Creative Photography Putting the
Art
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 (c) 1996 Gerard Koh Taken on Kodak Ektar 100 atop a granite quarry in Pulau Ubin, it was morning and my friend was appreciating the splendid sunrise. During the scanning stage, the image was digitally manipulated to produce an artificially coloured scene. |
Photography was once a form of expression limited to a select group. Today, nearly everyone totes a camera, and even digital cameras are quite a common sight!
Technological advances have brought improvements in camera construction, lens design, film granularity and sensitivity, digital imaging, colour management systems, and the like.
And yet, our photographs are still the same - ordinary-looking and very mundane. Why is that so?
The answer is simple: A beautiful and inspiring picture is ultimately a result of the photographer's keen eye and creativity. Technological advances (especially digital photography) facilitate expression, but do not necessarily increase one's creativity.
The following are some tips that I hope will spur your creative juices!
Before even speaking of the aesthetic aspect of photography, it is important to have a reasonable level of technical proficiency. With modern cameras, old-school knowledge such as the Sunny 16 rule and flash guide number calculations are not as essential.
On the other hand, the more important areas are depth of field, exposure and focusing. Images should be creatively exposed and focused. Note that I did not mention a good photograph being sharp or having a good tonality. These are ground rules that can be bent if the photographer knows what he/she is doing.
When we compose a letter or a speech, we usually put a fair amount of thought before we put pen to paper. In the same way, if we want our pictures to speak a thousand words, we need to think before we push that button!
Many have this misconception that photography is the easiest artform - that by simply pressing a button, they create art. But, what they produce is more akin to junk!
(c) 1994 Gerard Koh
Noticing my shoes placed on a ladder rung for airing, I decided to separate
them to
give the picture a sense of meaning. Coupled with the use of diagonals, an otherwise
simple shot was made interesting. Taken on Fuji HGII-200.
The best pictures are usually around us, but yet most of us usually complain that "there is nothing nice to take a photograph of". We should take a second look at everything we behold, and try to find an interesting aspect that we missed in our first glance.
(c) 1995 Gerard Koh
I was eating some cherries when I realised how nice and red
they looked. Without
any special equipment, I picked up a cherry in one hand, held my SLR in the
other and took a shot! (Let me tell you - it was extremely difficult trying
to keep
both hands steady!) Taken on Kodak Gold III-100.
Whilst looking through all my negatives, I realised that the majority of them - landscapes, buildings, places of interest and sunsets - were so common that they failed to interest me. The images that I selected for this page were those that were not typical.
(c) 1995 Gerard Koh
I was asked to pop by and take a look at a St John's Ambulance Brigade parade.
The
indoor lighting was quite bad, and I was unprepared - no flash and only a roll
of Ilford
Delta 400. I decided to push the film by 2 stops to ISO 1600, which resulted
in
highly contrasty but interesting images. This is the top view of an SJAB officer.
Location: Toa Payoh Indoor Stadium.
Did you ever realise that when the most perfect sunset, beautiful lighting or perfect image is right before your eyes, you do not have a camera with you? And I am sure that there have been times when you have lugged your equipment around the whole day without capturing any nice image.
Well, moral of the story: Bring your camera always; you never know what you're gonna see! These days, I bring either my digital camera or my Yashica T5 compact camera.
(c) 1994 Gerard Koh
Taken on Ilford FP4 Plus, and shot with a 60-300mm zoom.
The compressed distance gives a false sense of perspective to the viewer.
Location: East Coast Park beach.
Pronounced as why-heen-wig, it means "What You Have Is Not What You Get". Simply put, your three-thousand dollar Nikon F5 coupled with a five-thousand dollar VR lens doesn't necessarily equate to great pictures.
Sometimes, I feel that camera manufacturers should have a disclaimer that says:
"The manufacturer does not bear any liability, whatsoever, for uncreative, poorly-composed, or awful photographs. Use of this equipment does not in any way guarantee that the photographer will be able to take high-quality images."
Most beginners and even seasoned photographers tend to get too caught up with the equipment they own or intend to own. Your images should be credited to your creativity and technical excellence, and not to your camera's sophisticated metering system!
Personally, though I own a Nikon with a matrix meter, I prefer to use the centre-weighted meter and perform my own exposure compensation. That way, I am in complete control of the final image.
(c) 1992 Gerard Koh
This photograph was taken on my father's old Pentax KX with
a mouldy 50mm lens,
and is on the first roll of film that I've ever shot! It
was taken during my first photo
outing on a complimentary roll of Ilford HP5 Plus, courtesy of my school's photo
club.
Location: Singapore Zoological Gardens.
An image that is minimalist is one that is simple, yet not simplistic. It is striking, yet surprisingly straightforward. It may seem simple to create, but in our world of chaos, it is a skill to be able to pick out certain elements from a blend of colour, shape and noise.
In effect, use your mind to see, not your eyes.
(c) 1995 Gerard Koh
The moon was very visible in the clear afternoon sky; by cropping away distracting
elements, a very simple and striking image was created. This was taken on the
same
roll of Ilford Delta 400 pushed to ISO 1600.
When one speaks of digital photography, it evokes strong emotions - in both extremes. The proponents are very vocal about how digital imaging has put control back into the hands of ordinary photographers, and how image quality is slowly but surely moving towards that of conventional film. The other camp laments the demise of the chemical darkroom.
The point that both camps fail to realise is that despite the many changes in how an image is created, the basic fundamental point is how a photographer, given a particular medium, captures that moment in time in a creative manner.
Being an early adopter of digital photography, I know the advantages it provides. I also know that it has made me a lazier photographer, one who snaps photographs without first going through the creative process that I've just described. As such, there are more images that I chuck aside now then in the past!
Do you know why many seasoned photographers still prefer to see in shades of grey? It's not that they are colour-blind. Rather, by simply concentrating on composition, light, perspective, shape and texture, a striking picture is produced that is uncluttered by colour.
(c) 1995 Gerard Koh
One day, after taking so many photographs, I was at a loss for ideas.
Deciding to do a unique self-portrait, I focused on a mirror image of myself.
This photograph was later flipped on the computer - notice that the
Nikon word is not laterally inverted. Taken on Ilford XP2.
Recently, I spoke to an established commercial photographer who predicted that in 10 to 20 years time, photography could be displaced by video and multimedia as an advertising medium. Would photography then go the same way as the dinosaurs?
Hobbyists have nothing to fear, but if this prognostication is correct, commercial photographers may be a dying breed. On the flip side, photography may finally be appreciated by the masses as an art form.