The joy is in the doing

Quite a lot of times when I’ve described how I make a photograph, people would say to me,

“But you can do that in Photoshop.”

The classic one would be the miniature effects you get by using tilt-shift lenses. This is where you photograph a scene, often a city from a raised area like a multi-story car park, and you use a tilt-shift lens to blur the top and bottom of the scene, leaving perhaps a road in the middle which is properly sharp. This makes the effect look like you’ve got a little toy town.

You will hear cries of “I can do that in Photoshop” or “I’ve got a filter on my phone that can do that”, which is true, and you can probably tailor the effect better than you can do with your tilt-shift lens.

There’s also people who shout “I can do that in Photoshop” when I use filters like, let’s say, a neutral density graduated filter, which darkens the sky but leaves the rest of the photo untouched. This can be replicated very easily if you take two photos or take an underexposed photo and then use the dark bit for the sky, or just brighten the foreground up in Photoshop afterwards, leaving the sky dark. That way you get the best of both worlds, where the sky is dark and detailed and not burnt out, and the foreground looks correct. However, I like doing this using neutral density grad filters.

Luddites have more fun…

You may say I’m a Luddite, you may say I am a dinosaur, why don’t you just get with the program? Well, for me, with photography and many other things, the joy of the hobby or pastime isn’t in the end result, it’s in the process. The joy is in the learning, the joy is finding a technique which works, which you can master.

So, if that means reaching into your bag and pulling out an adapter ring, a filter holder, and some lovely neutral density grad filters, and then sliding it into the filter holder after you’ve composed the photograph, and then micro-adjusting it up and down to get it in exactly the right position, that to me is part of the joy of photography, especially landscape photography. But also with all other areas of photography, there’s a certain joy to things like using flashes.

Flash is “creative” as well as practical…

The joy of using flash is not just that it solves an issue of things being dark, which it obviously does, but it means that you can create a lovely lighting pattern around people. You may put something directly above their head so they’ve got little highlights in the hair. You may put something behind them at 45 degrees so there’s a lovely warm rim of light over the shoulder and the side of the head. You may put the front light right in front of their face with a ring flash so you get zero shadows, or you may put it at 45 degrees up in the air pointing down so you get a lovely Rembrandt style. Much of this is creating a nice image, but it’s also the joy of photography.

Don’t fall into the “New Kit” trap

People bang on about getting new kit and new equipment, which is all part of the growing pains of photography. We start off with a basic camera, and then if we get the urge to progress, the constant question in your mind will be “What next, what next, what next?”

I would say stop rethinking your plans and ask yourself,

• Have I exhausted everything I can do with this particular camera and lens?
• Have I tried doing a bit of street photography or a bit of architecture, or going out and trying to find some butterflies, or
• have I tried to find the perfect place to photograph birds?
• Have I been out in winter photographing snow and ice?
• Have I photographed flowers?
• Have I been to lots of places in the Dales or the Lake District or the Peak District?

All these things are different subjects which you can point the same camera and lens at over and over again. Only when you find yourself in a position of frustration that you don’t have the capability to capture what you want should you really be looking at upgrading.

By this I mean, if you are finding bird photography particularly appealing and you’ve only got an 18-55 lens, maybe now is the time to think about getting a longer lens, maybe a cheap 70-300mm. What this will allow you to do is get closer to the subjects by zooming in.

The joy of photography is in the doing. You could crop in from a wider lens, but having a nice new lens like that will increase your enjoyment.

Don’t Lose The Joy of Image Making

So there are so many things you can do in post-processing now. AI can do so much for you, and as a commercial photographer, sometimes it is a bit of a lifesaver (as with the illustrations in this article!).

But what I would say is, when you are starting your photography journey, try not to do the shortcuts. Try to master it the old way. Imagine it’s a bike without stabilizers and you’re just trying to ride it. You will learn so much more this way, and you will gradually become a more accomplished photographer.

The joy is in the process, the technique, and I hope you have as much fun doing it as I have.