Lords

      Through another year of just working with the camera in numerous situations, my skills in photography have improved with repetition. I can more quickly focus and expose, and the process of employing composition guidelines (or not doing so) have become second nature when I'm with a camera. I've become more apt and accurate at adjusting manual exposure and HDR exposures, techniques such as playing with depth of field and shutter speeds are now part of my natural repertoire when on the move as opposed to being tasked consciously practised. This overall increase in efficacy with camera operation has allowed me to more quickly respond and record interesting situations and scenes.

      The subjects of my photos vary greatly. Anything that intergrates well (or noticeably unwell) with its environment captures my attention. If I had to choose my favourite subjects to photograph, I would choose a blend of landscape and portraits - integrating human subjects into spectacular enviroments.

      What defines a good photo is very abirtrary. Apart from technical impeccability, a picture, for me, must tell a story or evoke some sort of feeling or sentiment. Pictures of photojournalists, for example, tell of atrocities or evoke sympathy. Images found in National Geographic, another example, elicit awe and depict customs and traditions. Even fashion shoots and thoughtful portraits convey characteristics of their subjects. Therefore, apart fromt technical perfection, the meaningfulness of a photo is the benchmark for its quality.

      This year, as a photo 3, there are several projects I would like to work on. One is the Brenizer Effect, a famous photography technique that specially deals with subjects in a large environment. In combination with learning that effect, I would also like to explore lightings and props with subjects more as well as just portrait photography, whether to evoke glamour or empathy. In other words, this year I'd like to focus more around subject-oriented photography.