Journalism of Courage
Debjani Paul
The camera is just like the eye, said Mayur Desale,when a person asked him how moving closer or farther can change the focus of a photograph. He looked around the room to see if everybody understood and then announced an exercise everyone was to hold a pen before their eyes. At first,they had to hold it at some distance,and then bring it closer,but remain focused on the pens tip. When the pen is away,you can see it entirely,but when you bring it near,only the tip is in focus and everything else is blurred. Its the same with a camera. It works just like your eyes, he explained.
In the recent craze for advanced DSLR cameras,many photography enthusiasts say that there are a lot of limitations to the functions of a point-and-shoot camera,and that a great picture needs a DSLR. Actually,a point-and-shoot camera can do whatever you want it to,as long as you are thorough with the functions of your camera and what they are meant for, said Desale. So Desale,a professional wildlife photographer was at Living Bridge,in Aundh on Sunday,teaching a bunch of people how to make their cameras work for them.
More often than not,people just use the auto mode and aren’t very aware of what the different settings are for, said Desale. Using that as his starting point for the workshop,Desale explained the different functions and applications. Landscape mode can be used when you want the entire picture to be sharp. Portraits on the other hand,should be used when you want to focus on a person,and the background is slightly blurred or out of focus. A lot of cameras have sports and pets modes,which you can use to capture any fast or continuous activity. These modes will simply freeze the action, he said. He went on to teach other rules and guidelines that photographers follow while designing a photo,such as the Rule of Thirds,converging lines,curves,framing and repeating patterns.
Once the rules were explained,Desale announced that the group would take their own photos. One person began clicking pictures of the curtains while another captured the patterns on a wall hanging. Desale watched the participants move about the room,and periodically gave his comments to help them do things differently.
