So basically, I started photography back in 2016. I remember being so inspired by Beautiful Destination and their sick content back then. Their content did really hit a spot inside me that made me take the step to actually pursue photography, the funny thing is I wanted to be a filmmaker at first, so I have a bit of a background in filmmaking, but later on, I just found myself pursuing more photography cause I wanted to constantly create and photography was more convenient for me to do so, but with filmmaking, there’s a lot more planning and if things aren’t planned out well, it usually doesn’t work out for me.
My goal at first was to work for beautiful destinations since they’re the reason why I started all this, I later knew how hard it for that to happen just cause I am Egyptian, and being Egyptian requires you to always need to get a visa for everywhere you travel which takes time, and all they do is travel, so all I do is slow them down with the papers I need to hand in and all the government-oriented things. But I was fortunate enough to actually meet and go around Egypt with the founder of beautiful destinations. That by itself is a massive breakthrough for me and I figured later on that I have a long way ahead and I might as well choose a different path and do different things.
I used to have a lot of inspirations from a lot of photographers, but my 2 favorite photographers though are Emmett Sparling and Andre Josselin. Emmett is a landscape photographer and Andre is a fashion/lifestyle photographer. I love looking at diverse content, I don’t limit my work to just travel or street photography cause that limits you from growing, take note that Andre for example doesn’t look for a perfectly exposed image as much as he looks for a feeling to send through his work. It’s more art-oriented than just shooting random people. For some people, his work might seem unprofessional and for some people, it conveys a feeling. As for Emmett, he captures landscapes and street photography the way that absolutely satisfies me and is exactly the same way I like shooting this genre of photography cause it just says a lot about the story behind the photo.
Currently traveling around Egypt with Danone shooting people from different parts around Egypt, can’t wait to show it!
My first camera was a Canon 600D which made my first year of the journey very hard to create content due to its limitations, but that limitations really are what makes you truly appreciate higher-end cameras and really do make you learn the hard way so everything sticks more.
So as for landscape and street photography, I like to believe we like to have a lot of lenses so we don’t face struggles along the way with not knowing how to shoot something in a certain way. Well, I do not have a lot of lenses but I do have the essentials for me to achieve 90% of what I want, it always depends on the style of the person.
My main camera body is the Sony A7 III, this camera is an absolute beast in almost every situation, no matter what I am shooting, it gives me stunning results, it completely changed my style in everything, it made my commercial work much better, reasons, why I love this camera, is because of it’s amazing low light capabilities and high dynamic range, these 2 work so good hand in hand. The in-body stabilization is a massive one so I could shoot photos with a slow shutter and lastly, its battery lasts long more than I need most of the time. The only downside is the interface is not really that friendly for everyone, took me a while to get the hang of it.
My main lens is the Sony 24-70 F/2.8, reason, why I love this lens, is because it covers most of the needs wherever I am, it’s a workhorse. It does absolutely everything I need in terms of sharpness and depth of field. In street photography, it gets me the close-ups and the wides I want with perfect sharpness, my only problem with it though that it’s a bit heavy for someone who moves around a lot.
My second favorite lens is the Sony 85mm f/1.8, nothing says movie scene more than this monster, fixed lenses always give off a certain look zoom lenses never achieve, and that’s why a lot of photographers own mostly prime lenses, the sharpness is always better and offers low f/ numbers for these creamy blurry backgrounds. It’s also so nice to walk around with a very pushed-in lens that small, so it doesn’t give off the impression that you’re walking with a massive camera.
My third lens is the Tamron 17-28 f/2.8, the main reason I got this lens is obviously for the 17mm, funny story is that I used to love using wide angles when I first started off but now I just use this lens when I’m in tight situations such as shooting interior that is in a narrow space or narrow spaces in general. The price is a massive perk for this camera for what it offers.
Favorite photo so far is a photo of the Sailor I took here in Cairo. I don’t shoot a lot of portraits but that is definitely my recent favorite.
By far my favorite place was Saint Catherine’s, not just because of the absolutely stunning landscapes out there, the experience of hiking really got to me, I would want to hike more if it was possible not to drive 6 hours for it! Also, the feeling mountains give off is impeccable, it’s just so different from any other place in Egypt, cause most places out here have a lot in common, Saint Catherine’s has nothing in common with any other place.
I actually really want to go somewhere tropical like Zanzibar or Bali, never went to these places and I want to know what the hype is all about!
Pizza my friend!
My advice for anyone starting out photography is don’t let yourself down by comparing your work to anyone, I always say this in my workshops for beginners, is to never compare your work to others in the field cause we all have different perspectives and we can’t compare art cause that wouldn’t even make sense if you ever want to compare your work, compare it for educational purposes.
Shoot a ton every day, I used to shoot every single day, and If I didn’t, I used to research something about photography. I was constantly feeding my mind with anything related to photography, nothing will make you grow more than trial and error.
Look for inspiration, recreate it, but never steal it. Meaning that it is fine to try to achieve something someone made for the sake of trying it out and know how it’s done but not state that it was your idea unless you added a bit of your own personal twist, remember, there is no original idea, we’re constantly all feeding each other ideas and twisting them.
Don’t let gear limit you, whatever you have, use it. Gear comes later on when you earn the knowledge to use it. But for now, use your old grandpa’s camera, art is not defined by gear as much as it’s defined by your vision.
Seek constructive criticism and not destructive criticism, choose the people that you know will give you feedback that truly adds to your work and not destroy all your hopes and dreams.
Visit Seif’s website https://www.seifamro.com/
Photography in Egypt has been one of the most trending art for young generations. Over the last decade, the number of professional photographers increased rapidly, and the demand increased to learn advanced photography techniques. Most of the Egyptian young generation start photography first as a hobby by using their mobile cameras or basic DSLR gears. Later on, when they accomplish successful trials of photo sessions, they become eager to start a photography career and shift from amateur to professional. Eventually, many people don’t get to learn how to start their own photography business or how to create a marketing persona and become specialized in a specific field of photography.
Firstly, we have to outline photography in Egypt and what are the market opportunities. Egypt is one of the top markets in the Middle East and the biggest in the Arabic region. While the demand for photography in Dubai and Saudi Arabia is considerably higher in terms of service prices, Egypt has a developing market with high demand due to it is an increase in population and number of businesses as well as startups. The opportunities in Egypt can be outlined in some of the main categories.
Photo by Remon ElMarkiz
Wedding photography in Egypt is one of the most flourishing businesses. Due to the Egyptian culture, people tend to spend more on weddings, engagement parties, and recently even couples photo session is booming among young people. Hiring a professional photographer is becoming a must for such occasions and is considered as one of the most important traditions in couples’ relation to having a romantic photo session. Therefore, there is always a huge demand for this type of photography, and wedding photographers in Egypt are getting high prices for their services.
Photo by Sam Coran
The rise of online startups who conduct business on social media channels such as Instagram and Facebook is becoming phenomenal. This has generated a huge opportunity for photographers. Startups are searching for product photography which is one of the most important elements to increase their sales. Showing their product with high quality and professional images is now a must to survive the competition. Product photography in Egypt has several opportunities such as handcrafts, consumer products, jewelry, accessories, and many more.
Photo by Yehia Al Alily
Food photography in Egypt has a booming market in terms of food startups and restaurants. The demand for professional food photography and food styling is increasing and businesses are trying to win the competition by attracting customers. Restaurants are investing in their social media and want to frequently update their profiles with outstanding food photography. There is also a huge increase in catering services and online grocery who deliver food and meals and those are eager for high-quality food photos. The demand is increasing for food photography in tourist places as well as hotels and fast-food providers.
Photo by Nour ElRifai
We all know that Egypt has one of the fastest-growing markets in real estate. The huge investment in new cities, compounds and coastal residential is increasing demand for professional photographers who are specialized in architecture and interior photography in Egypt. Real estate companies and brokers are actively hiring architecture photographers to provide highly professional images in order to help marketing the units. In addition, Egypt is one of the biggest tourism markets with huge investment in hospitality which requires professional interior photographers to create attractive portfolios and marketing visuals. Interior photography is having high demand in Egypt from interior designers and furniture stores as well as urban developers.
Becoming a professional photographer is not an easy step. There are many people who love taking pictures and sometimes they get excellent images and they edit it perfectly, yet this doesn’t qualify them to the professional photographer level. Starting your photography career is mainly about starting a business company. Photography skills are the main focus of photographers and they spend years trying to achieve a high quality and art sense. However, career development is important to sustain a profitable business and to establish a career. Your career goals should start with questioning if with what you are good at and what you need to achieve.
There are many ways to increase your knowledge and become more specialized. There are many opportunities to learn photography in Egypt such as workshops and online photography courses. People can learn in different ways and some photographers like to follow trial and error. However, the best way to learn photography in Egypt is to learn from the top professional photographer in the country. In Art and Creativity, we collected some of the best professionals in their field and who are commercially known for businesses to guide you through extensive courses. You will learn more than just the photography techniques on the set but will also get tips and guidelines on how to edit your work and how to deliver it to the client. These online courses are direct access to the career and will help you understand the needs of the photography market in Egypt.
Once you acquire the main knowledge and skills, the main task is to establish your business in the market. The competition is not smooth in the Egyptian market and each photographer needs to do extra efforts to join and compete. There are several essential steps to establishing your local business.
Finally, to learn photography in Egypt is a very promising step to build a career. The country offers a huge market for photographers to profit. However, it is important to have the right mindset and understand that photography is more than just talent. Being specialized is very important to be able to compete in cities like Cairo and Alexandria which has the most opportunities. Eventually, by enhancing your field of expertise and gaining business skills you are able to get on the right track in professional photography.
It’s funny how photographers, the very ones benefiting from technology advances, have been quite reluctant to progress if we take a look back to camera history. Not all of them of course, but a large majority have had this fixed mindset that makes them extremely tough towards change.
When large-format photography appeared, painters diminished it. When medium format cameras appeared, plate-based photography users opposed to it. When 35mm format appeared, medium format users were very rude to it, they even called it “a post stamp”. Could you imagine that? The very thing we all worship as true full-frame format nowadays was just a stamp for them… And when digital SLRs arrived, 35mm users said many awful things too. Now that mirrorless cameras have come to stay, there are many DSLR users complaining about it.
You do see the pattern, don’t you? Because we do. That’s why we wanted to share with you some 5 definitive reasons why you should pick up a mirrorless camera system, and just move on. If you are just about to start in this beautiful world of photography world then you shouldn’t strings attached towards S, C or N brands. Just go straight to mirrorless cameras, and you’ll have a blast. If you are almost married to a brand because you have invested a considerable amount of money on lenses, then you should develop a smart strategy to move on.
If you are still doubtful about mirrorless vs. DSLR cameras even after reading the second paragraph of this piece, then sit back and read the following information. Our main goal is to clear your head of some of the most common doubts about this not-so-new-by-now camera format.
They Aren’t Longer the Future, They Are the Present
Mirrorless camera systems had a bumpy start in 2004, and has had its ups and downs ever since. After fifteen years of their appearance we can firmly say that this format isn’t the future anymore, it is the present. Many people have been quite reluctant to changing from DSLR to Mirrorless cameras, just like some people said “no-no” to digital when it first appeared. Let’s face it, this is the new standard, and we should embrace it, despite its (decreasing) cons.
For some reason, DSLR cameras had the power to make anyone feel like a “real” photographer. And the reason might be traced back to marketing strategies. Those efforts aimed at casual users and made them feel like professional photographers for a while with that bulky system and wide camera straps. Entry-level cameras with 18-55mm sold quite well back in the day, but eventually, they got replaced by smartphones. Don’t get me wrong, smartphones didn’t replace photography for everyone, it simply fulfilled the image necessities of casual users.
These cameras had a lot of potentials to offer at first, but after a while, there were basically two options left. The first was the most common one, people eventually got bored of carrying that massive thing around and eventually stopped using it. Other people got quite serious about photography and eventually upgraded to more useful tools. But honestly, these last ones would have fallen in love with photography even if they were shooting with a potato.
I think only Canon and Nikon are the ones still developing DSLRs, and at some point, they will stop doing it too. There are plenty of brands out there like Sony, Leica, and Fujifilm, etc that have matured their mirrorless systems quite nicely by now, and they are all offering superb image capabilities and quality.
Lightweight and Inconspicuous
Do you actually need a bulky camera to shoot great photos? Of course not, but some people like the feeling of carrying around a massive camera around. As a street photographer myself, I love small and inconspicuous cameras, and when the mirrorless camera appeared, a whole array of options became available. Before this magnificent happening, only point and shoot cameras offered small size, and not all of them offer a nice ergonomic experience. Even if they were capable of shooting raw images in manual mode, there was something odd about looking through a screen all the time, or not being able to make exposure changes quickly.
Long gone are those days by now since the appearance of mirrorless camera systems; they offer even better ergonomics than some DSLR cameras, and they are usefully small. Trust me, it is way better to travel or to walk long hours on the streets with a lightweight camera than a massive DSLR. Manufacturers have cut down all that bulky mirror and pentaprism system in order to achieve a more efficient camera.
Nowadays mirrorless cameras even look more like film cameras than some roundy and plasticy DSLRs, so they look awesome too!
Better Image Quality
This will sound quite cold and even cruel, but it is the very truth; camera manufacturers don’t care about nostalgia. They are always investing in research and development in order to deliver better and faster image solutions, so they won’t be nurturing DSLR cravings for much longer anymore. So, if many camera manufacturers have moved forward and have left DSLR systems behind, where do you think you’ll find the most advanced image sensors now?
I really don’t understand this to a technical level, but I do understand one thing. Image quality has a very strong inverse relationship with the distance between the rear element of the lens and the image sensor. So, if the image between these two gets shorter, the image quality will increase. Mirrorless cameras reduce this distance quite massively by getting rid of the internal chamber needed for the mirror to flip in a proper way.
There is one thing that is true, nothing beats reality being seeing right through the lens, that is a fact, and might be the only price to pay in my very own and personal opinion. Electronic Viewfinders (EVF) have gotten quite powerful, and it almost feels like a non-digital through the lens experience due to minimum image lag, but it still feels funny. But there is a pro of EVFs, and that is focus peaking in manual focus mode. Focus peaking in simple words is a tool that allows you to know which things from the scene are in proper focus thanks to some digital sparkles that appear and disappear as the focus ring is being turned.
Sony was the first to focus on the alpha mirrorless series cameras and the quality they are delivering lately is outstanding to other brands, they even launched a new camera the Sony A7R MK 4 with 61 megapixels which is the largest megapixel in a full-frame mirrorless camera in the market. so speaking of better image quality vs the DSLR, you must check out this camera.
You Can Go Beyond Full-Frame
Alright alright, we are talking about one narrow portion of the market here, which is owned by Fujifilm. This deserves to be mentioned because they are the only ones offering not one, nor two, but three mirrorless medium format cameras, at least at “reasonable” prices. Hasselblad has a couple of options as well, but those prices are just insane so they aren’t really an option for the masses, and since we aren’t part of that exclusive market, we’ll skip it by now.
Fujifilm decided to avoid developing full-frame mirrorless cameras, and instead, they embrace the journey of developing medium format cameras. There are three options available now, and the least expensive one is even cheaper than a high-end DSLR from Canon or Nikon. Sounds quite tempting huh?
Beyond that, other manufacturers have been developing full-frame mirrorless camera systems for quite a while now. And just recently, Canon and Nikon joined the party; kudos! Better late than never. This also has opened access to full-frame cameras to even more users since prices are more accessible as technology evolves. The only downside with this happening is that lenses have been needed to redesign, and some brands are still quite short in optical offer.
Adapters Make it Easier, And Fun!
And speaking of lenses, this opened a whole new market for adapters. The most famous ones are Metabones, but they are quite pricey though, but for someone with multiple expensive lenses, this should be a wise investment to make. These adapters make it possible to move from a previous DSLR set-up into the shiny world of mirrorless-cameras seamlessly, but it doesn’t stop there. Some adapters have even made it possible for film-era lenses to have a second breath, enabling a whole array of visual and creative possibilities. Oh, and many of these lenses are still easy to find in mint conditions and at cheap prices online and even some random swap meets.
Some other cons that have stopped people from moving forward into the present are battery life and device fragility. They both are true, although battery life has been enhanced with the years. But honestly, you can just simply shoot less and better photos, or you can carry around some spare batteries as many of us do. About that sensor being freely exposed, yeah, you folks (big brands) have access to high-quality translucent materials, can’t you just cover that thing in order to make it less easy to damage? Jeez!
We hope that you have cleared your mind of all that still thick confusion about DSLRs vs. Mirrorless Camera Systems. Please share your thoughts with us in the comment section below!
To learn photography by top photographers, check our Online Photography Courses.
Using light outdoors with Ali Al Rifai
Photography is all about capturing light in the most compelling possible ways. This sounds quite easy to achieve, and in many circumstances, the light won’t be calmly waiting for you to capture it in the most pleasing ways. You need to have a trained eye that knows how to react to specific lighting situations, and this is only achieved with practice. Today we want to share with you some bits of information that will make you a better photographer when the light isn’t as generous as you could wish it for.
Low light can be soothing, and it can transmit a huge amount of moody feelings. In fact, low light is sometimes preferred rather than abundant light, but you still need to know how to deal with light when it is scarce. Otherwise, you’ll end with shaky or very noisy photos. So without further ado, let’s talk about the best low light photography tips we can share with you!
1- Get to know your camera
Long gone are the days in which any photographer wouldn’t dare shooting with a higher-400 ISO value. Nowadays technology has become better in practically all senses, and that includes ISO behavior and sensitivity. This one depends on what sensor your camera has, and is extremely important that you get to know what your camera is capable of doing.
The best way for doing this is to shoot some test shots that include a generous amount of dark tones with various ISO settings. First, start with the base ISO value your camera has. Some cameras come with a base value of ISO 100, other cameras come with 200. Increase the ISO values on each shot, and after cranking it up sufficiently, zoom in the photos. As soon as you start noticing unpleasing noise, then you shouldn’t shoot further from that.
Some cameras will start showing nasty noise at ISO 3200, others at ISO 1600. Getting to know your camera in this way will allow you to take wiser exposure decisions when the time is needed, especially under low light situations.
2-Lenses matters
One of the most powerful elements that build exposure is aperture, which is the one with f/x values. These values are sometimes hard to understand, but if you see them as what they are, fractions, and you mentally change that “f” for a “1” you’ll understand it better. By selecting different aperture values you will be allowing more or less light to enter through your camera. Therefore, if you have a low light situation, what you think you should want to have?
If you said “more light”, then you are correct! What you need to do is exactly that, you need to allow your camera to “swallow” more light. Each lens is capable of allowing more or less light depending on the largest aperture value. Some lenses have a variable maximum aperture value, like a kit lens for example. These lenses usually achieve a maximum aperture of f/3.5 at 18mm and f/5.6 at 55mm. That is a sad price to pay, but it allows people to understand the importance of that extra stops of light that are lost when changing from 18mm to 55mm for example.
Some lenses are extremely useful under low-light situations, like those that can deal with aperture values of f/1.4 for example. As soon as you start browsing lenses out, you’ll notice that some are way more expensive than others. Among building materials and inside-electronics components, aperture values are a decisive feature of a lens price.
3-Keep everything still
A good tripod will be your best friend in photography, pretty much always. But attaching your camera to it isn’t all you need to do in order to shoot decent exposures at low light situations. You also need to make sure everything is completely still. Therefore, use a remote release or at least shoot in timer mode. If you are shooting with a DSLR make sure to learn how to block your camera’s mirror. Everything from that mirror to your finger in the shutter button produces shakiness, and being extra careful won’t harm your precious shots!
4- Learn more about practical lighting
Alright, this is something we are borrowing from the film industry, but it will make your photography way more capable under low-light situations. You’ll need to watch this video about how Stanley Kubrick rarely used professional lighting solutions in order to understand the concept. Oh, and trust us, he was one hell of a photographer too! Life-spoiler warning, after watching that video, you’ll sort of diminish certain artificial lights.
5- Nice and Slow
Many low-light situations are best approached when slow shutter speeds are used. Of course, a tripod or at least something to make sure your camera stays perfectly still will be mandatory. Anything gets well lit after the proper amount of time has elapsed, and the best part is that based on this principle, you can use ISO 100 for extremely clean results.
What about an experiment? Go to your living room in the middle of the night, make sure your camera is absolutely still at ISO 100 and f/5.6 if you wish, then crank the shutter speed to 15 or even 30 seconds, and then press the shutter button. You’ll see that your living room appears to be perfectly lit. That is the beautiful magic of photography, it allows us to capture the world in a way our eyes simply can’t.
6- Be patient
Mastering photography isn’t something you achieve out of the blue, you need to practice and you need to be patient. If you are in front of a scene that could appear to you in a better way at a different time of the day, then wait for it. If you can’t simply wait, then sacrifice a bit of image quality with ISO. The trick is to know that something is been given in order to capture a scene that has limitations involved.
7- Do some research
If you wish to shoot a specific scene, then do some research about which is the best time of day according to the available light (and people too). This tool might come in handy for this. Sun and weather are very easy to predict, and sometimes overcast days give a better lighting situation than a sunny one. If you see a storm coming down your way, don’t freak out. Manage to get your gear dry, and you’ll be able to take photos that will make you immediately stand up from regular and lazy photographers.
8- Hack the Autofocus
Autofocus is one of the biggest wonders of modern and contemporary photography but is still quite clumsy under low-light situations. One beautiful trick is to target a different portion of the scene that is relatively at the same distance as your main object of interest and then recompose. If this isn’t viable, you can also give a scene an extra light with your phone’s LED light.
9- Use manual focus
If you simply can’t hack the autofocus, then you can try something more powerful, the manual focus. We don’t advise to use manual focus mode always, but for some situations, it will be more useful than the autofocus. With manual focus, you can truly watch what your lens is focusing on, and there shouldn’t be missed.
Some cameras nowadays even allow you to watch all that is getting perfectly in focus via a feature called “focus peaking”. It sorts of sprinkles out what is in focus in the scene, and it has been designed exclusively for manual focus. This feature is sort of exclusive of mirrorless cameras, so you won’t be able to see this magic pixies on a DSLR camera, but you can always rely on your eye. Oh, and remember to calibrate your camera’s diopter to the proper focusing distance if you use prescription glasses on a regular basis.
Wrapping it up!
The only reason why light could feel like a very uneasy to predict thing is due to a lack of practice. You need to see photography as a physical discipline that requires training, just like any average sport. New coming photographers have a peculiar mindset, they think that practice isn’t much required in order to capture things in a beautiful way. If you ever feel like this (we all are guilty of this at least once, don’t feel bad about it), grab your camera, get out of your place, and start practicing again!
If you are able to read between the lines, you’ll see how we’ve covered the principles of the exposure triangle here, but in a more digestible way. The fundamental skill that you need to develop here is being able to expose properly in any lighting situation. We really hope that all these tips that we have shared with you here will actually make you a better photographer with time. On the next run, we’ll talk about the opposite, about how to shoot photographs with harsh light situations.
To learn photography by top photographers, check our Online Photography Courses.
Just like any other highly developed discipline, photography has a unique set of words that build up the jargon. Today we want to share with you photography tips and some of the most common words, and we’ll try to explain it in the best possible way we can! With these brief photography glossary, you’ll feel more comfortable when talking or reading about photography, especially in forums, workshops, and online courses.
Aperture: This is one of the principal building blocks behind exposure and one of the most abstract things to understand in photography. Aperture expresses itself in f-stops or f-values and can be read like this “f/5.6” or this “f/2.8” and even this “f/16”. At first, it always seems hard, but as long as you remember that these all are mathematical fractions, then you’ll have a better time remembering which value is smaller than others and vice versa. This value depends entirely on the lens and not the camera.
Bokeh: This is one of the most desired features in photography and refers to the way a section of the photograph blurs out due to focus. It has a strong relationship with aperture, and in recent years more and more people have come to accept that bokeh can’t be measured in “amounts” but in “visual quality”. A nice way for perceiving the relationship between aperture and bokeh is simply by placing one of your own fingers close to your eyes and focusing your stare on it. Can you see how everything else blurs out? That is basically how aperture produces bokeh.
Chimping: This refers to the constant habit of looking to the camera’s LCD screen immediately after taking every single photograph. This is something highly common with digital photography thanks to the ability of immediately being able to watch a photograph, but it can lead to missing some other great shots.
Crop: You can crop either on camera or in post-processing, and it simply refers to the act of framing a scene or re-framing it in the case of post-processing.
Depth of Field: Also known simply as DoF, is the distance between the nearest and farthest objects that are in sharp focus in your camera. Having shallow depths of field result in highly noticeable bokeh, and deeper depths of field depict focus throughout the whole image.
Dynamic Range: This is quite abstract, but it refers to the total amount of stops of light a sensor can handle. Alright, it is still quite dull, but a nice perspective is to compare it with our own human eyes. We humans are on average able to handle 20 stops of light, really expensive cameras are able to handle up to 15 nowadays. Pro-tip, when investing in a camera, look for the dynamic range rather than the megapixels.
Focal Length: This is the proper way to measure a lens, and it comes in millimeters. Anything below 50mm is considered to be wide, and anything further from 50mm is tele. 50mm refers to “normal” since it is the most alike length to the human eyes.
Full-frame: This refers to a sensor that has the same size as a single 35mm film frame. Remember those pieces of negative from the analog photography days? Well, that is a 35mm frame.
Gear Acquisition Syndrome (GAS): This is quite funny, and we all photographers have suffered it a little bit at some point. It is simply the crave or need of getting more and more gear (cameras, flashes, lenses, bags, straps, you name it).
High-Key: This is a creative technique, and it happens when a photographer decides to create an image with extreme amounts of brightness. These photos can be extremely white, depicting just a hint of the object or subject, and they are quite hard to achieve in a pleasing way.
Histogram: This is one of the best tools we have in digital photography, it is a visual interpretation of all the light registered by our camera, and it splits into 255 bars or channels that reproduce a nice and smooth histogram. Learning how to read them takes a bit of time, but is the best way for knowing how your photograph has been exposed.
Hot Shoe: Have you ever seen a clip-like piece of an electronic metal component at the top of your camera? Well, that is the hot-shoe, and it serves as the communication hub between your camera and other devices like remote triggers and flashes.
ISO: Perhaps the easiest to understand building-block from exposure. ISO controls how the sensor inside your camera behaves in relation to the light. The higher the number, the more sensitive to light it becomes. This is extremely practical for low light situations, but don’t rush into it! This comes with a mighty price, as you increase the sensitivity, you also increase the amount of noise your camera will show in a photograph. This is achieved via electricity, so the more sensitive you make it, the more static it will have, hence the amount of noise. Cameras have evolved quite impressively, and noise is almost unnoticeable at ISO values as high as 1600, but before going nuts with it, test your camera and see how further can you crank up that ISO.
Lens Hood: Have you ever seen those nice things photographers attach to the front of their lenses? Well, these are called lens hoods, and all camera manufacturers should sell lenses with them. Every single lens has been engineered to render light in a specific way, and hoods have been designed to go along with these lenses, so shame on those who sell them separately. Avoid generic hoods since they won’t create the proper correction for your lens.
Long Exposure: This refers to the act of taking a slow photograph, anything with a shutter speed longer than 1 second is considered to be a long exposure. You think that 1 second is fast, don’t you? In photography, 1 second is almost an eternity.
Low-Key: this is the exact opposite of high-key, it is a very dark photograph that has been created like this intentionally (or at least that is what we expect).
Nifty Fifty: For some amazing reason, certain camera manufacturers have built some cheap yet powerful 50mm lenses. Canon and Nikon to be precise, and they are more or less within the $100 range, and they are an amazing early upgrade in photography.
Prime: Any lens that hasn’t the ability of zooming in and out is a prime lens, and they come with fixed focal lengths like 28mm, 35mm, 50mm, 85mm, 100mm.
Shutter Speed: The last but not the least exposure building block, but perhaps the most fun to work with. Shutter speed controls the amount of time your camera is open to receive and register light. This enables photographers to both freeze motion and register movement in ways that are simply impossible for our human eyes to record. Anything between 1/60 to 1/250 of a second will be useful for regular photographs, anything below will start depicting huge amounts of motion, and higher values will freeze movement, but will start to look darker if you don’t have the proper lighting and lenses.
Stop: This is the standard measurement for light. Exposure is measured in this value, and all the aforementioned building blocks (aperture, ISO and shutter speed) workaround stops of light.
Telephoto: This refers to any lens that goes beyond 50mm, some of them can be extremely big, and are usually used in wild-life photography and sports, or any other circumstance in which getting physically close is nearly impossible to achieve.
Uncle Bob: Pretty much a soft insult or derogatory name used by professional or semi-professional photographers to refer to casual users with huge cameras getting inside their frames. This happens a lot in weddings and other social events in which the main hosts have hired a photographer and have to deal with these characters.
Vignette: A slight gradient bordering the photograph. Excessive use of it will look funny, and slight can be almost unnoticed. Good vignetting has to have a purpose, and there is not an exact recipe for handling it properly.
White balance: This feature refers to the way your camera will register light’s temperature, and it spans from cold to warm. This is measured in Kelvin degrees, but we won’t go into further details about but the following: Tungsten, Fluorescent, Daylight, Flash, Cloudy and Shade. They all have precise kelvin values that span between 2,500 K to 10,000 K. The true power of white balance happens in post-production when developing our raw files. By adjusting this you can create completely different moods for your photos from dark and spooky to cozy and romantic simply by sliding the temperature. Hence the importance of shooting in raw, because as long as you have the raw file, you can leave the WB in your camera in Auto mode, and you shouldn’t worry too much about it.
Wide Angle: If anything above 50mm is considered to be a telephoto, anything below 50mm is considered to be wide-angle. There are mid-wide lenses (24mm~35mm), which distort reality in beautiful ways, and they are highly popular in street photography and photojournalism. And there are some heavy wide-angle lenses (anything below 18mm) which are best used in small places in order to capture everything going on inside of them.
There are many other words that build up the slang, and we highly encourage you to read more about them. Please share some of the photography tips and the words you have heard and have no clue about, or just toss around the ones you use the most!
To learn photography by top photographers, check our Online Photography Courses.
With more than 1 billion monthly active users on Instagram constantly sharing photos these days, we can say that anyone nowadays can feel like a photographer. Despite this, we can still find some talented people that stand up from the crowd as an outdoor photographers in the Middle East. With so many images sprouting all over this ephemeral field, it is quite impressive to still find some folks that are able to keep us glued to our screens in a never-ending scrolling mode.
Architecture, Landscape and Travel Photography are among the most popular outdoor photography genres that reign plenty of Instagram accounts. These all three are not mutually exclusive and can be adopted by one single photographer.
Keeping a highly curated Instagram feed is highly beneficial since it helps us as a way of consuming high-quality visual content. We can’t escape from the fact that everything we consume (in a cultural sense) will have an effect on our photographs. Positive or negative equally, the choice is on you. Do you want to keep repeating the same photos others had already made strenuously, or do you want to make meaningful photos that matter?
Therefore, we want to share with you just 7 outdoor photographers from the middle east that will keep you inspired and well nurtured as well.
Dany Eid is a Dubai based photographer with a keen eye for both nature and urban settings. He has been specializing over the years in architecture (both interior and exterior) as well as cityscapes and landscapes. He is basically portraying the best out of the modern world and is giving it to us in pristine looking photographers filled with aesthetics and awe.
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As many photographers he has a strong artistic related background. He studied interior design and painting, so there’s the origin of his love for architecture. He has been roaming since quite a while and since 2014 he became a full time photographer. He has a strong relationship with photography as Carl Zeiss ambassador and as an educator from the Nikon School program. As many photographers he started slowly and has developed a solid style and world vision which he shares with the world via his workshops.
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Watching his portfolio is a pleasing experience since he has been able to capture the beauty of the outdoors in a balanced way. You can watch his photos here and you can follow him as he dwells around the globe here.
The lawyer/photographer combination is indeed a common thing in photography, and Huda Bin Redha is one of these examples. That is actually one of the biggest beauties of photography, it can be a full-time profession, or it can easily cope with other disciplines. It is a lifestyle, and a great life companion too.
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She is highly known for her travel photographs, but with a slight (or high if you wish) twist. She has focused on aerial landscape photography, and all her compositions have a mesmerizing canvas feeling due to the aesthetic she has.
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Her drone photography is a true eye-opener, and will take you to familiar places but in a different way. That is a great deal about Huda’s, you might actually have come across these places before, yet she knows how to get the god-like angle that goes even deeper than her pictures demonstrate many cases of preparation ahead.
Huda is a true inspiration, and you can watch more of her work here.
If you want to get out of the city feeling, then Faisal’s photographs will blow your mind. He is strictly a landscape photographer with little (if none) focus on the human footprint around the world. He is a Saudi photographer from a small town called Hail, and maybe that has something to do with his passion towards the outdoors.
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You can feel that his photos have been taken in Mars or just another place in the galaxy. All these places that we can see here are far, far away, and in fact it can take several hours and even days to reach to them. There is little information about his background, which makes this account an absolute jewel in any feed.
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Here you’ll have a different taste since she is a commercial photographer beyond anything else. She started her journey as a photographer in 2005, and hasn’t stopped since then. This profession has led her to more than 30 countries so far and is another great inspiration, especially if you are in the western hemisphere since you can get another vision of the world with her productions.
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Specializing in advertising and creating original photography and video content on digital platforms for all brands and entities, Coucla managed to have exhibitions in several countries, published her own book, taught, and led, photography expeditions in Asia.
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In 2010 she was named as Egypt’s Arts Ambassador, just 5 years after grabbing her camera in a professional way. She has developed solid styles in commercial and travel photography and has started tickling with documentary photography as well. You can watch more of her work here, and you can follow her around the world here.
If you like to often watch the skies, then you’ll love this account. Shadi is currently based in Spain and has a huge passion for astrophotography. He also shoots landscapes on a regular basis, but that extra notch you can watch from his stargazed night photography is simply mouthwatering.
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There is an extra caring feeling towards details and an obvious fine art aura in his photographs. He rarely shoots from within the city, but when he does he blends architecture and buildings in an exquisite way. His work is the best proof we can show you that landscapes aren’t simply waiting there to be captured, they need to be sought, and patience is most in these cases.
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Ayesha Abassi has a professional background in the field of digital marketing, however, her true passion is landscape and travel photography. She has one goal in mind, capturing the beauty of the world, and she has definitely achieved it in a splendid way. She started devoting more and more to photography in 2007, and with the years she has developed a unique style.
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It is said that she uses a achieves a mesmerizing level of hyperrealism in every shot she crafts, and as you look more and more deeply in her work, you can feel all the skills she has developed through the years. The great think about her work is the vast diversity that you can feel at first glance. There are plenty of colors under a generous array of temperatures. Also, you can feel the whole greatness of time in her shots. Her latest two trips (Ethiopia and Finland) is something to watch!
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Always dwelling between Egypt, the US, and Dubai, Koree is a photographer that seems to be various in one. Highly successful as a commercial and as a landscape photographer, he has been featured on CNN over three times and has been seen multiple times in social media as well.
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He loves to document people and places, but Egypt has won his heart. He tries to capture all the magic he can find in it in order to build a deeper patriotism in this chaotic and ancient civilization that has marveled so many people around the world. He tries to capture a very specific spirit that only Egyptian cities have through his unique cinematic style. His portfolio is considered to be a time capsule that has the power of blending modernity with the historic value of his beloved country Egypt.
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He is an official Sony Alpha Photographer, and he keeps expanding his work in both hemispheres. You can see more of his work on Koree Films and you can follow him around the world here.
We have spoken about Instagram feeds of course because plenty of outdoor photographers use it and have become very commonplace. However, we encourage you to take your time and enjoy their work on their websites. There is where they usually publish the best-curated selection of their photos, and just a few manage to get through. It is nice to have a curated Instagram feed that will meet your needs as a photographer, but sometimes, you simply need to sit back and relax in a slower-paced format like websites.
If you are starting to take photography seriously in your life or wanna be one of the outdoor photographers, and you want to become a more committed photographer, then you should do the following. Try having two Instagram accounts, one for the social stuff, and one exclusively for photography. This will allow you to separate things out, and trust us, you’ll see the difference between watching selfies and cats on a daily basis and watching only serious photographs. The next step will be to build a website for you to showcase the best of the best of your shots
To learn photography by top photographers, check our Online Photography Courses.
Who were the speakers from Last Year and this year?
1- Jason Lanier ( Sony Artisan )
2- Christina Mittermeier ( Sony Alpha Ambassador)
3- Abdelrahman Gabr- Koree ( Sony Alpha Photographer – Middle East )
4- Bjoern Lauen (Sony Alpha Photographer – Middle East )
Which Camera do people love more from Sony cameras?
It depends on who do we ask.
A9 – is win for sports and wildlife photographer
A7R3 – is a go-to camera for commercial and landscape photographers
A7M3 – is considered all-around camera which is great in photo and video and the first choice for those who wanted to jump into Full Frame and even professionals
A6500 and A6300 – is always a choice for videographers who wanted to keep their setup light
RX100 Series – series that vloggers and travelers go to camera
Tell us more about future events and workshops in the middle east region
We have been active with seminars for the past years and this time we are going to focus more on allowing the photographers to experience the Sony cameras reaching out to different genres of photography.
With this, we are expecting to be very busy in the coming months.
To learn photography by top photographers, check our Online Photography Courses.
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