Jurong Bird Park

In these weeks photo class we decided to venture out and have a bit of fun. Part of the idea came from a discussion with the class about how to photograph things that are out of our control. Well there at least two that we thought of straight away; kids and animals. So we decided to conduct this weeks' practical session at the Jurong Bird Park. One thing that makes the bird park, or any amusement park, perfect for photo taking is that, they have a theme and diversity of challenges in capturing action, scenery or people. The other thing that is great, is that people in parks expect people to have cameras and expect them to be using them to have fun. This takes the fear of pointing a camera at a subject. So if you feel strange trying to teach yourself in public, because you feel like everyone is staring at you, I suggest paying a small entrance fee and spending the entire time enjoying the freedom of taking photos freely without getting yourself some strange looks.
I used to use this tactic to teach myself before I decided to become a professional photographer. I called it, sending myself on a "self assignment". Just pretend you have received your first magazine or stock photography assignment. You have to tell a story about someplace, in this case the bird park. The great thing on your side is that parks are designed by people for beauty and entertainment, so it should be easy to take good photos in these environments. You just need to visually "read the light" of the scene and stay on your "strategy or assignment".

Composition: Sometime a simple movement can make the shot great.
This is a very simple technique. Once used religiously by architectural photographers. Have a look at your scenery and place an object, in this case, a leaf, in the foreground. Notice how much nicer this shot is compositionally. All the student did was crouch down to allow the leaf in front of him into his frame. If you can notice she has also zoomed in slightly but, at the same time just lowering the camera to allow the leaf to come into frame. She has it blocked all the useless information to the left of the subject and forced us to focus on the expression of the man and his connection with the 2 birds in front of him. This effect can be achieved by having an obstruction in front of you or cheating and actually putting an obstruction in you way. Unfortunately you need 3 arms for the the second suggestion unless, you have your camera on a tripod. Proper way to hold the camera: Surely, aside from the rain, we all enjoyed the challenge of shooting in the rain. As some of the students were photographing me on the bridge I thought I would photograph them in action. You can just feel the intensity as they focus to make the best shot they are capable of. I must say for only being three classes into it, I was astonished at the quality of the photos and their ability to "pull focus", not to mention nailing the exposure and composition. If there is one thing I must insist on, it is "prefect practice" makes perfect" whether it feels good or not, it is like karate. You need to train your body to move differently. It may be comfortable to hold you camera with your opposable thumb facing down but it is trouble for a lot of reasons. So you should use the best technique first and all will fall in place. If you still have not noticed what is wrong with this photo, let me show you. Click on the image to your right. Notice how the person to the lower left is holding the camera. You Should always hold the camera palm up in the hand that is holding the lens. This will give you more control over the lens weight, when using a large zoom. But also you can direct the subject with you other hand without disturbing your focus or destroying simple composition.