Thursday, January 13, 2011

Photography in Peru

One of the most pressing issues in communications at my NGO is how to take a good photo. This is a particular challenge here since 1) I don’t really know what I’m doing and 2) the light is crazy intense – I’m talking white, bright, blinding light - and then when it’s not intense it’s overcast and grey which means that you’re fighting what feels like a losing battle.

I've been soliciting help from my friendly neighbourhood photogs (including Heather Rushton, professional photographer and entrepreneur from Twin Bridges Photography in NS and Jay Aggarwal, amateur photographer and fellow CUSO-VSO volunteer in Ghana). They have really helped me address point number 1 (my general photographic incompetence) so I thought I would share these websites which helped me to understand basic composition and light.

Pro Photo Life: http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=pro+photo+life&aq=f
About.com http://photography.about.com/
Photo Composition Articles: http://photoinf.com/General/Peter_Ensenberger/Improving_Your_Photography_Lesson_Two_Composition.htm

The light issue is solvable but I’m going to need to experiment with my camera. Here's an example of what I’m talking about:

On the left her hand looks like she's been stuck inside for at least a year with no sunlight. On the right I've adjusted the white balance for more natural color.... Now I just have to figure out how to make the adjustments before taking the photo!


Keeping with the theme, here are some amateur photos from National Geographic Travel that manage to overcome the light in Perú. http://travel.nationalgeographic.com/travel/countries/your-peru-photos/#/andes-salkantay-peru_30282_600x450.jpg

Please feel free to share any photography articles or tips and tricks you find helpful!
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3 comments:

  1. kay*January 19, 2011 at 7:59 PM

    hey! i'm huge into photography and actually hope to do some while i'm in india (outside of my communications placement). what kind of camera do you have? i'd be happy to send some tips!

    but off the top of my head check out: digital-photography-school.com/

    the pioneer woman also has a really plain language photography section where she starts at the beginning and with the basics: http://thepioneerwoman.com/photography/

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  2. JeanJanuary 20, 2011 at 9:20 AM

    Thanks Kay! I´ll check those out!

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  3. AnonymousJanuary 20, 2011 at 5:50 PM

    Who said you had to have everything perfect before you shoot? I'm a big "shoot first, edit later" kinda guy. :-) What kind of camera do you have? Depending on your camera, there might be a few tweaks that can be made with regards to colour saturation and white balance. I calibrate the white balance (incessantly) on my SLR all the time, and I find it helps a ton.

    That's my completely amateurish two, err, centimos. :-)

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