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Vern Dewit Photography

I have another web site entirely devoted to my photography and show casing my photographs. This site is available at verndewit.com.

Commentary

I have been very interested in photography for the last 6 or 7 years. I've made it a hobby of mine to buy and sell cameras which has allowed me to try many different systems over the last few years including:

  1. Olympus c770 ultra zoom.
  2. Canon Pro1 powershot.
  3. Canon 20D.
  4. Nikon D80.
  5. Nikon D200.
  6. Canon 5D, full frame digital.
  7. Olympus E410.
  8. Olympus E420.
  9. Ricoh GX100.
  10. Sigma DP1
  11. Canon G9 powershot.
  12. Panasonic G1.
  13. Nikon D700.
  14. Nikon D90.

Wow. I didn't realize it was that many... ;-) Over all these cameras you know what I ended up realizing? My Canon 20D would've continued to match any of the later cameras almost picture-for-picture as far as the end result was concerned. Yes, the 5D and D700 produced nicer bokeh and better low-light but the G1 and the E420 were much smaller and allowed me to be more creative in my approach to photography.

How to take a great Photograph

So, how do you take a great photograph? That's a great question!! Depending on the subject and your definition of a great photograph, this will be different for you and I. Here's some quick tips though:

  1. Take the shot. Seriously. :-) People get way too caught up in the technical details of their equipment. If the shot presents itself, snap it. In order to do this you need to carry your camera with you all the time. This can be a hassle if all you own is a giant DSLR. I recommend a P&S for everyday, carry everywhere photography.
  2. Use aperature priority. If you learn nothing else about taking photos, learn what 'aperature' is and how to use it. Very simply put, use large aperatures (small numbers) for portraiture and some macro work for a nice out of focus (oof) look and small aperatures (large numbers) for lots of focus (depth-of-field, DOF) in landscapes or whatever.
  3. Shoot RAW. Yes, I know this is a pain and it takes up a lot more space but there are irrefutable advantages such as increased dynamic range (more detail in shadows / highlights), more options for future manipulation whether that is printing, photo contests or web display. Think of shooting RAW vs. JPEG as being the same difference between shooting 35mm negatives (or slide film) vs. Polaroids. Polaroids are cool but they're very static and inflexible whereas you could enlarge and manipulate your 35mm negatives much better.
  4. Develop your photographs. Some people think that by sharpening or boosting the contrast levels on your digital photograph you are somehow misrepresenting the original scene. This is ridiculous. It's like insisting that any photography ever shot using Velvia film is not a 'real' photograph. If you're shooting RAW you will definitely have to learn to sharpen and post process (PP) your pictures. I would recommend at the very least sharpening and adjusting the contrast using a tool such as Google's Picasa or much better, a tool like Adobe's Lightroom.
  5. Use a 'prime' lens. To boost creativity, leave the zoom lens at home and head out with a small prime. I shot most of my hikes and climbs for a whole summer on the Sigma DP1, a fixed focal length camera with an APC sized sensor. The lens was 28mm wide and produced some stunning shots. I never really missed having a zoom and I believe my creativity was boosted by being 'forced' to look for good 28mm shots. A more useful general photography lens would be 35 or 50mm equivalents.
  6. Watch your perspectives. The vast majority of sub-par photographs, or the defining characteristic of a 'tourist photo' or 'snapshot' is the perspective of the shot. Way too many people assume that a photograph should be exactly what the person is seeing from their (usually standing) position at that exact moment. This seems logical but it doesn't convey any feeling. For example, take a beach volleyball game. You could just snap a shot from eye level and get a bunch of people playing in the sand, or you could crouch down and let the viewer feel the action from a lower perspective. Trees and telephone poles sticking out of subject's heads is another classic tourist mistake.'
  7. Pre-visualize your shot. Related to the above point on perspective is pre-visualizing the shot. Know what you want the shot to convey before you take it, then make it happen!
  8. Learn to use the histogram. 'Chimping' is when you take a shot and then either keep or delete it depending how the exposure looks on the camera's LCD display. If you don't know what the histogram is, or how to use it see this article.
  9. Use filters. Especially for landscape photography, a CPL (circular polarizing filter) can make or break the shot. See here for more ideas on filters.
  10. Study other pictures. Learn from others! Some of my favorites are Galen Rowell, Darwin Wiggett and Michael Reichmann.

Examples

Here's an example of taking the shot. I was walking up Windy Peak with my Nikon D90 hanging around my neck. This was a 5 peak day and I was getting rather tired of the big DSLR (actually it's not even that big) rubbing the sunburn on the back of my neck. More than once I had considered putting it in my pack but stubbornly kept going.

If you don't have the camera with you and available, you will miss 90% of your best pictures. The best photographs are usually not ones that you predicted you would take. They are of a fleeting moment on a fleeting point in time. You don't usually get that second chance!

Here's another photograph that I love. I love this one because it captures the mood of the moment by catching the subjects by surprise - they don't realize they're being photographed! Using a 300mm zoom lens (450mm equivalent) helped capture this moment on a southern California beach forever.

Another great technique is to combine a zoom lens with black and white to keep the photo about the subjects rather than distracting the viewer with color. Here's an example from the eastern edge of Tijuana, Mexico:

Photography Web Sites

I regularly visit and participate on the following photography web sites:

Other Photography Articles by Me