This week in my intro to web design course I’m going over some basics of photography, and while preparing the content for class I thought this information might be worth sharing with others who want some basic photography tips.
The Digital Camera
First off it helps to have a basic understanding of how a digital camera works. There are lots of articles and videos on the web that describe the inner workings of a digital camera. I choose to show my students the following YouTube video by Head Squeeze and presented by one of my favorite Top Gear presenters James May
3 point Lighting
Once you have an understanding of how a digital camera works, you now know how important good lighting is. After all pictures are produced by light.
The most basic set up for lighting is a 3-point Lighting set up. I could go into detail about what 3 point lighting is, but again I found a good video from Full Sail University on Youtube that does a good job.
Photography for Bloggers
I’m by no means a professional photographer, and haven’t ever taken a photography course. My husband, who has taken photography, takes all the photos of me, while I shoot most of my craft and food pictures.
Although I’ve always loved cameras and even have my own antique camera collection (see image above), I only really started taking photos for this blog.
With that said there are quite a few articles about photography for bloggers.
One of my favorite bloggers Rochelle from Lucky Lucille wrote an article not to long ago about photography for sewing bloggers.
Lucky Lucille – Photography Tips for Sewing Bloggers
I really like her tips, and since she is winner of the Crafty Awards for best photography, she must know what she’s talking about.
While a lot of bloggers I follow tend to have super nice DSLR cameras, which don’t get me wrong are great. I personally feel like I wouldn’t use it enough to justify the cost. Besides my Sony Cybershot which is now almost 8 years old, is still a great camera.
Speaking of <em>Point and Shoot/em> cameras, Beginner Beans has a really good article on photography with simple point and shoot cameras.
Smart Phone Photography
The last tip I wanted to mention is regarding <em>Smart Phone Photography</em>.
When I’m out and about I usually don’t take my camera with me, even when I indent to, I often forget.
Thus, like many I use my smart phone’s camera to take a lot of my pictures.
Smart phone cameras have really enhanced since they came to the market and are now comparable to many point and shoot cameras.
I fond this really good YouTube video by B&H and Kelby Training on smartphone camera tips and tricks.