A-way-back, Chantelle asked if I could write a tutorial about something I do for her site, I said I would, so I’m finally getting around to writing something up for her. My tutorial will be about getting from point A to point B, or in the photography world, the process of taking that awesome photo and the whole editing process.

I guess, you could break down the process into 3 parts. The first probably would be the most important of them all - Perspective. The ability to shift your perspective is the key to taking that unique photo. More often than not, I usually get “I never thought to take a photo of that”, in which I reply “exactly!”. 99% of the photos that I take are of simply random slices of life, or the average / mundane objects. You don’t have to be a professional to take an amazing photograph, but simply have the ability to photograph that one moment or the ability to look at something in a way that you normally wouldn’t. I may get teased by Chantelle that I usually end up taking photographs of chair legs, but most often these photographs end up being the best.

Next up on this tutorial would have to be the equipment. You don’t have to have the most expensive camera, or the fastest computer, but it certainly does help to have the right equipment for the job. A point and shoot can get the job done, but a digital SLR certainly helps. I have found that the camera helps, but the lens is where all the magic happens. Simply going from a stock lens to just one step up helps leaps and bounds in taking photos. I mostly use a 17-85mm lens (I can take photos of stuff close up and at a wide angle at the same time).

Finally, the most tutorial-ish part of my post will talk about the editing process. Going from the image on the left to the image on the right is really easy to do!

Using the right software really helps in the editing process. I use iPhoto as my main editing program, and use Photoshop from time to time. Getting the photo to look just right, usually ends up being a personal preference, with the slightest tweek to get it the way you want. What you want to focus on is adjusting the levels, the saturation and the sharpness of your photo. Moving the levels darker or lighter can totally affect the way a photo looks, just as the saturation of a photo too. The photo on the right has the contrast bumped up, the black levels increased giving the highlights that much more of a focus. Converting a photo to black and white totally changes a photo too!

I didn’t go into that much depth on the whole process of editing a photo, but in a broad general sense, getting from A to B in photography, from my perspective, is more so just that - perspective. Don’t be afraid to take many photos, since it is digital, you can simply erase what you don’t like! The same goes for editing a photo. Sometimes I spend hours editing my photos, or at times only 5 min.. If you have any questions don’t be afraid to ask!

Filed under: Random on November 18th, 2007