To do what we do, comes naturally if it’s inherently your passion. To be a teacher in it, is a whole different dynamic, as you have to convey what you see, and have another person use in practice what would work best in the art of photography, and everyone sees differently, and experiences a scene differently. All photographers have their own unique style- and preference of what they would want to either photograph or want to get from a certain shoot. The very first tip I would want to give anyone wanting to do photography, either as profession or hobby, is to be very confident with your equipment: it is the tip that stretches over all disciplines of photography, as especially with people, you don’t want to come over as unsure, and fiddle with the adjustments there and then.

Different times of day, needs different approaches, as early morning light, midday, sunset- or even studio, needs to be handled correctly, they each have their own different light-output. Early morning light, is very ideal to shoot in, as it is soft, and very crisp, and the sun usually sits at an angle still, to come through trees beautifully, where at midday, it is very bright, and usually makes the sky completely white. The brightness also casts harsh shadows, especially on people’s faces.

When in lower light, such as a home’s tungsten light, or such as on a stage in a theatre, one either needs a flash to neutralize and whiten the colour casts, or you could up your camera’s ISO, which sets your camera’s sensor to a more sensitive setting, allowing more light to hit the digital plate, and have you shooting photo’s with a lesser chance of blurring or camera shake.

Yolandi Jacobsz