My principle in practical photography is rather simple. That is ,”one should put more attention to the scene rather then the techniques.” Hence for this particular reasons, I found that finding the right equipment is very critical, so as you can rely on the piece at any given time, without care so much about the limitation that may bound your imagination.



A homeless man feed the birds at the King George Square, Brisbane (from personal archive)

The Camera

Regardless of the brand, there is a very simple rule that you need to follow, when buying a camera:

1. It should be small enough, that you don’t need separate bag to carry it along the day
2. It should incorporate reasonable range of zoon so as flexible to accommodate your photography style
3. It should allow manual control to the extent of you normal usage, so as to allow you exercise your technique when special condition arisen
4. I would prefer camera that have a shooting window, because I don’t like to rely on live window
5. A macro is essential, even more than tele
6. Would be very nice to be able to use normal batteries (AA) so that I don’t rely on charger or special batteries that cant be or too expensive to replace

For you who ever heard about LOMO photography might hear the sound principle behind it, which is don’t think just shoot (or somewhere along that line). Now, after years of hobby in photography, I found that such philosophy are the underline of good picture.

Have you ever find yourself loosing many of the scenes because you are too afraid to take chance and take a picture anytime, even if its bad one ? Well don’t. Sure there are some Leica masters who only take a picture when they are sure, and hold tight the principle of 1 shoot 1 pic. But this is digital era, mistakes are made to be fix, and everyone need to remember that good picture does not lie son the technique alone, but on the subject, that is the story behind every take.

The Guide

7. Focus on people and place
8. Just simply point and shoot
9. Make sure that it focused on the subject you intended and make sure its not shaking
10. Remember that everything in BW looks beautiful
11. Remember that all pictures tells story if you intended them too
12. Remember that 88% of your shoot is worthless, hence take as many picture as possible.

What’s your take on this ?

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