Gear - That stuff we need as a photographer.
A Camera & Lens. Sounds pretty simple when you put it like this and its all you need getting started and also for a lot of work.
You buy your first camera and start taking photos of everything around you, then you get bitten. That little bastard of a bug called GAS is a sneaky little S.O.B and will strike many times through a photographer’s life.
Once bitten you start looking at new gear…
The Seamless of White...
( I am aware this is a bit of a jump from camera basics, this post was written back in 2015 but was moved to this blog when I created it. More tutorials covering the basics are on the way, I just wanted all the technical and tutorials to live on this blog and my work for clients on my main blog - Rick )
Ahhh the white background, it has been around for years and you will see it every day be that on TV, in magazines or other print material. It’s stood the test of time and will still be around when the fad of 50 texture layers has long past. Why?
- It's Clean and Simple.
- It's a classic.
- It Works for a lot of different subjects/jobs.
- The shot is about the subject and not the background.
- Can give you options in post (cut outs, negative space for logo or graphics).
- You will see it most days in fashion, TV and video.
Some people call it boring and over used, I call BS and say that the fake Photochop backgrounds and textures are over used (often badly) and they will disappear. You know what will always be around?... yup a clean simple background be that white, grey, black or another colour.
White background or white seamless (what this post is about) has been around for years and if it was good enough for the likes of Richard Avedon, Hurb Ritts and David Bailey it is good enough for anyone.
You can use a roll of white seamless paper in many ways, it does not have to be a lit (lighting the background) white seamless shot. It can be taken any shade of white, grey and even to black, this post will concentrate on the lit white seamless set-up from my own experience and in the spaces I have shot it in including my newly opened studio.
Just a heads up you will be filling that swear jar when you first get in to this and especially if you are trying to pull this off in a small space with white walls.
Photography Fundamentals - The Mode Dial
The mode dial can be the most daunting dial on a camera when starting out but rest assured it's not as scary as it seems. I break it down in the video and blog post below.
When you move from a compact or point and shoot camera to a DSLR or mirrorless camera you are greeted by this circular dial with a load of symbols on. What does all this mean?
Let’s take you through it.
You might be keen to lean about exposure, focus, depth of field (DOF) etc. but we need to learn the layout of the camera and that comes with learning about the Mode Dial and what each mode is for.
We will get in to the different modes in more detail in upcoming posts but for now we will get to know the names and what each mode allows you to control.