The images are simply amazing! There’s no doubt, Africa Answers is truly the Africa Experts. The photos tell a great story of what life is like in a land far away.
There are times when the moment captures the photographer. When this happens, savor the reality, close your eyes, see the vision, embrace it, then take the shot…Sanny Leviste
Pressing the button is the easy part of photography. Like in hunting, bagging a trophy involves your whole being. You should see the canvas in your mind and compose it with all the elements of the masterpiece you envision. You must have, at the very least your weapon of choice. Do not rush. Know your camera well and practice using it often until it becomes like an extension of your body. If you know your equipment well, your camera will respond consistently and be a dependable ally. It will treat you well.
Make sure you have all the battery power you need. Often, two batteries will not be enough particularly when you use the external view finder/ monitor. They consume power. Lenses on automatic mode and image stabilizer functions left on consume battery power at a higher rate. Having three or four batteries is a good thing, so long as they are charged. If you also use video (for cameras that have the function), be prepared to have more batteries and memory disks. In our excitement, it is easy to forget those little but essential components of the camera. When these components are missing during a shoot, it will be like driving without gas and really mess up the shoot.
Two very important accessories to have are tripod and remote timers. The tripod will hold your camera steady for long exposure shots while a remote will allow you to take pictures without the usual camera shake. Some remote timers can be programmed to trigger the camera hundreds of times at specific intervals so you can make a video of clear images in succession for time lapse photography. The remote will also allow the photographer to be in a blind for wildlife photography.
Digital Single Lens Reflex (DSLR) cameras have interchangeable lenses. It is advisable to have both wide angle for short and medium distance shooting, and a zoom lens for medium to long range shooting. Point and shoot cameras often have most of the range of the DSLRs but mostly operate on automatic mode. This is acceptable for many photo situations but lack the creative options that are readily available for the DSLRs. They are however less expensive and will do a decent job in many photo situations.
In any situation, it is best to know your camera like an extension of your body. It is important to understand the different functions of your camera, specially in relation to manual operations and speed of adjustments. This knowledge will make the difference between ordinary pictures and exceptionally fine ones. Familiarize yourself with the camera so that you can make full and efficient use of it when opportunity presents itself or for remembering and documenting situations. In many cases, the combination of the camera and the telephone or the portable computer has allowed many business and social opportunities to unfold.
Be aware of your surroundings. Knowing what to look for and where to find it is essential. Since photographers deal with light and shadow, ask yourself constantly what it is that you want to see in the photograph. In composing photographs, take note of the effect of items and colors that may distract the potential viewer’s eyes, unless of course, that is the objective. Photography to me is a form of digital painting. The screen is my canvas and I set my camera on manual mode to get the hues, the play of light and shadow that unleashes the vision that I want to share. Paint that image in your mind and constantly seek opportunities to improve on that image. You will find many possibilities in the field, usually within a few feet from where you stand.
Often I am asked what camera I would recommend for beginners. It really depends on what the user needs it for. There is no need for a fancy camera with all the bells and whistles if it will only be set aside for display purposes. A cell phone with a camera function will do and will often create opportunities to capture images that the user wants or needs to share.
We can spend hours and days, even years discussing the benefits of one camera over another like hobbyists compare their toys, We can talk about lenses, accessories, equipment, techniques, experience etc. but in the end I really believe the photograph is a document and it indeed speaks more than a thousand words if well taken. It is like a passport that is neither real or fake – only efficient or inefficient. It can be like a flyswatter used on a fly instead of a 45 caliber that would punch a hole through the table but would still miss the fly, or a martial artist using a chopstick efficiently against an aggressor having a knife or a gun. The document produced by the camera can be the source of affection or the source of hatred…or simply annoying. But I know also that the same document called the photograph can be a source of education, of pleasure, of joy. In the right hands, with attitude and disciple it can be one of the most creative instruments that can change lives, communities even nations. That document called a photograph can inspire people to correct a past and create a future. In the right perspective the images produced can raise funds for a cause and manifest the vision, creativity, ability, discipline and foresight of a leader who can share in the universal language of visual communication dreams and inspiration for all.
Slough Birds 0425 by Sanny Leviste
So, go out there and seize the world through your photographs. Join contests. Share ideas. And when your first photograph is requested for a fundraiser, purchased for a home, featured in a publication, wins a contest or even gets stolen…celebrate with pure joy in your heart…and an ice cream cone…Because you have proven beyond doubt that there is a demand for your creative genius, appreciation for your passion and honest admiration (by those who steal your work) because imitation is said to be the sincerest form of flattery.
Then go out and take a difficult image using manual settings until you capture one that will make you smile from within. Whisper to yourself with a grin and say “It wasn’t the camera folks”…
I started photography when I had a sporting goods store in the Philippines. I loved hunting then and one of my hunting buddies sold me my first SLR camera, a used Canon FTB. It was love at first sight. I could not get enough of photography. Within a few weeks I knew the limitations of my wonderful, but inadequate for my needs, camera.
After getting advice from a photographer friend, I purchased a brand new Canon F-1. It was top of the line in those days and I used it as often as I could to learn to become a good photographer…It didn’t work for me. Taking photographs was harder than I thought it would be, and the cost of printing rapidly became too costly. That was the long and short of my photographer’s life…The F-1 retired and I went on to other hobbies…When Kodak came out with their first digital camera, a bulky 1.3 mega pixel piece whose name I don’t remember, my second short lived love affair with photography ended…
Years later, in California, while creating marketing collateral for the Aquatic Gallery in Milpitas, I had the opportunity to photograph some of the most beautiful images of tropical fish and corals as part of my assignment using the newly released Canon XT. This 6.3 megapixel camera instantly reignited my desire for taking photographs.
I learned to use it while working and savored the opportunity to study marine biology and sustainability beyond the classroom setting and capture the moments that made a difference between mediocre pictures of fish for sale and collectible photographs of aquatic life. There was now a story to tell and share. By the end of the marketing project, we had the Aquatic Gallery published in two Asian magazines and one layout was used for several mainstream aquarium and tropical fish magazines. At the end of the project, the camera was given to me. It was the most difficult separation from work that I loved. Yet in leaving with the experience and the tools, huge doors of opportunity opened up for me in the realm of visual communication.
Because digital photography gives instant feedback and eliminates the need for costly printing, I used the camera to rack up more experience. I would religiously shoot hundreds of photographs daily in virtually every conceivable possibility and angle. I would use it day and night trying to understand the play of light and shadow, positioning, timing, lighting, darkness, emotion, movement, exposure…
Photography allows me to dream my dreams and create what I see in my mind…even if it does not yet exist… until the vision becomes the image in the camera.
I must be moving in the right direction. Every article and photograph I have submitted has been published, several on the front page. My doctor has pulled out all diabetic medications from me on the condition that I climb the mountains and hills to capture the most beautiful images I can take while getting exercise and breaking into a sweat. The hills and the mountains have become my gym. When asked if I am diabetic, I can now reply no. I’m just naturally sweet.
I gave up the thrill of hunting and replaced it years later with the excitement of capturing the visual moments of love, people, animals, water, earth, wind, and fire. When I gave up hunting I donated all my trophies to the biology department of De La Salle University. Now my trophies are photographs that matter to me. I do not hang them on my walls, though several of my creations hang on other people’s walls.
I have had four minor exhibits to help the environment, the Philippine reef and the California Academy of Sciences. I had one major exhibit with a coffee table book and my composition “Lordsong” recorded by Stephanie Reese – all launched on the same day. Today I have several thousand photographs whose stories have yet to be told, interviews of people who I admire, and a music video in my YouTube channel approaching 50 thousand organic hits…
Photography has replaced hunting in my life. I am now confident that every shot I take will honor my target because the camera is my tool of choice. It is used to create not destroy, to make peace and bring joy, to show light near, not in distance and love, in abundance.
Yosemite Deer Feeding by Sanny Leviste
This photograph was published in FilAm Star in 2012. It was taken in Yosemite using a Sony Ericsson 1.3 megapixel cell phone camera when my Canon ran out of juice. The image became front page news…
Thank you Mike Connors for inviting me to blog on Photography through PhotoScramble. Thank you Eric Freed for helping me get started. I will always be a student of this art form and am happy to learn and share with the MorePhotos community. See you with more photos next week!
