Chance For Taking Photos 2

2. People in front of you

While you are walking, often you will have a really good chance to take a great photo of the people who are walking in front of you. This is an easy and very good shot. You can also take a good shot of only their feet while they are walking. So when you are walking in a crowded city, keep your cell phone in your hand to be ready for any chance. Below are some examples of these kinds of shots.

As you saw, you don’t need to plan to take this kind of picture. Always let the crowd be your goal. Don’t worry when you are taking this kind of picture because people will not see you. All you need to do is keep walking and taking pictures. Don't forget to share your work on Instagram with #ChanceForTakingPhotos hashtag so I can give a feedback.

Snapchat

I always want to share my daily life. A lot of people share their daily life on Instagram, but in my opinion, Instagram is not the best platform for sharing daily life. So I ignored that idea.

In September 2011 Snapchat was released. That time a lot of people talked about it, but I didn’t care. Now, I am still hearing people talk about it. Recently, I decided to have a Snapchat account.

So Snapchat is an app for sharing your moments for one day or only a few seconds. When you capture a picture, you will have some options. You can choose to post the picture in “My Story” and the picture will remain for only 24 hours which is exactly one day. Also, you can choose to send the picture to one or some of your friends, but in this case, the photo will remain from at least 1 second to maximum 10 seconds. The same thing for the video as well. And the maximum for the video is 10 seconds. There are some filters for both photos and videos. In addition, you can write and draw on both of them too.

Chatting and videoing are different with Snapchat. It is very easy to chat someone in Snapchat, but if you leave the chatting page, the message will disappear unless you don’t tap specifically on the message that you want to save. If the camera button is blue, that means the person you are chatting is online so you can press the camera button and start having a video call/chat.

Snapchat will let you know who saw your snaps in “My Story” and who took a screenshot of your snaps. Even if you send your snap to one person and that person took a screenshot, you will know that. Snapchat doesn’t have the feature that lets you know how many people have added or followed you, but you can know that by seeing how many people have seen your “My Story” snaps.

With Snapchat, photos don’t need to be perfect. I really don’t care to capture a great photo. You can’t open your Snapchat account from your computer. It is just a mobile app. Feel free to add me there, just search for Alnogaly.

Alhareth

I think no one interested in photography doesn’t have an Instagram account. Even the people who aren’t interested in photography have an Instagram account for different purposes. As an iPhoneographer, I need to see others’ work to get inspiration. One of my favorite accounts on Instagram is Alhareth. Last year he came to NYC and I met him. Today I am interviewing him as a great photographer.

• I asked him to introduce himself and he said:

My name is Alhareth Ajjaj. I am 21 years old. I am a photographer and filmmaker, and traveler. I am originally from Yemen, but I lived my whole life in Saudi Arabia. I worked at our Apple shop in Riyadh city since I was 12 years old. I became really good at computers, especially Apple products. In December 2012 I came to Eugene, Oregon in the United States to continue my education. The plan is to get a degree in filmmaking.

• Why did you choose not to study photography?

I love making videos a lot more than taking photos. my passion was always for video.

• What made you interested in photography?

When I took some photos with my friend’s camera and I liked it, I just wanted to make more and more.

• When did you become a photographer?

In 2007 when I bought my first professional camera. 

• Did coming to study in the US influence your becoming a photographer? How?

Not really. I started doing photography long before I come to the States.

•  Who is supporting you while become a photographer?

No one. I was working so I had some money to buy a camera. It was a self-taught thing.

• Do you prefer a specific kind of photography? Which kind?

I love life-style photography, street photography, portraiture and cityscape photography.

• Which one do you prefer more, an iPhone camera or a professional camera and which one do you like to use? Why?

I actually do not care about the kind of camera I’m using. I love my film camera, DSLR, and iPhone camera. I love my iPhone because it makes it much easier to take a photo while I am out and don’t have my camera. I don’t understand why people on Instagram write “iPhone only.” It’s not important what camera you use, it is the photos you take that matters.

• When do you prefer to use the iPhone camera and when do you prefer to use a professional camera? Why?

I use my iPhone all the time. I don’t carry my professional camera with me all the time, its to heavy. I use my camera often when I have a model to work with or something requires a lot of details and more control of the situation.

• What do you use to edit your photos? (iPhone and professional)

iPhone: Snapseed, VSCOcam, Afterlight.

Professional: Lightroom.

• Do we need to have a professional camera to get a good shot? Why?

No need for a professional camera. It is in your eyes and how you look at things; the camera only a medium to document that.

• What is your advice to get a good photo? 

1-Open your eyes and look at the details around you, maybe in your apartment, the streets, and shops. Focus on simple things and work your way up from there.

2-Design your shot. Think of the design elements such as composition, lines, shapes, space, etc. 

• What do you think about other smartphone cameras, aside from the iPhone? 

I have no idea. I am sure there are a lot of good smartphones out there. I only use iPhone because I like it.

I really appreciate your time Alhareth and I would like to see you soon.

That was my interview with Alhareth and I hope you enjoyed the interview.

I think some of you are disappointed because I didn't have the interview with someone famous. I didn’t care about the number of followers because the matter here is to see beautiful pictures. I really could do this with someone who everyone knows, but I choose to do it with Alhareth because of 2 reasons. First, his images deserve to be seen. Also, he uses iPhone4s. So, when we see images like these taken by iPhone4s, we will be sure the iPhone5 will give us better results. Second, we have seen a lot of images like this, but they were taken by an American and a European. So, I wanted to prove that everyone can take a great quality image. I think that we haven't seen talent from Yemen, so we have to support that. As photographers, we have to encourage each other, especially those whose images deserve it.

Chance For Taking Photos 1

There are great chances for taking a great photo everyday. So I decided to make this series of posts just to let you know the different chances that you may don’t notice everyday. In this series, I will post a new chance, describe it, and give some examples of it every week. You can share your work on Instagram with #ChanceForTakingPhotos hashtag and I will give feedback.

1. Sunlight

It makes our day start and makes everything bright. We can’t live without it. It gives us a sense of warmness. Of course I am talking about the Sun. As a photographer, we need it and we can get an awesome shot from its light. These are some examples of sunlight photos.

The light from the sun can be your goal to take a photo. It doesn’t matter where you are. Always look for the light that is coming out of windows or doors to get a great shot.

Selfie?!!!

Selfies have taken the world by storm. Even a very little kid will tell you what a Selfie is. People are obsessed by the mere fact that they can take a photo of themselves and appear very cool. Some people say that Selfie is so addictive, but the truth is that Selfie photos are a capture of fun moments by ourselves or with friends and family. Many people imagine that Selfies is a very new thing while in real sense it is not. You might even have taken a Selfie long before you knew it would be called a Selfie.

Many people must have taken pictures of themselves with analog cameras, but it was not as easy as it is with modern smartphones. Mr. Bean in his comic movies took a Selfie long before it was rendered something cool. People saw it as an awkward thing but now it is a social norm.  Selfies may be taken as a normal photo of an individual for official uses, say maybe a passport photo. However, many people take Selfie for fun moments say at the beach with friends, during a good party, or on a family reunion.

Many smartphone manufacturers have made phones so that they can capture very high resolution Selfies. A good example is the iPhone front camera. By taking clearer Selfies, more details about the environment are incorporated clearly so people will enjoy the image. Selfies are in no way a mental disorder, even dignitaries take Selfies. Even I like Selfies. They allow me to capture my best moments in my life when no one is around to take them for me. Also, while I am taking a selfie, I can capture what is in front of me with Frontback app so I will have the picture of me and of the place I am in in one photo. Take a Selfie, capture a fun moment, remember time is irreversible, and so just take it!!