Photography and Jackpot? Graphic: Nicholas Campbell/iStockphoto

My mentor Lance loves analogies. He could compare teaching photography to teaching salsa, using studio lights to driving cars, shooting to fishing, farming and hunting, and the list goes on.

My favourite analogy is one where he compared getting a good photograph to striking a jackpot on a slot machine.

What Makes a Good Photograph Anyway?

So what makes a good photograph in the first place? There is no easy answer since we all have slightly different tastes in aesthetics.

A good portrait for someone could be one where the light is soft with little shadows, an expression that conveys joy and happiness, a framing that is tight and emphasizes on the facial features, a background that is plain and simple. On the other hand, someone else might prefer a harder and more dramatic lighting, a more pensive expression, a looser framing, a more colourful background.

It’s okay to differ about what exactly makes a good photograph, but we can all agree that a photograph that is good to us is a result of many variables falling into place. In the example above, the variables could be lighting, expression, framing and background. There can be, and there usually are many more variables in a portrait—the eyes could be brightly lit or in shadows, the exposure could be too bright or too dark, the pose can be natural or unnatural—but you get the idea.

How Photography & Jackpot Are Very Much Alike

Each of these variables represent one of the many reels that is constantly spinning on a slot machine, and only when these variables line up to our standards of aesthetics do we get a photograph that we really like—a good photograph.

Boy in Ayutthaya, Thailand, 2009. Commissioned by AsiaPhoto.

The good news is that getting a good photograph is easier than striking triple ‘7’s in jackpot. The difference is that it’s possible to control some, if not most of the variables that make a good photograph, but not the reels on the slot machine.

Your chances of striking a jackpot is very much higher when you’re just waiting for the third cherry on the last spinning reel, compared to waiting for three cherries to line up from three still-spinning reels, right?

How Good Photography is Easier than Striking Jackpot

The trick is then to turn as many of these variables into constants as possible, and to wait for those variables that we can’t control to fall into place.

Translate all these theory into the portrait that we talked about above, we could easily turn two of the variables (framing and background) into constants if we lock down our camera on a tripod and get our subject to stay in position. Then we’ll only be left with getting the expression and lighting right.

Consider if we don’t lock down the frame and background, we could very well end up with a shot with the right light and expression, but a crop that’s too tight or background that is too distracting for our taste.

If putting your subject’s eyes into shadow is your cup of tea, then make sure you choose to shoot at noon! Photo: patries71/Creative Commons

I like warm glow and directional lighting in my outdoor portraits, so I’d choose to shoot in the golden hours of the day (that’s about 7–8.30am and 4.30–6.30pm here in Singapore) rather than in the harsh midday sun where more likely than not, the eyes of my subjects will end up in dark shadows due to the overhead sun. If however you happen to like the eyes of racoons, you’d choose to shoot at 12 noon to maximise the chances of having your subject’s eyes in shadows.

With outdoor portraiture, there is no guarantee that you’ll get the kind of light you’re looking for, but at least you can make a conscious effort to control the variable and maximise your chances.

If the light is right, then we’re just left with getting the expression we want. And that is the variable that we might have to take a few tries before we strike our jackpot.

But just like the fickle sunlight, we could do our part as photographers to maximise the chances of getting the expression we want, by anticipating and pre-focusing so we don’t lose the moment when the expression presents itself.

A dry cabinet is where you should be storing your equipment. Photo: James/Creative Commons

Storage

For general safe keeping, we strongly recommend that cameras and lenses be stored in a clean and dry area such as a dry cabinet. In humid Singapore, the dry cabinet is essential to keep fungus from growing in your equipment.

As they are available in a wide array of shapes and sizes, choose one that would store your camera, lenses and accessories like flashes and cables comfortably. For up to two camera bodies and three lenses, the smallest-sized 38L AIPO AP-38EX would fit the bill just right.

Limiting the size of the dry cabinet would probably help you refrain from buying excessive equipment to fill up the voids!

Camera Care

The best way to keep dust out of your camera sensor is to minimise the exposure of the sensor to the environment. This means that people who own only one lens would probably never, ever find a single spot of dust on his or her sensor. But for most of us who own more than one lens, we’re bound to find dust spots on our sensors every now and then depending on how frequently we change lens and the environment in which we change the lenses in. If you’re storing your DSLR with no lens mounted, remember to cap the body up to keep your sensor, mirror and focusing screen clean of dust.

Newer cameras such as the Canon EOS 40D, Nikon D60 and Sony A200, to name a few, come equipped with self-cleaning mechanism that would keep your sensor free of dust. If you do find dust on the sensor that the camera cannot clean by itself, we recommend sending it in to your manufacturer to get it cleaned for a nominal price of about $20. Canon users can find a list of prices for various repair and maintenance services listed on their website.

Quite honestly, we do not clean the camera sensor ourselves, and we would encourage you to leave its delicate handling to the experts. If however you are still interested to clean the sensor yourself, you can read more about the different methods and their pros and cons.

Lens Care

Lenses are best cleaned using a blower for loose dust particles and anti-static cloth for fingerprints etc. We generally hold the lens facing downwards and use a blower to blow off loose dust particles.

You should use an anti-static cloth to wipe off the dirt/fingerprint only when the loose dust particles have been blown off lest you scratch your lenses. Try not to use cotton or clothing to clean the lens as the fibres may get stuck or worse, scratch the glass elements. Anti-static cloths are available at most camera stores and optical shops or come packaged with cleaning kits bundled with blowers.

Dust will inevitably appear within your lenses after using them for some time. You should just leave them alone since they do not degrade your image quality and there’s no easy way to clean them aside from tearing your lens apart.

Filters

UV filters worsen lens flare. Photo: alforque/Creative Commons

Screwing on a cheap UV filter on an expensive lens ultimately defeats the purpose of spending the extra money for superior optics. Developing the habit of religiously keeping your lens capped when not in use would be a better (and more cost effective) practice to prevent accidental damage.

However not everyone is comfortable leaving an expensive lens completely unprotected. So if you do get an UV filter, get one with multi-coating to reduce flare, and don’t be afraid to remove the filter if it’s giving you trouble during a shoot. Filters come in different sizes to fit different lenses, so find out what thread size your lens uses (see the back of your lens cap, eg. 58mm, 72mm) before buying one.

Storage Media and Accessories

Storage media like CF/SD cards are hardier than your portable hard disks, but it would be a good idea to keep them away from magnetic materials to prevent corruption or loss of data. In fact keeping cameras away from magnets would be a wise practice too. Remove batteries from cameras, flashes and other devices if they’re not going to be used for some time to prevent them from leaking and spoiling your equipment. Formatting your storage media onboard the camera is better than doing it on your computer. Formatting a storage card involves deleting all the recorded (and protected) data and optimising it for usage on the camera hence it is best done on the camera itself.

Having all the equipment stored in a dry cabinet is great but thats not what cameras were made for, so do inspect them and use them regularly to keep them clicking like they should instead of leaving them idle in storage. If you are not likely to be using the camera for a long period of time (say a year) it might be good to just take it out once a month and shoot a few frames to keep the shutter mechanism working. Like a rolling stone gathers no moss, a well used camera is less likely to give problems than one that has been dormant for years.

Flexibility in changing lenses Unlike compact cameras, you’re not stuck with one lens on DSLRs. Having the flexiblity to use different types of lens means you’re free to explore various types of photography just by using a different lens. For instance, a DSLR user interested in sports or nature photography may want to get hold of a longer telephoto lens for the extra reach; someone interested in capturing quirky wide shots could use a fisheye lens.

Focusing speed Even the “slowest” DSLR will put the most expensive compact camera to shame in terms of focusing speed. If you constantly find yourself missing moments because your camera is hunting for the correct focus, a DSLR will definitely help. Without proper techniques though, even the fastest DSLR will not help you capture that perfect moment. Anticipation, prefocusing are two ways to get improve your chances of getting that decisive moment, and we explore them in our practical photography workshops.

Low-light capability Although the more expensive compact cameras are slowly catching up with capturing clean and usable images in low light by fitting on brighter lenses and better sensors, even the least expensive DSLR will easily outdo a compact camera in terms of producing clean images at low light levels. This is due to the larger sensor found on DSLRs which help to keep noise levels down. Again, if you’re not intending to use your images at large sizes, this may not matter that much to you.

Another factor that makes DSLRs better suited to low light photography is the superior focusing system that they are equipped with, which is also responsible for the faster focusing speed that we’ve discussed earlier. Under low light conditions, focusing becomes much slower and even impossible at times. The better and faster focusing on DSLR will help to capture fleeting moments in such conditions.

Getting that nice, creamy, blurred background Perhaps the most obvious cause of DSLR-envy among compact camera users is the abiliy of DSLRs to capture that silky, smooth, out-of-focus background—sometimes known as bokeh, or shallow depth of field in geek speak—with seeming ease.

Compact camera users have resorted to spending hours in Photoshop or hundreds of dollars on expensive plugins trying to recreate that seemingly elusive effect. Contrary to popular belief, a DSLR does not automatically guarantee a blurred background.

The difference in sensor sizes does however indirectly make it easier for DSLR users to get a blurrier background than compact users. However, by thoroughly understanding how depth of field works, you can even get around this limitation on compact cameras and ensure that you’ll always get a blurred background when you want one on DSLRs.

Before you make the plunge

Flexibility is a double-edged sword. Thanks to the endless possibility of adding on to your DSLR system, they can quickly become a costly undertaking if you don’t keep your spending under control. Many photographers end up spending a lot more than the initial costs of the camera body by purchasing additional lenses, accessories, dry cabinets, bags (you’ll have many in the course of using your DSLR) to tote these monsters around.

Good luck with your camera, whichever you end up choosing in the end, and keep shooting!

Whatever the reason or camera, travel photography has become immensely popular due to the widespread access to cameras. Find out how to get started on this exciting new hobby with some pointers on the equipment and planning needed for a “photo-filled” trip.

People first, equipment later

The first consideration for travel photography has nothing to do with your gear. The most important factor to consider when traveling is your travel companion, if any. It is not uncommon for photographers to spend hours at a location waiting for the “decisive moment”, and the last thing you need is for your companion to sit at one corner wondering whether the whole trip was a big mistake.

Understanding the needs and priorities of your companion would help balance the objectives between your own photography needs and the needs of your companions (think shopping, sleeping, eating…). This is especially true if you are uncomfortable traveling alone, but the only travel partner you have is completely uninterested in photography.

Of course there are few things better than going on a photography trip with another like-minded photographer. However since not all of us are fortunate enough to have such company, careful planning of a trip’s itinerary beforehand to include appropriate areas of interest for both would help to prevent a lot of disappointment during the trip.

Perhaps the worst kind of company for travel photography is to travel in a large group of people with diverse objectives and needs, especially if you’re going on a tour. There will be itinerary and schedules to follow, fixed meal times at fixed (and often overpriced) restaurants, and nobody would wait for you to get your decisive moment. Traveling with a large company limits the amount of time you can spend at a location, and would probably be a serious hinderance if you need the time and space for photography.

If you are unable to find an appropriate company, traveling alone might be a wiser choice than to compromise both the needs of you and your companion.

What are you doing with the photos?

Ask not what the camera can do for you; ask what you are going to do with your photos. An important consideration when purchasing a camera is: what are you going to do with them?

If you’re only going to upload them onto your Facebook account, and perhaps print some postcard-size photos to please the folks, then a 21-megapixel camera is not going to perform any different from a 3-megapixel camera. In fact, a photo from a 3-megapixel camera is larger than all but what a 30″ monitor can display at its full size.

Even if you could, there is hardly a reason why you would want to upload a photo larger than 1-megapixel (about 1,000 pixels on each side). Nobody’s going to appreciate you clogging up their bandwidth for uploading images that they won’t be able to view at its full size anyway. Hence megapixels cease to be a limiting factor if all you want is to post your photos online, send them via emails, or even make small postcard-size prints from them.

However if you’re intending to sell your photos on microstock agencies or make poster-size prints (if you’re thinking “maybe”, we’ll tell you that you won’t be), megapixels start to make become an important consideration.

Stock agencies impose a minimum number of megapixels for submission, which ranges from a meagre 2 megapixels to a whooping 17 megapixels on Alamy. Most agencies are however happy with 4-megapixels photos. However you may want to get a something more for microstock since selling larger-size photos can earn you more.

As for printing, theoretically you need at least an 9-megapixel photo to print up to A4-size (or S8R, 8″ by 12″). In practice however, even a 6-megapixel photo can be printed up to A4-size without much problems. We have even printed A3-size (S12R, 12″ by 18″) photos with 6-megapixel photos for exhibition. Thus any modern digital cameras—which usually come packed with at least 10-megapixels—should suffice for your printing needs.

What to carry?

Most shopkeepers would spare no means to convince you that you need a tank complete with a few lenses to start off on your travels. Having a DSLR in no way guarantees perfect pictures, if there is such a thing to begin with, but it most definitely guarantees a big hole in the pocket, especially for the budget traveller or backpacker.

The next consideration in travel photography is to understand what sort of a traveller you are. If your primary objective is to wander around places, meet people and capture some moments and “record shots” of yourself, then getting a reliable point-and-shoot camera might be more than adequate to meet most of your requirements.

Family travellers can benefit from these compact cameras too as they take up very little space and leave plenty of room for the baby’s food. They also have programmed functions for taking that sunset or portrait shot, saving you time and effort from reading the manual or figuring out the complex controls while traveling, if that’s not your kind of thing.

For those who have a passion for photography and are interested in widening their perspective on the world without burning a hole in their pockets can purchase higher-end compact cameras that offer manual exposure controls. Not only are these cameras capable of performing like a DSLR, they save you the hassle of changing lenses and attract less attention that DSLRs tend to.

If you decide that your baby’s needs should be subordinated to your photography needs (and that you know exactly why you need a DSLR), and you’re absolutely certain that your spouse will not complain, then by all means get a DSLR.

Whether you choose a compact camera or a DSLR in the end, the last thing you need is for your bulky and heavy equipment to tire you out even before your passion for photography catches fire. So make sure you’re comfortable with carrying the equipment of your choice around on your trips. Remember: the best camera is the one that you carry with you.

What do you want to achieve?

Even the most capable compact camera out there cannot do certain things that a DSLR can. For some people, these differences do not matter; for others, they are dealbreakers. And the choice between getting a DSLR and compact is quite a subject in itself, so take a look at our article on “Choosing between a DSLR or a compact camera” to see if these extra functions and capabilities are what you really need in order to achieve what you want for the trip.

Flexibility is a double-edged sword. Thanks to the endless possibility of adding on to your DSLR system, they can quickly become a costly undertaking if you don’t keep your spending under control. Many photographers end up spending a lot more than the initial costs of the camera body by purchasing additional lenses, accessories, dry cabinets, bags (you’ll have many in the course of using your DSLR) to tote these monsters around.

Most recommendations thus far have been for digital cameras. That is not to say that film cameras are passé. An old film camera if used correctly with the right film will still give any digital camera a run for its money. If its your dad’s old SLR camera, then it might not even need batteries and the only start up cost you might incur is the cost of film!

Of course, film photography leaves a lot of room for surprises—some of them unpleasant—hence film is better left to those who have used it before and are comfortable with its nuances. Film is still available in remote villages of many developing countries where the batteries or memory cards have not quite made it. Hence bringing your dad’s camera for your next “exotic” trip might not be a bad idea after all.

Point & shoot or DSLR, film or digital, just remember, to a large extent, your creativity is the limiting factor in photography, not your equipment.

The case for a tripod

Yes, a DSLR can help in low-light, but nothing can replace a good old tripod when it comes to (beautiful) low-light and creative photography: think beautiful sunrises and sunsets, silky smooth waterfalls, intentionally blurred motion, etc.

The tripod opens up your creativity and affords you new perspectives in night photography and other long exposure modes. It also allows you to take that family portrait in front of the Eiffel Tower instead of having to rely on some stranger and his unpredictable hands!

Many people feel that a tripod is too much of a hassle to carry around. Well it is, we’re not denying it, but the whole lot of creative options that you have at your disposal with a tripod means that you no longer have to pack your camera when night falls. It’s the reason why we carry it from Bangkok to Ayutthaya, Saigon to Hanoi.

If however, you choose to ignore our advice, then the tripod may be substituted with whatever you find at the location for support: anything from a railing to a dustbin depending on your luck and the location. But trust us on this, nothing beats the convenience of the tripod when it comes to getting the composition that you really want, and not what the dustbin or railing gives you.

Buying a tripod that suits your camera—and one that you’re going to carry with you on your trip without cursing at us for making you do it—is almost an art in itself. We’ll explore it in-depth in another article to come, but here’s a brief overview.

Too many people have spent a fortune buying a tripod that they’re not going to carry around, not even from their house to the MRT station. On the other hand too many people have bought flimsy, low-cost tripods, which have toppled in the slightest breeze. The rule of thumb: don’t buy that monster the shopkeeper tries to sell you if all you are shooting with is a tiny point-and-shoot camera; and not that stick insect either just because its cheap if you are using a DSLR with heavy lenses and accessories. And get something that you’re going to carry, please. Balance is the key here. Literally.

Final words

Being aware of the camera’s capabilities and limitations is essential in the planning of the trip. Having adequate batteries, storage space, films etc are all considerations that have to be looked into before the trip and not after you touch down at your destination.

Cheaper budget hotels in many cities do not offer adequate security, hence bringing a laptop around and uploading images on a regular basis may not be a feasible idea. Having adequate storage cards for the camera would be a better alternative. Compact flash cards of up to 16GB are now available at the fraction of the cost of a 1GB card a few years ago. Having a few of these should satiate your appetite for photography throughout a month long trip.

On the other hand, most cities have cyber cafes hence uploading images on to an online storage space or even your Facebook account might be another option to ensure adequate storage space. If you’re shooting film, they can be found in most cities, but do not expect professional slides or black and white films in the less developed ones. It would be best to stock up on these in your home country.

Travel photography should be a pleasurable and relaxing experience. At no point should you feel burdened by your equipment or companion, while at the same time you should not feel constrained by a lack of equipment. Striking a balance between what you need and what is feasible to carry around is the key to making every trip a pleasant experience and every picture a reminiscing moment of that experience.

Bon Voyage!

Unfortunately Singapore is not exactly a cheap place to get the equipment that David recommends, and that sort of defeats the purpose of going strobist in the first place. In this article, we go through some options you have, and hopefully you wouldn’t have to break the piggy bank for them.

Bricks and motar store

There are two bricks and motar stores which sell lighting equipment, and they are both located in City Hall and are located one street away from another.

Ruby Photo
3 Coleman Street
#01–01 to 02
Peninsula Hotel Shopping Complex
Singapore 179804
Tel: +65 6338 0236 , +65 6338 4104
URL: http://rubyphoto.com.sg/ (don’t bother visiting their site, really)

Cathay Photo
111 North Bridge Road
#01–07 to 08 (Cathay has three store fronts in Peninsula Plaza, 07 to 08 is the one you should go to for your strobist needs)
Peninsula Plaza
Singapore 179098
Tel: +65 6338 0451
URL: http://cathayphoto.com.sg/

The problem with them is that they’re usually way overpriced. A case in point: our dear friend Nanda, out of desperation, bought a wireless remote radio trigger (the RD616) from Ruby Photo at a whooping S$80. As a good friend of his, of course I had to tell him that the RD616 is retailing on eBay at S$33—including shipping.

You see, both shops boast that they are the sole agents of a large number of brands in Singapore. Cathay Photo for instance is the sole agent for lighting support maker Manfrotto, and the Swiss strobe-makers Elinchrom. Ruby Photo is not so much of a sole agent of premium products, but they are probably the only bricks and mortar store selling cheap China knockoffs (i.e. the kind of equipment the budget strobist is looking for) that can only be bought over the internet.

Someone once joked that being the “sole agent” of a particular product means that they are they’re going to charge you the price you pay for buying the products online, plus the exorbitant shipping charges and an additional 7% GST. Of course that’s not entirely accurate though, because Nanda paid an additional 140% tax for his S$80 wireless trigger.

There are good things about buying locally though: warranty (for the expensive gear at Cathay, not the China knockoffs from Ruby) and speed (you get it instantaneously, no shipping time!).

Singapore-based online stores

Coincidentally there are also two major Singapore-based online photography stores serving the strobist community: Tago Tech and JL Photo.

I have personally bought a mini lightstand (S$28), a softbox umbrella (S$33) and a reflector (S$29) from Tago Tech. I have not bought anything from JL Photo before, but one of my students have and recommended it.

The prices are about 50% cheaper than what you pay for at Ruby. Although both stores do not carry the RD616, they sell a similar and very popular wireless radio trigger, the PT-04 TM, for S$45 a set at Tago Tech, and S$40 a set at JL Photo (registered shipping not included). That works out to be 50% cheaper than the S$80 triggers that Nanda bought at Ruby.

I had expected a faster turnaround and delivery for a Singapore-based online store. That is not my experience with Tago Tech however. I made my order on Tuesday night and paid $5.50 for registered mailing. My items were only posted on Thursday evening and reached me on Saturday afternoon—about four days in total.

So if you’re in a hurry for the equipment, these online-based stores may not cut it. But you’re bound to save a substantial sum by ordering from one of these stores as compared with shopping at Ruby or Cathay.

Hong Kong/China-based eBay stores

If you’re not in urgent need of the equipment, and are willing to venture out of Singapore, you’ll be guaranteed the cheapest possible deals for your strobist needs.

Remember the wireless radio triggers (the RD616) that Ruby sells for S$80? They’re on sale on eBay at S$33 with shipping to Singapore.

And the PT-04 TM that Tago Tech and JL Photo sells for S$45 and S$40 respectively excluding shipping?

I eventually bought mine from a Hong Kong-based eBay seller, jiakgong, at S$29 a set. Initially it wasn’t the S$10 savings that attracted me to buy the triggers from eBay rather than from Tago Tech or JL Photo, but the problem that the versions sold by them did not come with PC sync port on the receivers (more information about why I wanted the PC sync port—and why you should too—in another article about basic strobist setup to come).

However, I soon found that jiakgong was selling his goods much cheaper than Tago Tech or JL Photo, sometimes for less than half the price. For comparison, I recently ordered:

• Hotshoe Flash and Umbrella holder (Jiakgong: S$13.40, Tago: S$36, JL: S$35) — 62% cheaper,
• a Sto-Fen Omni-Bounce knock off for the 580EX II (Jiakgong: S$4.60, Tago: S$12, JL: S$12) — 62% cheaper,
• and a TC-80N3 Timor Remote Controller knockoff (Jiakgong: S$55.80, Tago: S$80) — 30% cheaper

As you can see, both the Singapore-based online stores are charging a premium of between 30–60% on top of the price of what you could have gotten from jiakgong through eBay. There could be other good sellers on eBay, but I have bought from jiakgong and he has earned my trust for delivering the goods in great condition and in a reasonable amount of time.

Turnaround time is pretty impressive for an overseas store. My first purchase from jiakgong took about seven days: I ordered on a Sunday, the items were shipped out on Monday, left Hong Kong on Friday, and delivered to my place on the following Monday. My recent purchase took slightly longer at nine days, perhaps because I ordered on a Friday and the items were only shipped on Monday.

Both times I paid an extra US$2 for registered mail and insurance. which comes free if your purchases amount to more than US$70. Standard international shipping by normal postage is free.

Conclusions

I’d definitely try to get my gear from jiakgong over eBay first. The slightly longer turnaround of a week compared with four days from a Singapore-based online store like Tago Tech or JL Photo is worth waiting for, especially when I'm saving up to 60% off the costs of the items.

I'd recommend you to pay an extra US$2 to get registered shipping---you'd be better protected against delivery losses and you get a tracking number that could be useful if you're impatient like me.

That said, there are items that make better sense to buy through the local online shops rather than to ship in from overseas through eBay. Bulky items such as lightstands and umbrellas cannot be delivered by normal postage or registered mail, which is why you don't find jiakgong offering these items in the first place.

Other eBay sellers are selling them, such as this lightstand from the States. However, the item alone costs S$29, and the shipping at US$33.50 (S$48) costs more than the item. It makes much better sense to buy such items from Tago Tech, which carries a range of lightstands from the mini lightstand at S$28 to the heavy duty ones at S$55. If you’re wondering if the mini lightstand is good enough—I have mounted a monolight with umbrella without a problem.

And finally, unless you’re desperate and need the gear immediately (most of the time, you don’t, really!), I would advise you to steer clear of the bricks and mortar stores in Singapore for your strobist needs.

Any other stores or recommendations?

Where do you buy your gear from and why? Recommend them to our readers in the comments below!