The other month I wrote a beginner’s guide to photographic technique for geeks, and judging by the number of hits and comments I received it went down well. One explanation is that there is a real market for articles on photographic technique that are written in plain English but don’t pull their punches when it comes to the technical details: articles for geeks. Another explanation is that the readers of digg.com/design wanted to skive off on a Friday afternoon, and at a first glance my white background pages are indistinguishable from real work. Being an optimist I shall assume the former, and crack on:
Bernie’s Better Guide to Depth of Field for Geeks Who Want to be Digital Artists
By the way, if you’re not sure what an f/1.8 aperture, 85mm focal length, or 1.6x crop factor camera body are, I suggest you have a look at last month’s beginner’s guide.
P.S.: SoPhoBoMo
Paul Butzi over at the Photo Musings blog has an idea that’s just perfect for beginner and advanced photographers alike to improve their skills. The goal of Solo Photo Book Month is to produce a professional PDF photo book with 35 images over the month of April. Afterwards you can post it online, keep it to yourself and feel smug, or even send it to a print-on-demand site like blurb.com and start selling it.
It has been eloquently argued that the most important development for the artist is arriving at a personal style. Technique - the stuff of my articles - is important because a lack of technical skill can prevent you from being able to express your personal vision. However if you don’t know what your personal vision is, you’ll never take photos that you consider to be art.
SoPhoBoMo is great because it may well help you define your personal style; that’s certainly what I’m hoping. I haven’t decided what my project is going to be, but I imagine my new-found love of macro photography will feature pretty heavily. 35 photos may seem a lot for one month, so pick a project that you can do along with your daily routine.
If you decide to go ahead, pledge your entry here. If I haven’t sold you on it, read this.