A skilled photographer
is able to perpetuate a historical event with one picture, convey the whole gamut of emotions, or simply catch an interesting moment. In principle, everyone can master the basics of this profession, but it has its own characteristics. Online Guide tells everything you need to know about the profession of a photographer – how to become one, where to study and what you need for this.
In order to get high quality images, the photographer must choose the right angles, lighting levels, use various compositional techniques and post-process photos. Exposure also plays a very important role – the amount of light falling on the camera’s matrix during shooting. If there is too much light, the photo will turn out to be too contrasty, and vice versa, the lack of lighting will lead to dark and “grainy” pictures.
Therefore, parameters such as aperture position, shutter speed and ISO (sensor sensitivity) should be set correctly. Also, the photographer must correctly determine the direction from which to photograph, because which side the light falls on plays an important role in the quality of the images obtained. And he must also know how this or that lighting (daylight, from a lamp, professional) affects the result. Professionals use special reflectors. With their help, you can adjust the strength and direction of lighting. Unlike amateurs, professional photographers know how to use focus. You don’t have to have a very expensive lens to get sharp shots. First of all, you should know what focal length is and understand how it affects perspective.
It is also important to choose a composition – what will be in the background, and objects should be placed in the foreground, how best to choose a good shot, arrange people by height, etc. Another important point is post-processing. No matter how successful the shot, it can always be decorated with professional processing. To do this, you need to master special photo editors, the most popular of which are Adobe Photoshop Elements, Luminar 3, Zoner Photo Studio X and Wondershare Fotophire Editing Toolkit. With their help, you can perform color correction, adjust the exposure, adjust the sharpness and crop the picture.
What is interesting about being a photographer?
Like any other profession, being a photographer has its advantages and disadvantages. Among its advantages are: the ability to plan your own schedule, which is convenient for freelancers, because the photographer can take as many orders as he can handle; high salary – the better the photographer does his job, and the more experienced he is, the better his reputation, which, in turn, allows you to increase the number of clients and earn more; realization of creative potential – you can constantly improve your skill level by trying new creative techniques, experimenting with equipment, software for photo processing, and coming up with new photography techniques; useful acquaintances – with the expansion of the client base, the photographer meets different people who may be interested in cooperation in the future; prestige and recognition – real photographers are respected, famous personalities, politicians, show business stars turn to them for services, they are invited to various festive events. However, in order to become a master of photography, you need to make a lot of effort, have a desire to learn, experiment and use the knowledge gained in practice.