|
Wednesday, 31 March 2010 |
|
By JULIE BALL
Even as a journalist and writer, I consider myself merely an amateur and mediocre photographer.
It used to be that newspapers and media outlets separated writing and photography. The journalist would come out to interview the subject at hand, while the photographer would shoot the photographs needed for the article. A few bigger media outlets can still afford this luxury. However, most, especially small community newspapers were forced to consolidate these two jobs into one long ago.
Flowers near the Renaissance Club in Sun City Center. Julie Ball photo
I met with the club president, Doug Moore, who informed me that even he learns new things every day while taking pictures. “Sometimes I adjust one aspect of the camera, and something else goes out of focus. Once I fix that, the quality is off. There is never a dull moment and there is always something new to be learned,” said Doug.
The SCC Photography Club’s mission is to attract those who are interested in taking better photos than just snapshots, and to assist all those with a camera who wish to improve their family and travel images.
“We help educate anyone in Sun City Center or Kings Point who wishes to learn. There are classes set up for beginners as well as advanced photographers. Out of our 181 members, only about 10% are experienced,” Doug told me.
“We also take field trips to festivals and opportune places around Florida where members can practice their skills.”
The photography club’s room at the SCC Community Association is setup with an advanced digital lab to edit and print photographs as well as scanners to transfer old pictures, slides and negatives into electronic files. The photography club also provides “camera help” sessions twice a month for members who are just learning how to use new cameras or trying to conquer old ones.
He has been photographing subjects his whole life but only recently learned the true “definitions” and lingo associated with photography.
He informally explained the types of pictures one could take centering on the encyclopedia shot, record shot, and gold shot.
The encyclopedia shot is when you encounter a beautiful sight with a great setup such as a bird of paradise flower in full bloom. The record shot is taking a photo of a group of people such as your family. This type of picture has personal value.
The final shot is the “gold shot.” This type of picture happens when taking an encyclopedia picture and a one in a million event takes place at the same time.
An old dock on the Little Manatee River in Ruskin. Photo by Julie Ball
He gave me a lineup of steps to follow, in order to capture any gold shot you find yourself up against.
The first step was to always shoot in the manual setting instead of automatic. “Take a chance and take your camera off the automatic setting. The computer in the camera is not always more intelligent than you,” laughed Doug. “When you learn the specific functions of your camera, your photographs will begin to turn out better.”
“Part of shooting in manual is knowing your camera. Just because you can turn it on and take a picture doesn’t mean that you are utilizing all your camera has to offer.”
“Secondly, go to a book store and buy a good book on digital photography. Make sure the copyright is within the past four years. Not only read the book but study the pictures and visualize yourself taking a picture like what is shown. Do you know how to set up your camera to take the picture the way the author did? If not, go back to step one.”
Doug stressed the importance of software. So what happens if you take a beautiful nature picture, however, there is a person walking in the background?
“Get a software program like Elements and learn how to “fix” your photos to be more appealing. If you end up with pictures that can’t be fixed go back to step one,” said Doug.
“If you have an older digital camera that just isn’t able to get the pictures you want then buy a new one and go back to step one.”
After acquiring these tips from Doug and a group of photo club members, I set out to take a few photographs of my own using the manual setting on my old Canon. I’m hoping to find and successfully capture my own gold shot.
For more information on the SCC Photo Club, visit their website at http://sites.google.com/site/sccphotoclubsite/Home.
|
