Being a Geek Photographer
I’m sure that it is true to say that once you get into photography proper, then you are automatically a geek photographer. You won’t be able to help yourself, there will be lots of gadgets and equipment to buy for your photography and then on top of that you will need to have a wide array of software for the postprocessing of your amazing pics. It is also quite possible that you will be inducted into one camp or the other and that is usually either Canon or Nikon although you could be a rebel like myself and go for something like the Sony mirror-less cameras. Even though there are settings on these cameras that will be totally automatic and can give you a really good picture most of the time, you will want to use the semiautomatic or fully manual settings to really do the job properly. You will not be happy just allowing the camera to choose for you the settings that are going to influence your photograph. Then of course, there is so much reading that has to be done to learn as much as possible about photography and photographers, that it is almost a full-time job. You might think that I am saying all of this in that it is a bad thing, but not at all, it is quite fun to be a geek photographer.
Where to get started
Seeing as just about all of us now carry around a camera in our pocket in the form of a smart phone, then that is obviously the best place to get started with your photography. When you are using your iPhone or your Android smart phone or even your Windows phone if that’s the way that you roll, you can get some great photos. The equipment doesn’t really matter, what is most important is that you develop the photographer’s eye. This is the way that you look at the world and decide on finding things in it that will translate perfectly to an interesting and artistic image. Even when you are snapping shots at the birthday party you will also want to be looking for the best angle and good lighting. It is what us geek photographers do.
Once you have become hooked on taking photos and recording the world in two dimensions, then it is only natural that you will want to get more geeky and get better technology. The truth is, is that there are benefits to having some of the latest photographic technology that widens the range of what you can do with your images. There will be cameras like the NEX-6 that has better software within, that allows you to capture a wide range of light. This handy little camera also has in camera applications that you can add, so that you can put more artistic interpretations on the pictures that you take. Just as an example, there is the partial colour setting which allows you to take a picture that is in black and white all apart from one specified colour such as blue, or you might choose to highlight any reds in the image. I have even been known to experiment with the Sony application on the NEX-6 which turns the photo into an illustration. It is quite a cool effect to play with! Get more Spondicious Photography News.
Postprocessing to turn your photos into art
I have all of my photos in Aperture on my Mac and from this application I can send photos to plug-ins which will turn these photos into something special. Intensify Pro for the Mac is an excellent application. I am one of those photographers that is not interested in merely capturing a version of reality as seen by myself and the camera as the photograph was being taken. What I want to do is to turn a photograph into a work of art and for me that often means to have bright, richly coloured extravagant images that grab the eye. To this end for some time now, one of my favourite types of photography has been HDR photography. For this I set the camera to take three images at the same time. The first one is at the correct exposure and then I do one that is two stops overexposed and another that is two stops underexposed. I then use the Photomatix Pro software to merge these photographs together so that it brings out the information that is in the shadows and also has the information that would be burnt out in the highlights.
Spondicious Geek Photography Book coming soon
On account of the fact that I have written an awful lot of articles about using Mac postprocessing applications for photographs and photography in general, I have gathered these together into a book. Not only is the book full of excellent information about how to work with your photos that you have taken, but there is also hours of video tutorials included. I have added some articles to this that have never been published anywhere else. Before I have finished and published I will also add a couple more videos that will be only for the readers of the Spondicious Geek Photography Book.
