why I think shooting manual is overrated

Just to be clear, I don't say it is overrated to learn about your camera settings. I am just saying that manual mode makes things harder than they should be. When I am on pinterest I often see articles that tell you that you have to learn manual mode because it's super important and you will never take a pretty picture if you don't (I'm exaggerating a bit). I also see a lot of cheat sheets that are supposed to help you with this super hard mode, some of them are only confusing to me. Anyway I know that shooting manual is a big deal to many people. But I don't think it is necessary to do all that. You can achieve just as pretty photos on a easier way.

What is manual mode exactly? It is a setting on the more advanced camera's that allows you to set every thing exactly how you want it. Though that seems great, it has it's cons. You have freedom, but you also have to set every thing manually, and constantly adjust your settings when the light changes. If you don't your photos will be either over or under exposed. It is quite hard to master, it takes practice to get your exposure right without it taking to much time.

The alternative. Most of the time I use my camera on aperture priority mode (A or Av depending on the brand you use). You can pick a aperture, and with that control the depth of field. Also you can chose an ISO number, so you make sure that there is no more noise that necessary. And the camera picks the shutter speed for you. So when you move into the shade a bit you don't have to adjust the settings. The same goes for the shutter speed priority mode (s or tv), but there the camera picks the aperture.

So what if you think that your photos should look brighter or a bit darker? In manual mode you take your shutter speed/aperture/iso down a step. That doesn't work in A, the camera will compensate with a longer exposure time. You can use exposure compensation for that. It works like this, while pressing the button with the +/- sign you scroll with the scrolling wheel. (located near the shutter or on the back). the + side makes the photo lighter and the - darker.

well is it completely useless then? I don't think that camera's would be better off without manual mode. I just don't think it's ideal for when you are taking regular photo's. It is useful when you are in a very dark situation, and your light meter isn't getting the exposure right. It is also fine when you are shooting in a studio where the light intensity (amount of light) is not changing.

the difference
when you have mastered manual mode, it is about as quick as a half automatic mode. You only are scrolling a bit more. So if you are already used to it it is not necessary to switch. But when you are learning photography I think it's a better idea to go with this method. It is easier to learn and you can achieve the same results. But it is still important that you understand what ISO, aperture and shutter speed do for your photo's.

If you don't agree with me I would like to hear why!
-Gemma

my first analog pictures

When Gemma came to visit me here in July she had like three analog cameras with her. I hadn't really thought about analog photography as a possibility before I saw how nice the pictures were that Gem had taken. As she can talk for hours and hours about photography and as I don't mind to hear about these subjects at all I learned quite a lot and wanted to try analog shooting myself as well. With a bit of luck and a little search in our house I actually found my dad's old camera, straight from the 70s. Gem donated me a roll of film and off I went.

Last week I was on a little autumn getaway in Holland (I'll tell you more about that later), and I finally brought my film roll to the shop to get it processed. Some of my photos (I had 36 in total), had suffered from some lighting issues and turned out all green, but there were also some pictures that turned out pretty well and I really like these pictures shown above.

I already bought a new roll for my camera. I'll practice some more and maybe next time there'll be less of the green ones and more gems.

Self portraits

I took a few shots for this assignment. It is about hair. I really like photography, but I often don't know what to photograph. So I really liked the idea of participating in this kind of assignments or competitions. It gives me a bit more motivation, challenge and a deadline. These are all self-portraits. A lot of photographers that I love take mostly self-portraits. There are a lot of things really comfortable about taking self portraits, par example: the model (you) knows exactly what the photographer (also you) wants. But taking photos with a tripod is not that easy though.
I'd really like to photograph more so if you guys have some tips, or competitions that you think are fun for me to join, please leave a comment!

-Gemma

Why I love analog photography

So analog photography, you might know it as something your parents used to do. With film instead of digital photos. It is not the most practical way of photographing. But I love it, and for these reasons:
-Old cameras, this one is easy. I think old camera's look so pretty. Really they are so charming. I really like that the construction of these are much more simple than digital cameras.
-It makes you think before you shoot. I have a little problem with not thinking before I shoot. Once I shot 2500 photos in 10 days on a vacation. And I have to say not all of these where that pretty. With analog photography you only have 36 photos on one piece of film. And when you shot them all you have to pay for the developing. So it makes me much more conscious about what I shoot. The result is much less unsharp/not interesting photos.
-The look of the photos. Analog photo's are so charming, the colors and sometimes you have great light leaks. Let me give some examples: (non of these are edited)

-The element of surprise. Waiting for your film to be developed is like Christmas, you know you are going to get some sweet presents but you have no idea what they are going to be like. It is really exiting to see your photos for the first time.
-you can get really good camera's for really good prices. (You have to search a bit though) You can buy a perfectly working SLR camera for lets say 20 euro's or even for free if someone gives one to you (ask family members they often have an old camera they don't use). You cant get that good quality digital lenses and camera's for the same price. :)

Are you exited to start with analog photography now? Go and ask your parents/family/friends if they have an old camera laying around. I also wrote a post about getting started with analog photograph on my old blog you can read it here.
-Gemma