Keep one eye open

How do you know what to photograph?

Well, the best way to figure that out is to just walk around with a camera and capture whatever you think will make a good photo. If you just keep on doing this, then you will quickly learn what you like to photograph and what you don’t like to.

Another thing to note when you are beginning a photo session, is your mood. Begin to ask yourself some questions such as what am i feeling right now and how do I want my readers to feel when viewing this photo?

Looking at other photographers work is vey helpful. You are able to get an idea of what to photograph yourself and also can see first hand how each photo reflects the mood of the scene.

Frans Lanting is a very good example of how emotion can be seen through images. He is a Dutch photographer who works for National Geographic. His photos are mostly of nature. When viewing his photos, I get a sense of happiness. All of his photos are highly saturated and the bright colors give a sense of happiness to viewers. I get a feeling that he wants to show off the beauty of nature in his work.

Another photographer that shows how emotion works on photos is British photographer, Don McCullin. He is best known for his war photos and his photos depicting how urban life is. Viewers get a deep feeling when viewing his work. They are very serious. His photos are in black and white. This gives viewers more of a sad feeling. His photos are meant to show world problems.

The photography styles of Frans Lanting and Don McCullin are complete opposites and thats why I chose to include them in this post. When looking at Frans Lanting’s photos, viewers can tell that he is just capturing original beauty in the nature. His photos give off a light and happy vibe.

Don McCullins photos we can tell are very planned and they are meant to give a message to readers. They employ a lot of thought on the reader. For example, looking at the “Shell-Shocked Marine”, viewers can tell exactly what McCullin wanted to capture just by looking at the facial expression on the soldier.

It is important for beginner photographers to know what kind of feeling they desire their photos to give off. Your emotion while capturing these photos is very important in creating photographs both you and your viewers will be able to enjoy.

There is a lot that goes into photography and lots for beginners to know. It’s common for beginners to feel overwhelmed but all you need to remember is to have fun and don’t let photography turn into a stressful activity. So have fun photographing and make sure to keep updated for later posts on my blog!