I have just completed my first G+ Mentorship Program for Photographers and this is what I learnt

I have just completed my first +G+ Mentorship Program for Photographers and this is what I learnt

Before I start let me express my heartfelt thanks to +Lauri Novak and the whole team at the +G+ Mentorship Program for Photographers who are so very supportive of our efforts to improve our photography skills. If you want to go on a mentorship, +Alex Lapidus is advertising for one right now that you can go and enter, it’s all about playing with blurs and movement and stuff. If you decide to apply and get selected, you won’t regret it.

But going back to what I learnt, perhaps the most important lesson I got out of Lauri’s mentorship is discovering that things I do as a photographer are okay and are things to really delve into such as really having a good look around for what catches my eye, noticing the shapes and the colours, the lines and the backgrounds. I haven’t shared all of it yet but I can honestly say I took some of my best pictures in the last 6 or 7 weeks, and that includes some mobile pictures.

Basic technique was an important lesson for me as well. I had been paying attention to rules of thirds for some time now but I feel like it’s more clear to me now as I compose the shot as opposed to it being an after thought in post-processing. I also feel like I can see more leading lines either by themselves or if there is a specific subject which is central, yet distant in the shot, this helps bringing it all together.

At this point I feel one aspect I would really like to explore more following an exercise we did is how light affects a subject depending on the relationship between the lens and the light source, in particular when it comes to natural light. I would like to work out the best ways to use flash to fill in some harsh shadows without having to invest in expensive equipment.

So as a final picture, this is something I practised shooting after work today. I’ve been wanting to do the classic dandelion close-up shot for some time now and although this is is further than I originally intended I think I can try again later with my extension tubes for some different results. Is this shot a good summary of what I learnt? If you consider that all that I learnt is now part of how I shoot but that I don’t necessarily apply it all at once for every single shot, then yes it is.

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