MAKING PHOTOGRAPHS: An overview 
For people becoming more interested in making photos with a camera, there are a lot of parts to this that more experience photographers have learned and take for granted.
As with anything (learning a new language for example), once you’ve had enough practice it becomes second nature, as something you do without thinking. But for new photographers, it’s worth documenting the variousingredients to making a photograph.
Basically this list is in the order that they happen, even before you pick up a camera. I show these points to new photography students, but often they will only make sense of them once they become more familiar with their cameras and can develop an evolving shooting style. This ability to make creative distinctions depends on the level of your commitment.
BEING IN THE ZONE: PREPAREDNESS
If you’re ready for what you come across, can pick up the camera and start making good images, you can get into a connected mental state I call the ‘zone’. But this only happens when you’ve prepared properly for responding to good opportunities, and you’re comfortable with how to use your camera.
WHOLISTIC INSPIRATION: AWARENESS OF THE CREATIVE CONNECTION
Be aware of why you picked up the camera and held it to your eye in the first place. What have you seen? What does it mean? What do you want to show from this relationship or connection with what you see? This awareness is necessary prior to any pre-visualisation.
MOTIVATION: THE MESSAGE OF THE IMAGE IN YOUR MIND
The more you’re aware of what you’re looking at (for) actually means to you, the more clearly you can translate this message, and also communicate this to others through your pictures
IMAGE SIZE AND FILE FORMAT
Before you pick up your camera, you need to have decided whether to shoot in jpeg or raw format. Remember that shooting in raw means having the commitment to spending time processing the shots individually, but it gives you greater scope for image enhancement. Always shoot at the highest file size, and have a spare memory card if you run out of room.
ISO REGARDING SHUTTER SPEEDS
Remember that if you’re shooting hand held, you need an ISO that will give you a high enough shutter speed to avoid camera shake (unless you want some blur, in which case you can choose a lower ISO). Using ISOs above 400 generally causes loss of image quality.
COLOUR BALANCE
If you shoot in raw format you can leave WB on auto and opt to change this later. Otherwise it’s worth selecting the specific WB for the light conditions. Experiment and test these!
ORIENTATION OF CAMERA, SHOOTING POSITION
When you pick up the camera, you will automatically choose a horizontal or vertical position. Change this, do both, and consider angling your camera diagonally or up or down. Don’t be limited by not making more choices in this. Every photo is a unique and unrepeatable event!
Brace hold your elbows by your sides for more stability.
AWARENESS OF LIGHT AND DIRECTION
All visual artists become aware of ‘the light’, and special daylight effects (often early morning and late afternoon on sunny days) produce a magic time (the ‘magic hour’). But overcast days also give good muted soft contrast with even light, tone and colours. Be aware of where the sun is going (buy a little compass and carry it with you) in the sky during the day, and whether now is the best time for a shot, or whether it would be better to come back another time.
COMPOSITION, FRAMING THE IMAGE, BALANCE OF PARTS
When you pick up your camera, you are designing what goes into the frame. Be aware of the various elements of this, and research the classic visual tools used by both painters and photographers, to allow you more informed choices that will become instinctive. These include leading lines, perspective, rule of thirds, balance, space, colour, movement, timing, graphic elements, contrast and patterns.
CHOICE OF LENS FOCAL LENGTH
Most people use zoom lenses, though technically these are not as optically sharp as prime lenses; be aware of pincushion or barrel distortion with zooms. When you look through the camera, zoom in and out, and change your position and distance before taking the picture.
UNDERSTANDING ANGLE AND PERSPECTIVE
Using a zoom lens shows how focal length affects perspective. Simply, wide-angle lenses foreshorten and exaggerate perspective so that objects close to the lens appear large, and background objects dramatically diminish in size. Wide-angle lenses have more inherent depth of field at a given aperture than telephoto lenses. Telephoto lenses flatten perspective, making background objects seem to be at the same distance. These lenses produce less depth of field at a given aperture than wide-angle lenses. When you change the focal length of a zoom lens, be aware of the differences found at different focal length settings and distances to the subject. Experiment!
FOCUS AND DEPTH OF FIELD
A wider aperture (small number: f1.4,f 2, f2.8) produces less depth of field, and ‘fast’ prime lenses (e.g. f1.4) produce a softness of background (‘bokeh’) unobtainable with slower (zoom) lenses (even at f3.5). Using a smaller aperture (f11, f16,f 22) obtains more depth of field in the scene, though actual focus is only at one distance. For maximum (‘hyper focal’) depth of field, focus 1/3 into the scene and use a depth-of-field preview button to see the effect. Having said this, the actual sharpest focus at one distance is usually obtained by using a middle aperture, as lens sharpness (acutance) is best at this range.
FLUID OR STATIC IMAGE STYLES
Although 1/60 second is generally the slowest shutter speed to use with a hand-held camera, you need to use a faster speed on long telephoto lenses (1/focal length as a guide). People often want their pictures to be sharp, but photos can also show a more dynamic element by using a slower speed to show either camera movement (shake) or subject movement. Options for movement include zoom blur (moving the focal length on a zoom lens from one end to the other during exposure; not available on compacts), panning (moving the camera in synch with a moving subject with a slow shutter speed), and longer exposure abstract effects.
PREVISUALISATION
This is being aware of how the image will translate form what you see to the photographic image. ‘Thinking like a camera’ includes understanding the transfer from 3 dimensions to 2 (close one eye to see this); awareness of timing; knowing how tones and colours will translate (digital media renders higher contrast and lower tone values than your eye sees); and how the choice of lens format will affect perspective and the angle of view.
AWARENESS OF ACCESSORIES
Both before you set out taking photos and after a session, be aware of whether you used or could have used one of any number of camera accessories; including tripod, flash, filters, cable release, compass, lens shade, spare battery, spare memory card. Make lists of your needs, and budget for them in order of importance.
SELF-AWARENESS OF SURROUNDINGS
One of the important things to be aware in your shooting environment is the safety of both yourself and others. Other things to notice are any restrictions on photography where you are, and whether you have appropriate clothes, shoes or money for your endeavours.
READING YOUR CAMERA DISPLAYS
If you don’t know all the displays on your camera’s menu, learn them. There’s nothing worse than making a mistake that more awareness of the camera’s display would have avoided; starting with exposure (shutter speed/aperture), ISO, white balance, battery level and how many shots are left on your memory card.
EXPOSURE
This is probably the most important detail it’s important not to overlook. Checking your shutter speed and aperture are before you press the shutter is an instinct you must develop. Are you using the best ISO for the light? Are you happy with the white balance? In spite of the efficacy of using Photoshop to enhance your images, if they aren’t taken at the optimum exposure, you are not shooting at the best quality you can. If in doubt or in a hurry: bracket 3 images.
TIMING: THE DECISIVE MOMENT
‘The decisive moment’ is a term coined by Henri Cartier-Bresson, and his photographs reveal the value of choosing the right moment. This will be different is you want to be unobtrusive, if you have a human subject, if the light is changing quickly or you are in a hurry. You can always take more pictures, but one will usually be the best one. Explore what things determine the best moment to press the shutter.
INVOLVEMENT WITH YOUR SUBJECT
If you are photographing something that interests you, the more involved you are with it, the better your relationship. This includes inanimate subjects like buildings, as well as dynamic ones like people. Take time to ingest and be aware of what is going on around you, and that you are directing as well as witnessing and interpreting the event of the photograph.
ADAPTATING TO CHANGING CIRCUMSTANCES
Similar to timing, be aware of any changes from when you pick up your camera to when you view the fist image on your screen. This is the time to make possible changes in distance to subject, exposure, white balance, lens focal length, or any other modifications.
REVIEWING THE IMAGE; CHANGES
After you take a photo, always look at it on your review screen to see if it shows what you want. Not to do this wastes the opportunity to improve the image. This seems contrary to the idea of one decisive image (which some photographers adhere to by taking only one photograph), but you are only in that place at that time, once. Make the most of it.
MULTIPLE CHOICE OF YOUR IMAGE
The more photos you make at any time, the more choice you have as to what will make the best image. Most photographers take more than one shot of something, and editing is everything. Cartier Bresson said; “your first 10 000 photographs will be your worst”.
IMAGE USE AND THE BIGGER PICTURE
Be aware of what you could use your images for. Photo Libraries (see http://www.alamy.com) will pay you money for images you stock with them that they sell. Make a calendar, or a photo card to send on emails, or join http://www.lflickr.com or another photo community site and get feedback on your photos. Look beyond the even to what you can use the images for.
POST PROCESSING IMAGES
Whether you shoot images n jpeg or raw format, using Adobe Photoshop (version CS4) to enhance the quality
CHOICES OF MEDIA
Increasingly, new photographers seem not to be printing out their images. This is a shame, since if you only view your photos on a computer, you are only seeing them at 72ppi, and not the high resolution produced by your camera. Think about getting an A4 inkjet printer, which (at best photo setting) will produce a photographic quality, 1440ppi image. If you send images as attachments in emails, don’t forget to reduce the file size by resizing the original image to 72ppi, and a smaller image size, to no more than 500kb.
PROJECTS: THE STORY CONTINUES
Deciding on a project for your photos gives your intention a focus and attention you can’t get by just taking individual photos. If you want to take good pictures, choose a good subject for a project, and go back to photograph it (them) again and again. This will improve your camera taking skills, and increase your photographic abilities more than anything else. Good luck!
©James Bartholomew
Email: james@jamesbartholomew.com
Photography Made Simple 
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