I am no fan of focusing on technical expertise in anything creative. I am not that guy. I’ve written about this before so I will not bore you again with my aversion to manuals or the ‘correct’ way to do things. However, I do think that a basic knowledge of the basics is a good idea for a few reasons. Mainly to save time!
I believe in getting things right in camera, at the moment of capture. I suppose it’s a hangover from my analogue days working for clients and not having the budgets or option to recover mistakes through post-production. Today I of course could spend time fiddling in Photoshop with poorly exposed, composed or ill-considered images but every minute I spend doing this is time I could be doing something else.
Before you accuse me of being a digital neanderthal or anti-post production zealot please understand that I am not. However, I am a realist of some years standing that realizes that time is money and that only certain images can be printed by my clients. You can boost the red and the yellow, mess with the contrast and crop as tightly as you wish for online but don’t expect them to be printed in CMYK and look as they do on your screen.
If you are only making work for your own enjoyment to post on social media then what I have to say may not have the same importance it will have to someone hoping to make money from the medium through commissioning.
So, here in my opinion are the key skills to master. Number one is exposure, number two is focal length, number three is composition and the final and fourth is white balance. I’m sure many of you will want to add what you think is important but this is my list and I don’t believe that you can be in control of your image making without mastering these four skills.
I’m not here to tell you how to do that. The Internet is full of ‘how to’ articles and films to help you. Some good some bad, some condescending some overly complicated. You’ll find which works for you. I don’t believe anyone can teach you composition, that takes time and research. There is no true ‘how to’ when it comes to composing an image because there are no rules, despite what some may tell you.
You can learn the other stuff relatively quickly once you become aware of their importance. Lighting is a life long journey of improvement and just like composition the more you see the more you see and the more you understand.
Nothing in photography is quick to master but the basic themes are relatively simple as are the fundamental technical requirements. So, don’t get confused or feel defeated by those who want to make you feel that it’s complicated. It’s not but there are no short cuts and even I accept that some technical knowledge is essential.
Dr. Grant Scott is the founder/curator of United Nations of Photography, a Senior Lecturer and Subject Co-ordinator: Under-Graduate and Post-Graduate Photography at Oxford Brookes University, Oxford, a working photographer, documentary filmmaker, BBC Radio contributor and the author of At Home With the Makers of Style (Thames & Hudson 2006), Professional Photography: The New Global Landscape Explained (Routledge 2014), The Essential Student Guide to Professional Photography (Routledge 2015), New Ways of Seeing: The Democratic Language of Photography (Routledge 2019) and What Does Photography Mean to You? (Bluecoat 2020). His film Do Not Bend: The Photographic Life of Bill Jay was first screened in 2018 www.donotbendfilm.com and he is the presenter of the A Photographic Life and In Search of Bill Jay podcasts.
Scott’s next book Inside Vogue House: One building, seven magazines, sixty years of stories, (Orphans Publishing), is on pre-sale now.
© Grant Scott 2023