The wonderful thing about photography is that you are able to learn pretty efficiently from experimentation. I picked up guesstimating exposure pretty fast from using my non-metering manual focus lenses, and as such I got to understand the beauty of manual mode.

Arguably the priority of most amateur photographers (and regular folks) is to get the right exposure. It’s more about getting the shot in focus, and proper settings to get an adequately lit shot. I had this conversation with a friend not too long ago about composition and somehow we were led back to the topic of using the M mode to nail the shot. She stated frankly that she was more comfortable with using other modes such as Aperture priority and program mode to get her shots. She finds the M mode too intimidating for her. While the M mode is my preferred mode, it is not the only mode that photographers use to get their desired shots. A good photo need not require a photographer to use the M mode to attain. Rather, it requires the discretion of the photographer to direct and compose the shot.

To me, the M mode is the mode to use when you want to achieve a shot entirely dependent on your own direction. The other modes on the camera, to a certain degree, decide for you how your shot should look like. In aperture priority mode, you set the aperture you want, but you leave the shutter speed to the camera to decide. Naturally the cpu of the camera would decide a shutter speed that would get you a well balanced exposure. But does not promise you that it is the shutter speed you would require to create your desired shot. The same goes for shutter priority mode and program mode. I wouldn’t say that they are useless mode to use. They’re really handy modes for a beginner or when you’re pressed for time. But the fact is they are not perfect. You’ll get an OK shot, but probably not something that packs oomph.

Regardless, you have to know what you want, and what to do before you’re able to create magic on the M mode. Nothing magic comes about without you forking out your fair share of manual “labor” – that is to experiment & shoot frequently.

Well, there is no doubt that a good lens plays an important role in the output of a good photo. In the past 6 months working as a photo editor at a news agency I have come across my far share of photos shot with good and bad lenses. There were shots that were great shots taken with really normal equipment, while there were average shots taken with the best lenses. A good lens can only get you that far. Yes, using a good lens makes the photographic process more convenient, pleasant and efficient. However, it will only bring you that far. The rest very much depends on the photographer himself/herself.

Photojournalists usually do not have the luxury of time to experiment with settings and creativity. Having a good lens with all the latest tech marvels (image stabilization, fast autofocus), coupled with good optics and a camera that works well in low light would be god-sent. Of course not everyone can afford the best of equipments, nor is it utterly necessary to own them all. It is nice to have great equipment, but it does not mean a photographer cannot take good photos without them. Technology conveniences people. It is nice to have them, but we can survive without them. Though this comes with some unavoidable inconveniences.

There was a time not too long ago that we were all using film cameras, and Polaroid’s instant film was a god-sent. There was a time, a while further back that auto-focus lenses were a god-sent. There was only manual focus lenses before that. Then there was a time cameras were bulky and unportable, negatives were made from glass. Nevertheless, regardless of whatever technology that were available, they were never truly enough.

We have come to benefit from people’s pursuit for an easier attainable goal of good photos. We now have cameras that detect smiles. We have cameras the size of credit cards. We have camera on our handphones. Photography is made so accessible, but did photography on a whole improved in quality? Now there are many answers to the question. But the source of the answer leads back to ourselves. How do we, as photographers, make use of our equipment to get the best shot possible. A good lens (and camera) is only as useful as the photographer who utilizes it.

I recently went to Sentosa for the Sentosa Flower Fest. I brought along two lenses for my camera, my 18-200mm super-zoom and my 55mm macro lens. There were people there with their professional grade cameras and expensive macro (or telephoto) lenses, mounted on equally premium tripods/monopods. The lens that was on my camera most of the time was my macro lens. I am probably pretty under-equipped as compared to the other DSLR users at the event. I have mentioned before that the Nikkor MF 55mm ƒ2.8 macro lens is my favorite lens in my collection. I am head over heels in love with a lens that does not meter with my camera, that is nothing more than pieces of glass and metal put-together. But this lens works marvels. It does what I asks for, no less than an auto-focus lens. Although I am inconvenienced in the aspect of focusing and exposure, the optics are great. What matters most for me is that I get my shot. The inconvenience is secondary. Of course it helps that I have pretty stable hands. This lens is a disaster with most people around me. It’s also not the lens you want to use for sporting events. But for capturing flowers and food? It irrefutably works its magic.

Perhaps I’ll get an auto-focus macro lens in the near future. But in the meanwhile, I’m satisfied with my macro lens.
The camera and lens and the photographer makes the shot. While having good equipment plays a big factor in a good shot, the photographer takes the critical role.

A lot of the photography books I’d came across in the public libraries contained outdated information. Well, it’s not exactly that outdated but they were largely written in the context of film photography. As with any forms of technology, photography has changed a lot in the past decade. Holga cameras are part of the hipster scene and mirrorless-cameras are dominating the digital camera scene. God knows if DSLRs may go mirrorless in a couple of years! Books contain static knowledge, but they remain a useful source of knowledge budding photographers who want to learn photography at their own pace.

However, photography books should not be the only source one should depend on to improve one’s photography. It’s only practical to put to use what you’ve read in books into actual photography to really learn and improve your photography. I’ve met a lot of hobbyists that have a solid background on the technicalities of photography, but aren’t exactly fantastic photographers. There is no better way to improve your photography than to go out there and shoot. With that being said, reading up on photography books is still relevant. These books contain the experiences of photographers, sometimes their inspirations as well. So there isn’t much harm reading them, even if the information seems outdated. I remembered reading a photography book on filters. Although I don’t use a red filter on my camera, nor do I shoot black and white photography, it’s useful to know what effect this filter produces. After all, I do convert my photos into monochrome, digitally, via plug-ins.

It used to irritate me when people credit the quality of my photos to my camera. I used to ask them, do my photography skills not contribute to the making of the photo? When I was a photographer for my college’s newsletter, my editor used to tell me how wonderful she thought my DSLR was. Whenever I expressed irritation at her passing remark, she would apologize for me. But she insisted she felt my camera is largely responsible for my good photos. I do not discount the contribution my Nikon D90 has played in my photography, but I suppose such fleeting comments dented my self-confidence.

That was then, and I have since matured as a photographer. I have come to accept such careless remarks to a photographer. Many people own DSLRs, but how many of them are photographers? If you could afford, you could own a Leica or a Hasselblad. But how many of us are an Adam Ansel or a Henri Cartier-Bresson? I was not born a gifted photographer. I learnt and improved on my photography from sheer practice. Endurance is the key to many things in life. It doesn’t matter what camera you use (unless you wanna achieve something only a specific camera can give you) but rather how you use it. Any tool is only as good as the carpenter that uses it. If you don’t know how to fully utilize your equipment, it will only be a pity.

Chase Jarvis made a very good point when he published his “The best camera is the one that’s with you” iPhone photography book. His premise for this iPhone photography book is that a good photo matters not in the equipment used, but with the photographer, and the very fact that the photo was taken in the first place. Although I personally am not inspired by the contents in that book, because I have passed that phase of realization, it is still a book that reminds you and keeps you grounded from mindless gear envy.

I love to share my experiences, my trial and errors in photography to the people around me. Nonetheless, I would like to reiterate that some of the contents are sourced from my personal experiences and opinions, and at no time am I making a point that these are the biblical truth to photography. There is no formula to perfect photography. Everyone’s journey in photography is unique and personal. But through the sharing of my photographic journey with others, I too will mature, learn and reflect and consequently become a better photographer.

Her issues with her camera became apparent during a recent family dinner when she complained to me she can’t switch off her flash. I tried helping her, and it was then that I realized that she did not know how to operate her camera. I had wanted to change the exposure on the camera but I was unfamiliar with her camera. So I asked her how and where do I fiddle with to get my desired exposure. And then she replied me… “What’s an aperture? What’s shutter speed? What’s ISO?”

It was then that I realized why she doesn’t get the shots she wants… She doesn’t know how to operate her camera! To add on, she doesn’t know nothing about using a DSLR! It doesn’t help that my Uncle, a self-professed “expert” with his camera chimed in that he still takes great photos on his camera despite knowing nothing about changing his exposure setting: ISO, aperture and shutter speed. His advice: keep things to Aperture Priority.

I was really hoping to figure out how to use his camera, but instead I received a rude shock. He too didn’t know how to use his camera. How has he been shooting for the past 4 years with that camera? Don’t tell me he is so lucky to get “lucky shots” all the time??

It just bedazzles me that he moved on to the 7D without knowledge on how to use his 40D, and now his daughter is following suit! I felt like telling them to hold back their horses and go back fiddling with their old camera. There is so much they have missed without truly understanding how their camera works. But I doubt they will bother… They’re probably one foot into the camera store to get the new 600D for my cousin… Who till now does not understand the basics of the exposure triangle.  :|

This really depends on the individual’s needs. In my case, I bought a second lens very soon after I had gotten my camera. I bought my Nikon D90 with the kit lens. I must admit now that I had bought my second lens because I thought it is a must for every budding photographer. You’ve got to get a second lens, and it’s got to be this lens. Yes… I fell into the trap of blindly following the advices of others without clearly reflecting on my actual needs. And so I bought the Nikon AF 50mm f/1.8 D. I bought it cheap. Well… It’s a cheap lens (not that it’s not good).

Most people have rave reviews for this lens. Some people claim this lens inspires them to be a “Henri Cartier-Bresson”. Then there are others that espouse of its value for money. It performs pretty well in the dark because it opens wide. Most fast lenses are expensive. Some cost the same as your DSLR camera, while others cost more! Hey… Whoever said photography is an affordable hobby!

I never really got round to using this lens. I didn’t like it for some reason… Until I bought the Nikkor MF 55mm f/2.8 Micro lens. I finally understood why I disliked the 50mm lens. It just didn’t suit my needs. It wasn’t a bad lens, but I had subconsciously been wanting a lens that allows me to go closer to my subjects. When I first played around with my macro lens, I was excited. It was as if I’ve found the lens that I’ve been seeking. Till this date, this macro lens goes with me everywhere, regardless of the shooting assignment. This is the lens that travels with me from Singapore to USA, then to Canada. It’s gonna be traveling with me for a long while.

I’ve decided to write this article because I’ve been getting queried by friends on the next lens to get. Most of them had gotten the 18-55mm lens (Nikon or Canon), and my reply to them is to either get a superzoom or the nifty 50 (50mm lens). It really depends on one’s needs. For me, I liked the 50+mm range, but I preferred having a lens that has pin-sharp focus. That is why the Nikkor MF 55mm f/2.8 Micro lens appealed to me.

However, sometimes buying lenses is a hit or miss thing. We don’t really know what we want, until we have it. We may think we need that lens, but it may jolly well end up a white elephant. There are people who espouse on renting lenses to figure out which lens they prefer. For me, I figured that you could observe the frequency of the focal length you use on your kit lens. If you find yourself needing a further reach on your lens, then you may need a lens with a longer focal length. If you find yourself shooting architecture shots, you may need a wide angle lens. If you find yourself shooting objects up close, perhaps a macro lens would suit you.

The kit lens is usually a good gauge for newbies to figure your photographic needs. If I were able to go back in time, I think I’d have given myself some time before getting another lens and consequently not jumping onto the Nikon AF 50mm f/1.8 D. It’s a white elephant, and I think I should get really get rid of it. Any takers out there?

I’m new to the job so I still learning how to cope with minimally editing my photos. Yes… I’m an edit-addict. I love to add fancy stuffs to my photos, and I rely a huge deal on “fancy plugins” for Aperture. Yup… My colleagues call them “fancy plugins”. It’s not that plugins are bad or unsavory, but they are an absolutely no-no for news photography. After all, journalism has a strict code of ethics. It’s something I have get used to, and honestly it has gotten me thinking hard about how I process my photos. Are my photos as good as they are, if I were not to utilize my  plugins?

I’m a huge fan of Nik Software’s plug-ins. It’s powerful. It enables me to have point to point control over my photos. The photographic filters of Color Efex Pro 3 are magnificent… Of course, with that you also need to have the eye to know how much and what to apply. Photo editing is like applying make-up. It requires the right combination and strength to create the suitable amount of enhancement that is needed to make a photo oomph-worthy. When HD-R first came out, a lot of photo-enthusiasts went crazy with it… The end result was the endless photo-stream of highly saturated, highly textured photos. Not a pretty sight… But like most fads, people don’t realize it until the fad fades.

I’m still getting the hang of my job, learning new things every day… I’ve got a feeling my perception of how much a photo should be edited is changing with each day spent at work. I used to think I edit minimally, because I don’t use Photoshop. But in comparison to what I do at work, my photos here are way more extensively edited. Perhaps I’ll emerge a different photographer out of this experience. In the meanwhile, I’ve got to work on my cold eyes…

The new logo presents a fresh, updated image of The 3.2 Shooter. Yes… I have diversified to a certain degree since the start of this website back in 2009. I have also matured as a photographer during this period. The old logo was casual retro-fun, a “bottle-cap” badge for the college photography enthusiast/freelancer who was still fairly fresh with her DSLR.

This new logo was created and gifted to me by my talented graphic designer pal, HL. We’ve also recently partnered to create a food guide to Buffalo for Singaporean students titled “Food By Foot”. This food guide will be released at a later date.

So after that experience with the Canon, I thought to myself that I had found the best combination that will probably last me for a long time. Why change something that is working? So I went on with life, photographing leisurely in auto mode until I decided I wanted to get more lenses. I had a tight budget (still do), and I cannot  afford half of the lenses I had wanted. Well… I was a n00b so my idea of “lenses I wanted” were largely out of gear envy.

Under the recommendation of a clasmate, I checked out a local photography forum (Clubsnap) to find out more about camera lenses. I discovered a seller that specializes in selling refurbished old lenses (largerly manual focus lenses). He is a smart seller. He put up descriptions to his lenses and provides a picture of the lens and a photo taken with that lens. That is by far the most effective way to rouse the interest of an online buyer. The photo was beautifully taken and it made me want to own one of his lenses, naively thinking that I could reproduce high quality photos if I had one of those lenses. I did not immediately bought lenses from this seller. I ended up buying a lens from another seller.

That lens I bought was the Nikkor MF 55mm ƒ/2.8 Micro. It is my favorite lens and will be for a very long time. I paid $280 f0r this lens, not the cheapest price around, and its condition is very weathered. I joked with friends that it had probably gone through the Vietnam War as the seller was a Vietnamese student. But who knows, he may have gotten this lens locally or elsewhere. I was completely ignorant of how to use a manual focus lens. I did not know how to change my lenses properly. I was just utterly clueless. I think that guy’s friends must be amused that a girl like me who knew nothing about such lenses would just fork out $280 like that. It was potentially a risky purchase for me. I could probably have gotten cheated by him or not know how to fully utilize the potentials of this lens.

Fortunately for me, not only was the lens fun to work with… It became my favorite lens in my bag. This is the lens I love the most, even among my other better lenses (i.e. Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8 VRI). This lens thought me a great deal. It thought me how to guesstimate an exposure manually. It thought me how to frame my subjects creatively… But most importantly it thought me patience. Using a manual focus, non metering lens in manual mode is about as far you can go to have the least bit of assistance you can get from a DSLR. I survived that, and have come to appreciate the meditative feeling I get whenever I use such lenses. The amount of effort and patience to get your subject into focus while  adjusting the camera into the desired position can be painstaking. The amount of sweat trickling down my face, and the condensation of the heat from my eyes when I take photos of orchids at the National Orchid Garden is annoying and unbearable. However, when I look at the end product of my shoot, I feel rewarded. Because I know very well I would not achieve the same quality if I had the convenience of an auto focus lens and was shooting in auto mode.