Beyond Phototips

When a Canon and a Nikon come together…

… at least they’re not a Pentax.

Joey L & The Photo Club.

A few days ago, I wrote about how to retrograde your dSLR, and turn it into something a bit more dated. Yes, a strange thing to do…

Now, we’re going to look at how you can use that retro dSLR to improve your photography skills and the way you think when you have a camera in your hand.

Your dSLR has a lot of features that help you get your image ‘just right’. Take the modern gadgets away, and you’re back with the fundamentals of photography; and that’s not going to change. Even in the distant future.

Why go back?

Pushing your camera back to the “old days” will:

1. Make you understand the mechanics of taking a photograph.
2. Improve your awareness of the composition in your frame.
3. Help you visualise what you want to capture.
4. Show you the difference between your visualisation and the actual capture. (practise will make you better at reducing this gap).
5. Enable you to make the most out of your camera when it is back in ‘regular dSLR’ mode.
6. Confuse the hell out of you for a while. (For sure, if you’ve never shot in full manual before.)

Guidelines

Some simple guidelines for the project.

1. Retrograde your camera as described earlier… or use an old Film SLR.
2. Try not to use any automatic modes, and do not look at the LCD display for anything.
3. Learn the Sunny 16 rule – Brian Auer’s Sunny 16 guide is brilliant.
4. Take only 36 photographs in a session. Do not cheat by deleting pix.
5. Do not. I repeat “DO NOT” look at the photographs until you download them on your computer.
6. Only use simple retouching techniques at first… Basic “Levels” or “Curves” Photoshop adjustments.

Step-by-step project walkthrough

Step1:

You’re in the dark when it comes to correct exposure (unless you have prior experience). This is because our eyes are so good at adapting to the light that is available to them. A well lit room could look easily look as bright as daylight in summer even though it is not.

Use the Sunny 16 Rule to guide you, and take photographs in sunlit places. Unless you want to live dangerously.

Step2:

Consider every single exposure. Really look at the composition, study the light that’s falling on the object, calculate exposure based on the sunny 16 rule, note the background, take a breath, and gently depress the shutter release.

Remember that you’re only taking 36 photographs for this project. If you take a picture, don’t delete it.

Restricting yourself to a low number of photographs makes you think about the subject:

1. Is the subject worth photographing? Ditch it if you think you’ll get better subjects.
2. Have I got the best angle? Try different angles till one looks great.
3. Is the light right? Come back when you think it’ll be right.
4. Have I set the right Focal Length, Aperture and Shutter speed? Only time will tell

Step3:

Try really, really hard not to look at the photographs before they download. This is the hardest part for many of us. If you’re on a Film SLR, you’ve got to wait anyway, so skip this step.

Step4:

Download your photographs, or get them printed at the photo-store. Analyse the pictures, and re-live the moment in which it was snapped. If you were to take that photograph again, what would you do differently? Log these notes in your memory for future use.

If you do retouch these photographs, try to keep the retouching light in an effort to maintain the original feel.

Step5:

Pick a photograph, either because it came out exactly how you envisioned, or because it failed miserably. Tag it “BP-retro” and share it in our Beyond Phototips Flickr Group, or you could write a blog post about it. Alternatively, you could simply post in in the comments, right here… But do explain what you were trying to do, and whether you succeeded or failed.

I’ll be participating too, so expect to see my misfired pictures in the near future.

Wrapping up

I’ll compile all the photographs that are shared on this website, or in the Flickr group and share them in a post two weeks from now, around the 9th of December. Submit your entries before that. If you write a blog post, mail me from the contact page if you want it posted.

Note: This sort of limited-frame shooting is best tested when on a photowalk. In that case, limit yourself to about 72 frames. The equivalent of two rolls of film.

A Digital SLR is a modern piece of equipment. It has nothing of the old-world charm associated with photography. No “wait till the film is processed“, no “did I get the exposure right“, no “oh, this is not good enough to be photographed“, no “Is the light right?”, no “I’ve got only 2 frames left. They’ve got to count“. Instead, you’ve got instant gratification, with nothing left to your imagination. You see the exact photograph that will be printed (or viewed on your screen) instantly, and if you want to change it, you can experiment till you get it right.

But why not try to experience the magic of not knowing exactly how your photographs are going to turn out? Want to try it? Simple.

1. Set your ISO to 100, 200 or 400, and set your white balance to Daylight because these are the most easily available film rolls available.
2. Set your camera mode to M so that all the aperture and shutter speed decisions are made by your brain, and not the camera’s.
3. Set up your camera to disable image reviews after you’ve taken a photograph. If you don’t have this option, stick a Post-it Note on the rear LCD screen so that you can’t see the image. Post-it Notes leave no sticky residue on the camera once you peel them off, so they’re perfectly safe for your camera.
4. Stick a cut Post-it Note on the top LCD so that you resist the urge to look at the number of frames remaining, shooting / AF mode and other details.
5. Rely on your intuition, and try not to use the light meter readout in the viewfinder.

Any other suggestions? Leave ‘em in the comments.

Watch out for a Photo Project based on your newly set up Retro DSLR in the days to come.

I’ve been away from the Beyond Phototips Flickr Group for a while, but there have been some interesting photographs posted there… We have 147 Members, and 935 photos in the pool. Do take a look some of my favourites from the group.

Go ahead, add your best pictures to the group. Make us proud!

Stats.

Well, the rest of this post is not necessary, I’ve said it all in the title.

However, if you happen to be reading this late at night, you’re tired, and don’t mind a bit of baloney, read on…

Why did I say this?

1. When you have to shoot, Shoot! Don’t talk.

Tuco Says it all. Do use a camera though…

2. Some people read too much.

They theorise, record facts, and they research techniques, look at beautiful photographs, read about the photographers that took them, and the amazing equipment that these brilliant photographers took these enchanting photographs with and then they sit back, too confused to act. They deliberate about what equipment to buy so that they can get the best photographs, ai-ya-yai-a-yai!

Like I said… Just shoot… When you have the need for a gazillion pixel camera, you’ll know… and your fans will be willing to buy you one… Till then, just take out your cameraphone, or your rusty film SLR, or your brand new dSLR that’s been sitting on the shelf, and take photographs…

3. Some people worry too much.

They worry that their cameras will get dirty. They worry that their photographs may not be good enough.

C’mon man! Face facts. Nobody was as good as Ansel Adams when they first picked up their camera. They practiced. They got a bucket load of shitty pics, they figured out what was wrong, corrected the mistakes and moved on…

4. Some people don’t get the time.

Good Photography is about how you see the world around you. When you’re seeing photographs that you should be taking all the time, everywhere around you, and you’re not getting any of them in your camera, you know that you’ve got to make the time… or get a smaller camera, one that you can put in your shirt pocket!

If you don’t have inspiring things around you, you know you’ve got to go out a bit more… When you do, take that camera along with you.

5. Some people are just plain lazy.

And maybe, just maybe… that’s why you’re reading this post? Get off your lazy arse and mess around with your camera… Learn a new technique, or just get better acquainted with your gear!

Know of other reasons why people want to, but don’t take photographs? Leave a comment.

James Burger has shared a video taken in timelapse / stop-motion of a photoshoot that he had, with a certain plasticky friend. Watch it below.