My Beginning

When I first picked up a camera at the age of 13, I was confused with all the buttons involved in operating the camera. That's the main reason why I always shot my photos in Auto Mode. Little did I know that I am missing out on a whole 'nother level of photography. After I graduated from college, my passion for photography reignited again. But this time, I was going to do it the right way and learn the proper way of photography. I started searching YouTube and found a lot of videos with loads of content. I did not know where to start until I found my savior, photographer Mike Browne. He offered many courses on his website, from beginner to advance levels. I enrolled myself in the Ultimate Beginners Photography Course on how to be a confident photographer. I started learning and practicing with the most beginner's camera I found on the market, which was the Nikon D3400. It came with a Nikon DX AF-P NIKKOR 18-55mm f3.5-5.6G VR Lens. And I bought another lens along with it, the Nikon DX AF-P NIKKOR 70-300mm f/4.5-6.3G ED Lens.

I started practicing, taking pictures of anything that my eyes lay on. I was able to improve my photography skills through trial and error.

I remember I had the flu one day, and I was blue. So I went for a walk. While walking the street, I saw a beautiful cat in the garden far away from me, giving me lovely poses. I ran back home and brought my camera, my zoom lens, and my tripod. I stood at a distance away from it and used the maximum zoom of 300mm to make sure I don't scare it away. I started shooting, and it was giving me different poses.

I did not know how to use neither Lightroom nor Photoshop back then, so I could not edit my images. However, I noticed that Instagram offers different filters that can be applied to photos. I imported the pictures into my laptop and sent them to my mobile. I culled the pictures and decided to keep four of the best shots I took that day. However, applying a filter using Instagram will reduce the image's quality because of its downscaling algorithm. I learned a trick on how to get the photos in their highest quality after applying an Instagram filter to them. Click here if you want to know how or scroll down to see a YouTube video on how to do it.

The Gear I Used in this Photoshoot

Here Are The Images With Instagram Filters Applied

Here Are The Images With My Own Editing Style After Learning Photoshop

After two years of trial and errors, I came to realize a few points that I wish I had learned earlier:

• You can create beautiful imagery with the simplest, most basic camera on the market. You only need to know how to operate your camera correctly and think like a photographer.
• Never use ISO 100 for all your images in the photoshoot to prevent graining. What happened to me while shooting the cat that day is that I used a zoom lens. And it was a shady day, so I needed more light to enter the lens, so I set my shutter speed to 1/15th up until 1/60th of a second to get a proper exposure. That’s why I got many blurred images during the session, even though I used a tripod. Don’t be afraid to set your ISO a little higher. Better a grainy image than no image at all. Also, bear in mind that digital sensors nowadays can handle a higher ISO with as little grain as possible.
• Shoot consecutive photos of a single pose to make sure you get sharp images among multiple shots that you take.
• I shot all my pictures in JPEG format, so I lost some of the dynamic range that I could have gotten from shooting in RAW. Always shoot in RAW if you are planning to edit the photos.
• Invest in a wide constant aperture lens. For me, I loved the Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 70-200mm f/2.8E FL ED VR Lens.
• You don’t have to travel to get lovely images. You can create incredible photos in your own home.

This image has been displayed in an exhibition. I was so happy at the time, but if only I could turn back time, I would have waited to learn Lightroom and Photoshop. Nevertheless, it was a happy moment for me.

Sadly, the cat was run over by a car and passed away a few days later after the photoshoot. RIP.

Here is a video on how to get a high-resolution filtered Instagram image in less than 1 minute if you don’t know how to colour grade or liked a particular Instagram filter.

I hope you learned a lot from this blog. If you are interested in a one-on-one training session, drop me a direct message on my Instagram account.