camera. It’s important because it determines the amount of light, the depth of field, and the sharpness of a picture.
When choosing a lens, the most important factor is the maximum aperture; the biggest-size aperture is an expression of how ‘bright’ the lens is. Brighter is better.
The Aperture also affects the depth of field; larger openings create a shallower depth of field, while smaller openings make more of the image in focus.

(iii) Depth of Field.
This is the area between the nearest and farthest points from the camera that are acceptably sharp in an image.
It is an important concept to understand and can make your photography stand out. A deep depth of field will give you a photograph with near and far objects all in good focus. A shallow depth of field will emphasize just the importance of the photo that you want to highlight.

So get out, get your camera on and go shooting with this in mind. Remember, brighter is always better.

Unlike any other medium, photography spread across the world like a whirlwind in just ten months after François Arago (inventor of Photography) officially announced the first photograph in 1839.

Places like Togo, Sierra Leone and Senegal in West Africa were one of the first places to be introduced to the daguerreotype in the late 19th century. (Daguerreotype was the first commercially successful photographic process in the history of photography where the images were plastered onto a silvered copper plate).

As the first daguerreotypes arrived, European artists began documenting Egypt’s and North Africa’s extraordinary monuments and landmarks with their heavy cameras.

In West Africa, explorers and government officials such as the French Louis Bouët and Jules Itier were among the first to employ this technology in the early 1840s. And despite photography being invented in Europe, it is in Africa that it truly thrived.

This encouraged other African descendants and locals to open their own photography studios in the 1860s. And by the time you know it, permanent Photography studios stood all across Africa by the 1900s.

Great names would come out of this era such as Malick Sidibé and Seydou Keïta. And their work is still frozen in time as if we could see into the past and really imagine how Africa was at the time, a real gift of photography.

Good photography is expensive. But you do not have to break the bank to achieve high-quality images. Whether you want to start photography professionally or just have it as a hobby, there are always ways to do it without it costing an arm and a leg.

Movies have been shot on smartphones and end up doing pretty well in film festivals where they compete with productions costing a fortune.

As technology evolves, so is photography. We should be very thankful to our lucky stars for letting us live in an era where technology is cutting down the costs of almost everything.

Start with what you can find at home

At the end of the day, it’s all about quality. Yes, you can have a smartphone that records in HD, but it also needs to have all the ingredients needed for a high-grade image.

If the lights are expensive then take to natural lighting, if you don’t have outside space to shoot, then use mirrors to reflect light indoors, if the sun is too harsh then use bedsheets to soften the rays. There are solutions everywhere and they are all around you.

Rent

You might not have a smartphone but that doesn’t stop you from turning your ideas into action. Borrowing is another way to take photos and still not have the burden of buying them. There are lots of companies that focus on renting out equipment. It’s a good option to learn what suits you best before buying something expensive and never really using it.

Watch out for sales

When an electronic store or an online shopping site has discounts, take advantage of it! During these periods of low prices, you can find something in your budget. Also, make sure you have done your research on the equipment you want to buy.

YouTube college

Like the gold medalist Julius Yego, who learned his craft online, YouTube has endless videos on every topic under the sun. Take advantage of all the free photography videos and plan your next steps into venturing into photography.

Photography is a wonderful way to bring out your creativity, taste, style, and artistic flair. Besides satisfying your visual curiosity, a good shot also shows the best of your imagination with respect to time, space, and mood.

From wildlife to landscapes, to architecture or abstract scenes and images, one can deploy various photography techniques to optimize the quality of your creative works.

Learning how to apply various artistic expressions in photography can be a great way to come up with intriguing images that interest your audience or market.

Here are three ways you can use artistic expressions for that great million-dollar shot: –

1. Shoot an abstract
Abstract photography occurs when one focuses on a section of a natural scene by isolating it from its context such as colour, texture, line, shape, geometry, symmetry, or reflection of an entity.

Here, the photographer changes our perception of the real and familiar subject or objects such that the viewer doesn’t immediately recognize them.

Abstraction facilitates a move away from the specific, the concrete, and the obvious by eliminating an object and its texture, shape, and form. Colour and tones can become strong elements in an abstract photograph.

Details can be used to create abstract photographs by moving closer to our subjects. Alternatively, you can achieve abstraction through movement. Through subject motion, photographer motion, camera movement or a blend of any of these, information gets reduced, and impressions are created. For example, moving the camera upwards or downwards when photographing trees leaves behind colours, patterns, and lines.

2. Light trails at night
As darkness falls, lights at night illuminate targets, providing excellent subjects, and contexts to capture. For instance, the city roads are lit by light trails from vehicles, giving very unique and interesting patterns.

Fairgrounds offer good artistic shots due to their unique atmosphere, as well as their colour and excitement. Be innovative and artistic in your approach to capturing these scenes by looking for elements such as vibrant and attractive Christmas lights in malls and car light trails.

3. Sharpness and blur
Nice shots don’t always have to be about the beauty of a scene in its sharpest and most natural form as you can be innovative by applying a bit of artistic blur from time to time.

While sharp images are dynamic and provide an obvious and real static representation of a scene, artistic blur helps embed art and movement into your shots, making them even more compelling to the eye.

Using a slower shutter speed helps to provide motion and movement to photographs while also adding drama and vitality.