Intro to Photography- Final Thoughts
We’ve certainly been on quite the journey. All the way from choosing a camera to editing your final image. With the things that have been covered so far, any photographer should be able to get a solid start. However, I want to make this final post to pull everything together and add a few final thoughts.
Automatic settings
If you remember back to the post on exposure, we talked about using both manual and automatic camera modes. While manual modes give the most creative control and are ideal for most occasions, I would be remiss if I didn’t highlight the value of automatic and semi-automatic modes.
At the end of the day, getting the shot is the most important part; so in dynamic, quickly changing conditions, using a semi-automatic or fully automatic mode can help with that. Instead of wasting time fumbling around with camera settings, you can focus on composing and actually getting your shot.
Semi-automatic modes will help to better control the look of your photos, so if your camera has them, I would recommend those first. These semi-auto modes let you control one or two elements of the exposure triangle while the camera adjusts the rest. Most cameras have aperture priority and shutter priority mode on the wheel that controls the camera mode. These two modes are very similar. There is a third mode related to ISO, but it is less simple to access. In the settings menu of many cameras, you can also turn on auto ISO.
Aperture priority- the photographer sets the aperture to control depth of field, while the camera adjusts shutter speed and ISO to get a proper exposure
Shutter priority- the photographer sets the shutter speed to control motion blur, while the camera adjusts aperture and ISO to get a proper exposure
Auto ISO- the photographer sets the shutter speed and aperture, while the camera adjusts the ISO to get a proper exposure
All three of these shooting modes can be very helpful when you only need to or want to worry about one or two camera settings. I am a particular fan of auto ISO for wildlife photography, as I can control the two things that cannot be adjusted for in post (shutter speed and aperture), while still getting proper exposure, whether I am shooting an animal in shade, sunlight, or some other constantly changing lighting condition.
All three of these modes can also be further customized to fit your needs. Using exposure compensation, you can raise or lower the automatic exposure to fit the scene. For example, when shooting a backlit subject, the camera might underexpose the subject to properly expose the background. Raising the exposure compensation would increase the overall exposure, properly exposing the subject. In this situation, we don’t care so much about whether or not the background is properly exposed. Additionally, auto ISO can be configured to have a maximum ISO. This is helpful when you want to try and limit noise in your images.
Automatic settings can also be found in editing. In Lightroom, particularly when I don’t have a preset already made for a situation, I may try the auto edit feature and see what it gives me (this feature also exists in other softwares). In many situations, this can be a good base point, and I wouldn’t discourage you from trying it. With that being said, I would never call an image done after just the auto edit. The auto edit cannot do cropping, nor does it adjust effects. It also only does minimal color correction. I would strongly encourage manual cropping to taste, as well as adjustments of these other settings to further enhance the image. Masking may also need to be used, which is another thing outside the capabilities of auto edits.
I almost exclusively shoot wildlife with auto ISO (Taken with a Nikon Z6 & Nikon 200-500 MM @ 500 MM, f/5.6, 1/640 sec, ISO 1600)
Touching up vs. embellishment
Art is not something that has set limits, so I encourage you to experiment and take whichever path feels best for your photos! However, I want to make a brief note encouraging you to think about the audience of a certain work, particularly when editing. When photographing for personal enjoyment, your imagination is the only limit on how your photos should look. However, there are times when certain considerations should be taken into account.
Too heavily editing a photo can create a very obviously artificial look, and certain genres or situations (like client work) often call for more minimal edits. In wildlife photography and portraits, for example, a more natural look is often preferred, especially if the pictures are being sold to a client. Conversely, motorsport photography and astrophotography tend to lean more into the abstract. Again, this is not to say that there is some arbitrary rule which prevents abstract portrait photography. These are just general guidelines and observations that I think are worth mentioning. This may also be partly determined by your style. Additionally, many photography competitions have specific rules for how much and what kind of editing can be done to an image, so be sure to read the fine print if you want to apply to one!
While this edit looks great in my humble opinion, this crosses the line of what I would consider touching up; that’s fine for this shot, but I might have to change it for some photography competitions (Taken with a Nikon Z6 & Nikon 70-200 MM f/2.8 @ 85 MM, f/2.8, 1/2500 sec, ISO 100)
Style
As any artist's career goes on, they will develop a style in their photos that becomes a kind of calling card. Through all of these steps that we have covered: picking a camera, choosing a subject, exposing an image, composing an image, and editing; a style will emerge. Conscious choices will be made at every step in the workflow that will ultimately culminate in your own, unique look.
For example, my own style is typically bright and emphasizes detail. I think this looks clean and professional, and it also leans into what I find the most interesting pieces of photography (particularly sports and wildlife). That isn’t to say that all of my pictures look bright and have a lot of detail, but my style is my base line, if you will. Styles can absolutely change and morph as time goes on or even with different circumstances.
Don’t worry too much about having a style though, especially early on. Your style will naturally manifest. It is just another piece of the photography puzzle to keep in mind. Focus on enjoying the process and doing what you think looks best at each stop along the way!
Even though landscape photography is not my typical genre of choice, I think that my bright, detail focused style is still a visible fingerprint of my work in this shot (Taken with a Nikon Z6 & Nikon 24-70 MM f/2.8 @ 24 MM, f/8, 1/320 sec, ISO 100)
Final Thoughts
This has certainly been quite a journey. This whole series will take much less time for you to read than it took me to write, but these blog posts have been many, many hours of work and thought. It might not be everything that I know about photography written down, but it’s pretty close! Should you have any specific or further questions, never hesitate to reach out to me via email or Instagram. I hope that this series has been insightful and helpful, and that maybe one or two of you have even felt inspired and empowered to begin your own photography journeys. I would certainly encourage you to save these posts for future reference, as well as doing your own further research if interested. There is so much good information out there. Photography can be a complicated, technical, and intimidating hobby, but I have found it to be immensely rewarding; it has led me to some of my coolest life experiences, and gotten me involved with certain activities that I never thought possible. Best of luck shooting out there, and I hope to hear from you all! I’ll be back soon with new content.
