Almost once a week I hear from someone with a camera asking for help in learning how to use it. Next week I will be giving a talk at the Mothers of Multiples meeting on the subject in an effort to help these Mom's demystify the situation. Not that I am a technical expert believe me when I say I am so NOT, but I did go to school for photography and I did once learn all about reciprocity, and how to mix chemicals in order to print my own black and whites, I know how to load medium format film onto a spool in complete darkness, I can probably still fumble my way through a shoot with a 4x5 camera, things I thought I was not capable of ever so I think I have something to share with these Mom's. Today in this digital age, more and more people are buying cameras, cameras that are close enough to the ones I use to make my living to scare me but they don't have any idea how to use them beyond automatic. This is something of a problem in my industry because in alot of ways it devalues what we do, if you can do it yourself why would you pay me to do it for you kind of thing. I don't worry too much about that because I know that when the day is done my vision and my eye in the camera is what will get me a job and keep me happily playing with babies but I know its something photographers think about alot.
If I had one piece of advice for these Mom's with cameras, it would be this, use your automatic setting, its there for a reason. Do you really want to know about depth of field and white balance and gray cards and the reason all those buttons are there? Leave that knowledge to the professionals and when time and money allows have them make the beautiful pieces of art that you will line your walls with. What is better than having art of your own beautiful family and children? The automatic setting is there because it works. With just a few additional pieces of info you can document the awesome moments you see every day and keep the memories alive. Every day is a new day with a baby and the blessings are in the moments you get to keep in your heart and your minds eye.
I look forward to my very first speaking engagement, hopefully nerves won't get the best of me. See you on the 19th ladies!
2 comments:
Don't worry about me being an expert in Photography. Project Engineer (job), Domestic Engineer II (mom/wife), Finacial Engineer (shopping), Spiritual Engineer (church), Environmental Engineer (vacations), and being me. What more do I need to do?
Interesting post! I think there are a lot of fields where technology has advanced and become available to the masses like sound recording and film making. And that's not to mention how that content is then shared, purchased and published!
I think for the most part the professionals will be able to adapt with their industries. If only for what you mentioned - while people might have the resources to be an expert, they certainly don't have the time!
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