What does photography mean to you?
Personally, it’s an experience that allows me to see nature in a whole other light, and capture its beautiful moments through the camera lens. It’s a passion that I like to practice; I enjoy taking photos of animals as it allows me to explore the closer details of their life, the detail that is usually missed in everyday life. I’m a big animal lover, hence the interest in their lives, and enjoy the challenge that comes with photographing them. The difficulty for me isn’t the actual search for the animals in their natural habitat but capturing them in the perfect moment with a camera, since they have an instinct of moving from potential danger. This has happened to me on numerous occasions but its what makes this a challenge I enjoy. It takes a lot of patience when photographing animals since they can be quite shy. However, this gives me the time to observe them carefully and learn their behaviours within their natural habitats. I have found a lot of myself within them.
The camera itself is an important part of photography since a ‘perfect’ photo can only be taken with the ideal set up for the person’s intensions. When you pick up a camera you will see a mode dial at the top, this consist of different little drawings/ letters that are normally ignored due to the lack of understanding people have of them. One of my favourite modes to use is the shutter speed ‘ S ’. It controls the speed of the shutters closing and opening, the lower the shutter speed the blurrier the photo and the higher the shutter speed the clearer the photo. For some people blurred photos are not an option but I find the resulting image quite fascinating - and the idea of the colours escaping from their boundaries. I sometimes like to take a photo of animals in action with a low shutter speed, since it creates a trail of their body acting almost like a shadow behind them. Although it is much harder to take photos with this mode it is worth it for the end result. The photo has the best quality when using a tripod and placing it on a very steady surface. The tripod makes sure that the camera stays very steady; focusing on the subject – the animal in action - while the background is still and clear.
You also have to think about the type of lens that you want to use, obviously for animal photography it is easier to have a very good zoom on the lens, one of the best lenses (in my opinion) is Canon EF 600mm F4L IS II USM. Unfortunately I can’t speak from personal experience but I have seen many photographs that have been taken with this lens, it provides incredible quality. The actual lens is more important than the body of the camera because that’s what is used to take the photograph; a good lens is not only about the zoom but also about many other qualities, for example the glass in the lens has to be in good standard to create the best photographs.
I hope to inspire people to take time from their busy lives and take a closer look on the beauty surrounding them, before it is gone forever.
By Paulina Tobola - Gumley House Convent School
