Amateur Photographer – 09 August 2019

12 3 August 2019I http://www.amateurphotographer.co.ukI subscribe 0330 333 1113

Withsomanypeopletakingpictureson

camerasorsmartphones,whencanyou

truly call yourself a photographer?

View point

A my Dav ies

A

sa foundingmemberof

theSheClicksfemale-only

Facebookgroup(setupby

formerAPTechnicalEditor

AngelaNicholson),I amproudto seethe

communitygrowfroma handfulof people

to over4,000at thetimeof writing.It’s

grownin numberanddiversity,with

membersfromacrosstheworld,withall

skilllevelsanda varietyof backgrounds.

Whatalwayscatchesmyattentionare

thevarieddiscussionsaboutphotography

thatpopupfromtimetotime.Onein

particularstrucka chordwithmea few

weeksback- it wasdiscussingat what

pointareyouentitledtocallyourself‘a

photographer’.Manywomenareguilty

of sufferingfrom‘impostersyndrome’,so

it wasn’tsurprisingtoseetheissuespring

upin thegroup,butit gotmethinking...

Today,almosteveryone(intheWestern

world)is equippedwitha camera,butto

callthosein possessionof a smartphone

whohappentouseit totakea picture‘a

photographer’wouldbedoingtheartand

craftof photographya disservice.ButI

feelthattryingtodefine‘photographer’ is

notaltogethercutanddried.

Somebodysuggestedit wasthe

momentwhentheyfoundthemselves

exclusivelyusingmanualmodethattipped

themoverfrom‘somebodywitha

camera’intoa full-fledgedphotographer.

Nowit’stimeformetomakea confession

• andhopefullyI won’tbecollectingmy
  P45afterI makeit – butI almostnever
  usemanualmode.Mymodeof choice,
  generally,is aperturepriority.I was
  neverformallytrainedin photography,but
  I’vebeenincrediblyfortunatetomake
  a decentlivingoutof it.
  I knowhowtousemanualmode,butit’s
  mucheasierformetostickthecamera
  onaperturepriorityandworrymore
  aboutcomposition,framingandcapturing
  a momentthanadjustingeverysingle
  parameterbeforetakinga shot.I tendto
  leaveit onAutoISOtoo.Shocking!Nota
  singlepersonhasevercommentedonit
  ortoldmethatI shouldhavebeenusinga
  differentmode.Becausefrankly, if you get
  thejobdone,whocares?

Therightwaytouseacamera?

Obviouslyhavinga camerais a necessity

if youwanttotakea picture– butthe

camerais justa toolandit mattersnot

whatit is orhowyouuseit. There’sno

rightwaytousea camera,andthere’sno

right(orwrong)waytodefinewhatmakes

youa photographer,either.Approachit

howeveryoufeelcomfortable,anddon’t

worryaboutwhatothersthinkaboutyou.

I mentionedthisdiscussiontoa

professionalphotographerfriendwho

admittedthatheusesa varietyof modes

dependingonthesituation:manual,

aperturepriority,shutterpriority,

plusAutoISO.He’sawareof several

photographerswhoworkforesteemed

pictureagenciessuchasReutersand

PressAssociationwhodothesame.

Wouldanybodydaresuggestthatthey’re

not‘realphotographers’?Seemsunlikely.

Whetheryouhavea basiccamera(or

smartphone)andyouletit makeallthe

technicaldecisionsforyou,oryouhavean

encyclopaedicknowledgeof everybutton,

dialandsettingonyourtop-of-the-line

pro-levelmodel,youarestillmorethan

entitledtocallyourselfa photographer

• don’tletanybodytellyouotherwise.

‘Thecameraisjusta tool

andit mattersnotwhat

it is or how you use it’

AperturepriorityandAutoISOareAmy’s

go-to modes for most of her shots

THE

VEWS

EXPRESSED IN THIS COLUMN ARE NOT NECESSARILY THOSE OF AMATEUR PHOTOGRAPHER MAGA ZINE OR TI MEDIA LIMITED

©

AMY

DAV

ES

AmyDaviesis oneofAmateur Photographer’s FeaturesEditorsandhasbeenworkingin thephotographyindustry

for over ten years.

© GETTY IMAGES/CAIAIMAGE

© TOM MACKIE

CONTENT FOR NEXT WEEK’S ISSUE MAY BE SUBJECT TO CHANGE

Highinthesky

Don’tputyourcameraawaywhen

the sun isstrong– learntomaximise

itspotential

Reflexaction

JohnWadegivesusa peekintothe

wonderfulworldofrollfilmSLRs

Tamron17-28mm

F/2.8DiIIIRXD

Wetestthiswide-aperturezoomfor

Sony full-frame mirrorless

MattyGraham’s 20 tips,hacks

andcheatswillchangeyour

approach to photography

Money-

saving

DI Y hacks

In next week’s issue

On sale Tuesday 6 August

Ifyou’rea femalephotographerandwouldlike

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