The evening chill

“Oh, I must show you the pictures from my vacation.”

These are usually the first phrase we say to our friends after having that BIG holiday. But of course, those very photos can be extremely boring because they are often pictures of yourself, your friends, group photos and parties.

While it’s good to share photos of your trip, it can also be useful for others who are planning on a holiday trip (Greece, anyone?). Usually you’d ask, how big is their hotel pool? What, exactly, does the room at that 5-Star hotel look like? What’s the crowd like at the so-called popular restaurant? I know it’s good to have documented evidence from someone who has been there. And a good camera will always be your bestfriend if you’re visiting a nice place and take photographs.

Seriously, even if you are an amateur photographer, a good digital camera can provide you the opportunity to take decent shots as far as you want to. You do these to explore and experiment, right? And I think my Nikon Coolpix differentiates itself as nice gadget from my previous which I seriously think that I’d actually did spent a lot of time learning and experimenting than whining about this or that feature because a simple digital camera is a bit restrictive. The thing is, whether you are using an expensive camera or a simple, inexpensive disposable pocket camera, attention to a few details can make all the difference in improving your pictures.

I’ve been amazingly busy that’s why I’ve somewhat neglected my blog for a while but I have discovered recently on the art of taking a photograph in the city. Hong Kong has a lot of things to explore and take photographs. This is what I’ve been doing the past few days. So I asked a couple of friends who recently bought their Canon EOS 400D cameras to hang out with me to take photos in the Park on a cold evening weather. We had a good time experimenting and testing out their new toy. Actually, taking pictures outdoors, things such as groupings of flowers, trees and the like in nature can be a bit distracting. Since there are too many objects to focus on, the hard part is to what object you want to include. I am not aware that a tripod is needed to get a good shot or the fact that it’s dark, an extra flash is needed. I believe lighting is something you must be very aware of in order to take better photographs. Even with the simplest camera equipment, the amount, direction, and quality of light make all the difference between a great photo and a terrible one.

And I don’t mind getting a terrible one either, despite the weather, getting a closer shots can capture a little more detail. I love macro shots. I realized that almost any digital camera will take good pictures, however, usually people assumes that buying an expensive one gives them the perfect picture, so reading the manuals can really help if you don’t know what an ISO really means (I actualy had no idea). I’d guess it depends totally on what you want to shoot and your budget, so you know if you are a beginner, buy the simple digital camera that has auto focus, go with the basic first, learn, point, shoot and … delete.

Seriously, I am still learning (and hell I can prove that I’m getting better, technically wise, I failed) but I accept the fact that as you practice and experiment, you will always have ugly shots, but you can learn from it and it will help improve your photographs. I think the keys to taking better photographs is that, you need to be aware of your content, your lighting, and your angle; not being afraid to experiment; allowing yourself to be a little bit creative; and knowing what your camera can do.

And that’s all what we did today.

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