Leonard Smith is a professional photographer based in Brantham. He is completely passionate about what he does, claiming that photography "is an art form in itself". At the age of 18, Len had the chance to visit Greenland to take photographs, and he has never looked back. When I visited, he even showed us his very first photo; a black and white shot taken on an old Kodak Brownie, through the back window of a coach on a school trip. Now he makes a living publishing a range of cards featuring some of his incredible landscape and nature photographs. He also does some commission work for charities such as Christian Aid. He does all the work for these charities on film, and all of his early work was done on film. He was reluctant to make the change over to digital technology, but eventually, he had to completely make the shift, and now wholeheartedly embraces the benefits of working with digital. Gone are the days in which Len could get up close to the photos he had taken, while he viewed them as slides on his light box. Instead, with one click of a button, he can view them on the screen. Then, he can edit them and share them almost immediately. And this is one of the main benefits for Len. When I interviewed him, he explained how he loved the beauty that we find right on our doorstep, and that photography was a great way for him to share that with people. Despite a certain amount of nostalgia about film photography, Len is insistent of the positive benefits of digital photographer. He claims that none of the original skills of photography have been lost at all, digital juts provides the shots on a different platform. And now that more people are out there taking photos, contrary to what photographers expected, there is actually more of an interest in professional photography and people can recognise skilled work more easily. So despite claims that digital photography is stripping away at an art form, Len was pleased to tell me that it is only enhancing what he does. He assured me that a beautiful photograph was still a beautiful photograph no matter what media it was captured on; neither has "more lasting value". And that’s why Len is one photographer who isn't afraid of joining the digital revolution. Tips from the professional I figured that while I had the chance to grill Len, I'd ask him for his top five photography tips, so that us guys at home can get a better photo. Here’s what he said … - Play about with the horizon. Don't just plonk it in the centre automatically. Try moving it a third from the top or a third from the bottom to bring some variety to your pictures.
- With portraits, do a similar thing with the face of the person you're photographing. Their face needn't be in the middle; rather it can be a third of the way across it to either side. Also, when capturing portrait shots, try and photograph the person in their natural setting, surrounded by things that they love.
- Check out the work of other photographers and get inspired. Buying the book of a really well reputed photographer and flicking through can give you some great ideas. However, look at "any photo" the important thing to consider is "what makes them appeal to you, and then bring that in to your own style".
- Just before pressing the shutter, have one final check for anything silly, like poles ‘growing out of people’s heads’ and so on.
- With digital you can take as many shots as you want and discard the ones that don't come out how you would like them to. So don't be afraid to be experimental with different settings, and then "look and see the different results that you get".
So soak in the advice from the master, and then get clicking. |
