The Break of Dawn

If You Could Get Just One…

Oftentimes, there are choices to be made. Fortunately for us, these choices don’t have to be that hard. We’ve mentioned a few weeks ago that Scott Kelby’s The Digital Photography Book Volume 1 is a real steal. Sold for Php675 in National Bookstore, it is the first of three books. Getting the three books will cost Php2025, something to cause a little rejoicing since this is at least Php600 cheaper than what you’d have to pay if you got the boxed set in Singapore. Credit to National Bookstore for giving photographers some very good books through the years (though you’d really have to look hard sometimes). It may help to call their offices to check which branch has what.

Kelby’s first volume, as a means of wrapping up, is very easy to read and if you’re not much of a reader (meaning you usually read books under some form of duress), you will appreciate his very direct, conversational style. The book is quite small, around half an A4 sheet of paper so you can put it inside your camera bag and refer to it whenever you need to.

Some people seem to think that you try to absorb everything when you read and then head out the door to practice what you learned, leaving the book at home. That will work for people who remember tons of information very quickly but most of us simply aren’t information sponges.

Taking books along is not a new idea. There are many professionals who actually keep at least their camera manuals in their bags even when things were done in film and the cameras were a whole lot simpler. Kodak and National Geographic even have what they refer to as field guides which are actually small books giving very direct suggestions to photographers in the field.

Just make sure you cover your books properly so that they last long.

 

Favorite subjects

Many people who get into photography have some subject matter they would already like to shoot but as soon as they have some equipment, they suddenly realize that they don’t have enough knowledge about it ending up with the same shots that everyone else would. There’s this bandwagon mentality that anyone can easily fall into and the search for some sort of camaraderie can lead people to look for where the big lenses are and to just go there. This is very true for sports photography where big lenses are staple. The idea is that since the professionals are there, and they presumably know what’s good to shoot, you should be also.

This works a good part of the time but it’s also a good idea to think out of the box. When you’re getting your feet wet, it really pays to get some tips from those who’ve been doing it for a while but since you do have your own creativity and your own mind, feel free to detach yourself from the group.

Kelby has some excellent suggestions of what else to shoot aside from the usual action shots. Sports drama includes anguish, anxiety, and admiration – all of which are easily shown in the faces of those who play and those who watch. These can easily give a much better idea of the mood in an event.

A very good suggestion he has, that some people seem to take for granted, is actually knowing the game. If you don’t, watch a few games of the sport you want to shoot on the tube first and try to keep tabs on where some of the real action happens.

Lastly, and this is good of him to say, is pre-focusing. There are people who like to brag about how fast their cameras focus but this can all be hogwash with really fast sports. Pre-focusing simply means focusing on something where the action will be happening. This really ties in very well with the suggestion just given above. For example, you can pre-focus on the area right underneath the basketball goal – before the players really mix it up. That way, the camera will have an easier time snapping things into focus than if it had to work from one end to the other. This is actually where the human brain can show that it is not a slave to technology.

 

Since we are wrapping this up…

We will not really cover everything that Kelby covers in his book. That really wasn’t the intention and while we aren’t getting anything from National Bookstore here (really!), it really will benefit you to get this book.

We suggested in the title that this may be the book to get if you could get only one among the three in the series. One of the major reasons is because of the section entitled Avoiding Problems Like a Pro. It has some really useful real world advice like keeping extra batteries. For those of us who don’t really shoot in very, very cold weather but suddenly find ourselves having to do so, it may come as a surprise that our newly charged batteries just die on us. The thing is this: Batteries lose their charge much faster in very cold weather and it’s a good idea to keep them close to the body so that our body heat keeps them cozy and charged. That way, you don’t end up putting one in your camera to do nothing but add weight.

Other good hints concern protecting lenses. This includes using a lens hood and either a UV or Skylight filter. There are purists who insist that using these filters will degrade your image. I’ve yet to see anyone who can tell from the photo and Kelby and myself have our own experiences of dropping a lens and shattering the filter with the lens still very much intact and pristine.

With that said, do yourself a favor and get the book. He has a lot already and this may just be the first of a whole collection. He can be quite an addicting read.

 

 

Since we are wrapping this up…

We will not really cover everything that Kelby covers in his book. That really wasn’t the intention and while we aren’t getting anything from National Bookstore here (really!), it really will benefit you to get this book.

We suggested in the title that this may be the book to get if you could get only one among the three in the series. One of the major reasons is because of the section entitled Avoiding Problems Like a Pro. It has some really useful real world advice like keeping extra batteries. For those of us who don’t really shoot in very, very cold weather but suddenly find ourselves having to do so, it may come as a surprise that our newly charged batteries just die on us. The thing is this: Batteries lose their charge much faster in very cold weather and it’s a good idea to keep them close to the body so that our body heat keeps them cozy and charged. That way, you don’t end up putting one in your camera to do nothing but add weight.

Other good hints concern protecting lenses. This includes using a lens hood and either a UV or Skylight filter. There are purists who insist that using these filters will degrade your image. I’ve yet to see anyone who can tell from the photo and Kelby and myself have our own experiences of dropping a lens and shattering the filter with the lens still very much intact and pristine.

With that said, do yourself a favor and get the book. He has a lot already and this may just be the first of a whole collection. He can be quite an addicting read.

 

Since we are wrapping this up…

We will not really cover everything that Kelby covers in his book. That really wasn’t the intention and while we aren’t getting anything from National Bookstore here (really!), it really will benefit you to get this book.

We suggested in the title that this may be the book to get if you could get only one among the three in the series. One of the major reasons is because of the section entitled Avoiding Problems Like a Pro. It has some really useful real world advice like keeping extra batteries. For those of us who don’t really shoot in very, very cold weather but suddenly find ourselves having to do so, it may come as a surprise that our newly charged batteries just die on us. The thing is this: Batteries lose their charge much faster in very cold weather and it’s a good idea to keep them close to the body so that our body heat keeps them cozy and charged. That way, you don’t end up putting one in your camera to do nothing but add weight.

Other good hints concern protecting lenses. This includes using a lens hood and either a UV or Skylight filter. There are purists who insist that using these filters will degrade your image. I’ve yet to see anyone who can tell from the photo and Kelby and myself have our own experiences of dropping a lens and shattering the filter with the lens still very much intact and pristine.

With that said, do yourself a favor and get the book. He has a lot already and this may just be the first of a whole collection. He can be quite an addicting read.