Tag Archives: Photographer

by Joceline

Because I see teeny bits of beauty hiding in all sorts of unlikely places, and I want to tease them out.

New ginkgo leaves unfurling from their overwinter spikes.

Because I’m an extrovert, and I experience life by sharing it with others.  No really, I sometimes can’t process things without having someone else there to talk it through.  And keeping a piece of nature’s beauty all to myself without sharing it with someone else is almost like never seeing it at all.

Barbed wire, man- and nature-made.

Because it’s Spring, and I get absolutely giddy with the resulting photo fodder.  Also because it’s finally nice out and taking pictures isn’t such a chilly ordeal.

Apple blossom petals from on of UVa's gardens. Trees shedding their blossoms always make me think of little grey ladies with pink skirts around their ankles.

Because every time I see something pretty and I don’t have a camera, I try to burn the image into my memory.  And it’s just more efficient with an SLR.

My favorite flowering tree. Although I realize a lot of trees and plants are my favorite, depending on what's in season.

Because the dogwoods are only around for a little while.

My laptop keeps inexplicably crashing (I think the fan is faulty and it’s overheating), so after it died twice today during class I figured it was high time for a long-overdue backup.

I was way too impatient to back up my entire system, so I went for music and pics first (sorry, old chem lab reports).  Total system space dedicated to photos? 23, 255 files, or 45.5 GB–half of my hard drive.

It wasn’t all going to fit on the teeny hard drive I had cannibalized from an old laptop, so I set to the task of going through and deleting old photos, duplicates, blurry shots–everything I should have trashed the first time around and like a pack-rat, never did.  Which means I spent the better part of two hours looking through all the pictures I’ve taken since first year of college, ostensibly to purge, but really, just on a requisite jaunt down memory lane.

There was that time Denise and I were Jamaica and Germany at an Olympics party (yes, yes, improbable country choices for the both of us).

It’s funny how memory works.  When I catch up with an old friend and get caught up in “Do you remember…”, where each remembered detail sparks a whole flood of new ones…when an old lotion I haven’t opened in years brings me back to showering in Lambeth, that grimy old housing complex I was glad to leave…when I can fill in a night from a few blurry, out-of-focus photographs…I realize my brain has stored so much more of my life than I though.  But it’s not all accessible.  If I were to try to give you my life story right now, it would be the same bland, one-minute educational-history-and-where-I’m-from spiel I recite anytime anyone has ever asked me (at interviews.  Only at interviews.).  But my digital documentation of the last five years pins down at least 23,255 discrete points of my life.  Okay, not counting unusable shots and doubles let’s say…well, still a lot.

If it weren't for this photo I would never have told you about my breast lump! HAAAAA gotcha. Hey, last week I wrote a post about oversharing, you were warned. Plus it was my mom who actually took this picture, I guess I take after her.

It’s times like these I’m really glad I’m a tad obsessive about squirreling away photos and bugging people to let me take pictures of them.  Sometimes I worry that by always trying to fully document the moment, I run the risk of failing to actually experience it; it’s like those people who spend a concert taking videos, and they end up not actually watching it and have to relive it through a grainy video.  Especially as photography-minded as I am, I can obsess about getting the shot to the point of ignoring whatever it is happening in front of my face.  Not very live-in-the-moment of me, now, is it?

I run into this internal battle a lot when I'm in another country. It's a constant stream of "Holy crap must take pictures of Patagonia!" and "OMG I'm in Patagonia MUST...ENJOY...MOMENT...TO THE FULLEST".

But then it goes back to the fickleness of memory.  I don’t keep a journal or a personal blog, and were it not for photos, the only lasting record of my day-to-day activities would be Facebook status updates.  And honestly?  I’d rather not miss a moment because I’m worrying that I’m not fully experiencing it–so meta.   So I’m glad I have photographic record of my days (and I’m glad that I backed them up today).  And as I start studying in earnest for the boards (biggest test of my career thus far–I take them in January), I’m going to try to keep taking pictures so the second half of my second year won’t be a big black hole.

On that note, I thought I'd document my frenzied-blogging-because-Monday's-almost-over. Since this is how I spend every Monday night. The bargain-brand diet cola is for refueling, and the salt is because I've been known to eat it out of my palm a teaspoon at a time.

Or, why you should go ahead and spring for a nice camera if you’re currently on the fence.

AKA "big" cameras for those who don't care.

First, what’s an SLR camera?  The Wikipedia article has a lot of photog mumbo-jumbo about what separates an SLR from its film predecessors.  But in this digital age, most of us are debating between a digital point-and-shoot and a digital SLR.  Bottom line is: point-and-shoots are built to be small, light, and cheap, while dSLRs are made in parts, so you can swap lenses and flashes onto the camera body as you please.  The longer lenses (to give you that blurry background you can’t mimic on a little camera) and overall customizability are just part of what makes SLRs so awesome for the budding photographer.

Those of you who carry their SLR cameras around have undoubtedly talked to a friend who enjoys taking pictures and wants to take the plunge into SLR-land, but has doubts—about the money, the learning curve, the time.  Well, if I can proselytize a few of you to the virtues of the dSLR, I’ll consider my work for today done.  So, in the words of Daft Punk, SLRs are:

Harder.
The biggest concern I hear, aside from the money, is that SLRs are too hard to learn to use.

I can’t tell you how wrong this is.  Have one in your hands and have no idea how to use it?  Set it to ‘auto’ mode, look through the viewfinder/‘eyehole’ (not intuitive in this age of huge LCD screens), and snap away.  The camera does all the work for you.  It’s a smart little computer; with the right framing, you can get lovely, balanced shots on auto.

Okay, want to actually learn how to use it?  I’m glad you asked.  Set your camera to ‘manual’. You’ll want to learn about

1)      Aperture: how open the camera is, which determines how much light gets in, and

2)      Shutter speed: how long it’s open, which determines how long the light gets in.

The wider and longer your lens is open, the lighter (or more exposed) your picture will be. That’s it!  Once you understand this, and start fiddling around with your camera, you can take perfectly exposed photos.  (I’m not going to ramble further about this, because this isn’t a photo blog.  Or maybe I will, but another post.)

Better.
A nice camera makes it easier to get nice photos.

Now, I’m not saying good photos.  Taking a good picture takes thought, an interesting subject, artistic composition—it’s not about just trusting your fancy camera.  But the beauty of SLRs is that even casual snapshots look nice.  The way I see it, the camera unlocks you to your starting potential as a photographer.  Your photos will be sharp and clear, and I can guarantee that you’ll start thinking about the pictures you’re taking, because getting results that match what your eyes see will be that much easier.

From this past weekend at Foxfield, a UVA springtime custom, which was a good time to say the least. I was sliiiightly drunk and pointed the camera at my friend for one second, and with a little luck--presto! Great photo!

Faster.
You know that awkward pause after you’ve finagled everyone into a group and then waited while your point-and-shoot madly tries to autofocus?  And everyone holds their smile while heckling you through gritted teeth?

SLRs are fast.  Infrared autofocusing, a click of the shutter, and you’re done.  Your friends want a “jumping” picture?  Done.  Your baby cousin being adorable?  Get it before he loses interest.  You can time your SLR photos so much better that going back to a point-and-shoot will feel like using dial-up.

Don't try 10 times to get the timing right!

Stronger.
Some people worry that they’ll break their expensive new camera.  Well, I’ve broken two point-and-shoots in stupid ways, but I treat my SLR like it’s made of gold.  First of all, you’ll be so worried about it that you won’t sling it around like a piece of crap.  Second, it comes with a neck strap.  Point-and-shoot with a neck strap?  You’re a tourist.  SLR with a neck strap?  Legit photographer.  And lastly, these cameras are made to be used (and engineered with Japanese ingenuity to be nearly indestructible).  Treat them with care, but take them wherever you want to take them.  I have this article clipped out about National Geographic photographers, and the crazy things they have to go through to get those shots.  Don’t worry about your camera—it’s strong enough to take it, and it’ll last you for years.

So if you’re deciding whether or not to plop some money onto a dSLR, trust me–it’s worth it.  Ask me any questions you have, too, since you can tell I’m happy to talk about cameras for as long as you’ll let me.

I am rarely found without a camera.  Yes, I’m that girl, who makes everyone stop and get together for a photo at random times in the conversation.  (It doesn’t help that this factors into the whole asian tourist stereotype.)  At events, I have been known to forgo socializing to scurry around, camera in tow, taking pictures of anyone who will let me.  At the moment, four years’ worth of pictures equals 109 folders on my hard drive (17,262 photos), and embarrassingly enough, 82 albums on Facebook.  And as one of my friends warned my fellow medschoolers at the start of the year, “ATTENTION FIRST YEAR UVA MED STUDENTS. Congratulations on your acceptance and welcome to UVA, where J Vu will easily double the number of photos you are tagged in. Guaranteed.”

I'm usually toting this bad boy around.

 It’s true though.  I love taking pictures—at parties, of my friends hanging out, and especially one-on-one portraits if I can finagle someone into letting me creep around and take headshots or them for an hour or so.  Why?  Well, for one thing, I have a terrible memory.  Off the top of my head, I can’t remember much more about my early years in college than vague images of friends hanging out and going to class.  But luckily, photographs are the best way to jog my memory.  Usually when I see a picture I’ve taken, I can remember exactly where I was and how I was feeling when I snapped it.  Now I may just be setting myself up for early-onset dementia, but having over 17,000 bits of memories on my hard drive works fine for me.

A promotional photo I took this fall for the Nursing School.

I also just love the art of photography.  Taking pictures of people is always rewarding—I gain so much interacting with someone from behind a lens.  How often do you really look at people’s faces?  When I shoot, I’m constantly studying my subject, thinking about what angles, lighting, and expressions would perfectly capture their personality in a still frame.  And it’s so pleasing to take a good picture of someone—to get their best face down in film, and to see their reactions when they like the photo.

I saw my friend Meghan one day after just having received my portrait lens in the mail, so naturally I accosted her for ten minutes and made her pose for me.

Sometimes interacting with your subject isn’t necessary.  My preferred genre is nature photography, although I take pictures of anything that makes a pretty photo.  With a camera, I can look at something—a tangle of leafless branches, a lone berry, a fallen maple leaf—in an unexpected way. For me, it’s all about seeing the ordinary in a new light, whether that means getting minutely close to something, or waiting until dawn or dusk to take pictures (most people are in bed or eating dinner during the best light of the day). I document it all here: exposur.blogspot.com, which has sadly been neglected of late (blame Anatomy lab…finally getting to cut into those cadavers comes with a lot of muscles and nerves to memorize). 

But it’s not all fun and games.  I can get so caught up in recording the moment that I forget to experience it.  And while playing photographer is a joy in itself, I should enjoy what time I do have to spend with my friends.  And sometimes I feel like a jerk for lighting flashbulbs in people’s faces at random times, but I like taking a few candids here and there because I always question the artificiality of posed, smiling pictures.  I also freelance for an event photographer for some of the frats and sororities around grounds, and it did take me awhile to be at home with approaching random strangers over and over and asking if I could take their picture.  Not to mention dealing with drunken college students as a tiny person carrying expensive equipment.  I’ve shielded my camera from spilled liquor, flung beer bottles, and once, a pitcher poured over the crowd onto my head.  To be fair, my job is fun—I basically get paid to go to a party and take pictures, which is what I do at every party.

Well, to end this post, here are some things I’ve learned as the perpetual photographer:

1)      Unless they actually, actively refuse, everyone likes having their picture taken.  Especially good pictures.  Therein lies the power of the nice camera (everyone looks better through a portrait lens).

2)      Relatedly, people may roll their eyes at you taking ANOTHER PICTURE, but they’ll thank you later when all of their memories go down the drain and they have nothing left but the shreds of their past contained in your photos.  Or that’s what I tell myself.

3)      A little editing goes a long way.  I used to use Photoshop to remove blemishes and shine, whiten teeth, and change the contrast and exposure on photos, but I realized that once you get wedded to airbrushing, you can’t easily stop (it’s an addiction, and then sooner or later people will start asking why their faces always look so smooth and flat).  Now I generally just stick to cropping…but a pro will always tell you to get that kind of thing over with as you shoot.  So, make sure you’re taking a photo of just the frame you want at the exposure you want, to avoid having to fix it later.

If you care, I shoot with a Nikon D40 (entry level dSLR, read the Wikipedia entry if you want to know about single-lens-reflex cameras, aka “nice” or “big” cameras). I use an 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 wide angle, 50mm f/1.8 portrait lens, and a 55-200mm f/4-5.6 telephoto.  If you have camera questions let me know, I love it when people get into photography!