I’ve always had a fascination and interest in photography. During the 2020 lockdown period, I thought it would be a great opportunity to finally take on this interest that had been nagging away at me for a while. I used my dad’s Nikon DSLR and took it upon myself to learn the ins-and-outs of taking a good photo. Heres a look at some of those pictures I was taking arouind this time! It's mostly just me taking pictures of what I had in my backyard or around the house. I'll let you be the judge if they're any good.
I had to get a basic understanding of the essential elements, such as basic composition techniques and the exposure triangle. Once I did, I just listened to every creative impulse I had. I took some really funky, experimental pictures, as well as some static, boring ones. All of them helped me develop a sense of what I liked and didn’t like about the pictures I took. I personally believe that taking a good photo is only 60% of the battle. The other part is how you make it "stand out" in the edit, whether that's color grading, adding/removing objects, or changing skintones. Here are some of my more recent pictures I am more proud of.
Lately, I’ve been trying my hand at shooting 35mm film. I’ve tried it in the past with varying degrees of success, but I think there’s something special about taking a picture and not knowing how it turned out until weeks, maybe even months later. Film photos aren’t always as technically perfect as digital photography, but I’ve always thought that flaws like grain, flares, and imperfect focus make the moment a little more unique. I’m hoping this semester I can take some good stills around campus, but I want to wait until it cools down a little first. below are some photos I took with different film stocks on different vacations I went on.
