Appreciate the art of photo-taking

I realized it photo-taking is more than zooming and focusing after I bought my "Fuji S2000" (above).

As a "noobie" (novice) in this art, terms like shutterspeed, aperture, ISO etc. are some of the jargons I came to pick up or refresh along the away.

When I'm using my compact "Fuji F31fd", those jargons were not issues since all the default settings are good enough to meet my expectations.

Fuji F31fd - this has been my default camera since Jul 2007

And that's being the reason why I decided to opt "Fuji" when I decided to buy a much sophisticated camera, but to realize it's the camera NOT brand that determine the outcome of the picture, as what a colleague told me.

Having "trial and error" a few sessions before he said that, I realized what he meant.

There were a few shots I took that failed to "freeze" the motions of subjects, it was then the term "shutterspeed" came to the picture.

Like this picture here, I was told by increase the "shutterspeed" and "ISO" would eliminate the "shakiness" of this picture.

Increase of the "Shutterspeed" would have "freeze" the motion right?

The increase of the "shutterspeed" is not the deciding factor if the "aperture" is not able to compliment with it, as this may result the picture to be "over or underexposed".

As the result, the ISO setting of the shot would decide how much light it's going to "brighten" up the picture, but the over-reliant of this setting will do more harm than good to it with the end-product will turn out to be pixelated or "noisy" in photography term.

Toa Payoh Stadium is one such photographers' nightmare, if one's camera is like your truly's

Other that the above-mentioned, the other critical thing to take note is the lenses of the camera. It is to say the importance of camera's lenses is more than that of the body itself because the focusing of it on the subject is equally crucial.

When I first got my “S2000", the idea was to get something that is "presentable" to be alongside with the rest (you can't expect someone holds a "compact" cam among this crop of shutterbugs, as above).

Soon, the reality struck and what a shock I was in when I first made my debut on the pitch side of Jalan Besar Stadium.

Beside the ability to anticipate where actions are going to take place is something that really takes time to master, constantly having to change the camera settings according to the surrounding lighting is another arduous task as I need to have fast, nimble fingers to press those tiny buttons on the camera body as and when is essential.

Two pictures of the Old Supreme Court - the day was shot using hand-held, while the night-shot was aided with tripod.

This picture was digitally enhanced to look more "sharper" as the subjects are those buildings and Singapore River.

I also learnt that when taking picture like the above-portrayed, it's best to remain still until the shutter is sounded.

It taught me that how good the picture was taken also depend on the lighting condition then and as times goes by, I appreciate terms as such “RAW” images, why DSLR is the preferred choice for sports photography, the use of “monopod” instead of “tripod” when taking action photos, the importance of using “slow-sychronized” flash in poorly-lit areas etc.

Perhaps at this stage, what my colleague told me are areas I should be focusing at,

“Basically, photo-taking is about 'trial and error', it's doesn't matter which brand you using but the camera you're holding.

You may have master the settings of one particular camera, but that settings doesn't mean are applicable to other cameras as each individual camera varies from one and another.

It's about keep shooting and practicing.”

Wise words, indeed.... Thanks.