Photography 101

There was a function from our office yesterday evening, I was told by one of the managers to bring the company camera to take pictures.

So its a responsibility for me, to take photos of important people coming to the function.

The place is posh, a well known hotel. I took a few snaps of the early comers together with my colleagues.

I have my camera with me, a Canon Powershot Pro. It is simple, easy to use. This is not an SLR and not a digicam also. It is somewhere in between.

In my early days, I also grew fond of photography. My parents love to snap pictures. My dad knows about photography quite well, we still have that Canon AE something 35mm camera, right now it is being attacked by fungi. I took impressive pictures with that camera, from girls, to places, my best one is when my neighbor made a big ollie on his skateboard and I took a snap of it, with ASA 1000, damn he is like flying in the air. I gave that pic to some photo competitions, I lost.

My phobia with photography came when my mother wanted to buy her own camera. Me and my sisters are shopping, when she tried to buy this instamatic camera where you can put a 110 film (the one that has a cartridge and a film in one). We waited for hours for her, as I know she is haggling for the price. I cannot remember the brand though, maybe its a Fuji or Kodak. I will ask her. But the main thing we hated it, is that we waited for hours and we were so hungry. Then we were told to eat at home as the camera was quite expensive, she already spent the money for our food. That sucks. I will never forget that.

Anyway that instamatic camera made us purchase more photo albums. She took a lot of photos, all the important moments of our lives. Since my dad is always in abroad and no one can operate his camera but me. Not to mention it is bulky and attractive to thieves, that is why we don't use it often.

Now let's go back to my photography stint. I have been the official photographer for almost all functions I have been to - instantly. I don't know, but it seems I have the knack for it. Some professional photographers request copies of my photos as well. They have the equipment, the access, the lighting, still they cannot get a good decent photo. There was this one guy who have this expensive SLR camera, he just took snaps until his memory card is full. When the important time comes where you will take an important photo, he cannot take it. And my portable but reliable digital camera (Samsung, only 3MP) shot that important moment. He asked me to send it to him, after he was reprimanded by his boss for being useless - spending the company budget on his DSLR camera.

Of course I admire others who dedicate their time to photography only. I have known some photographers who put their lives on the line, in war zones, hostile countries, even in deep jungles where they photograph wildlife. The patience, the skill, and the money and time spent to get the actual photo that they want, seems to be the most important thing for them - to get that moment, that important shot that can bring food on their table, is awe inspiring.

Now that photography and its equipment have become widespread, even cellphones & portable computers have cameras, yes you can use these for photography. Why spend money on expensive photography equipment while a simple digital camera will suffice? I even have a mobile phone and I take a lot of photos with it, and it is fine by me.

Go ahead, and snap everything that interests you. And another thing, please label your photos accurately. Example, if you took it on that date, be sure it must be the actual date where you snapped your pic. Mention the location also and the camera that you used (this is automatic.).

If you want to go deeper, yes you can Google all the aspects of photography, or attend training courses.

Again, take a photo that interests you. Never mind what others say, you can show the photos later on, and let them see their reactions, now that is more interesting.