Dubai is Not Venice
How can a photographer find inspiration regardless of the place where he lives in? It is easy to think that the environment shapes our photography and, actually, this is the truth most of the times! Photographers from the beautiful Tuscany, Italy, are well known around the world for their wonderful panoramas. Not only that: if you are lucky enough to become friends with one of them, they might even tell you some of their secrets on how to capture the perfect picture, what lens to use or which place and what time is just the right one.
Being away from wonderful panoramas is what happened to me when we decided to leave Italy almost 3 years ago. I wanted this event and all the related stress not to stop me from taking pictures.
Here below the 3 tricks that I tried myself to find everywhere and anyhow a reason not to stop shooting:
- Go out and shoot every day for 1 year. Practice makes perfect and this one is rule number 1: I kept a camera always with me and dedicated some time every day to photography. I forced myself to a daily click regardless of the theme. Everything became my Daily Picture Project.
- Shoot with a Prime lens. Using a Prime lens instead of a zoom and sticking to it consistently had at least two positive effects: I ended up mastering that lens and I gained consistency in my portfolio. Mastering a lens means to know so well how things look like when using that lens that I could see the final picture even before taking the camera out.
- Find one or more theme and work them out. I found some themes that I wanted to develop and I forced myself to look for pictures matching the themes. For example I wanted to describe the life of Expats in Saudi Arabia, describe how certain segregation concepts work here (male, female, family, singles etc…). This helped me to be always in ‘search mode’ while out in the street and, eventually, I ended up with over 2500 selected pictures, many of them falling into one of the desired themes. Having a portfolio already set up according to themes gives to my work a purpose and a deeper breath.
Ruggero Pellegrin 
7 Comments
Excellent article, my friend!
I like the idea of doing what you can in the environment you are presented with! Thank you likewise for the wonderful tips on how to become a truly seasoned photographer.
I did exactly what you recommended for the whole of 2016. The photos I took weren’t quite as good as yours, but I think I know what I’m doing, now! If you have the time to critique my efforts, you can view them at @tygus.australia on Instagram.
Great work, Ruggero! I’ll look forward to your future posts!
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Hey Tygus! You have enjoyed Europe as I can see from your reportage! As a photographer you are very prolific and give the taste of the city you have visited!
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Thank you, Ruggero!
I retired recently, and spent the whole of 2016 traveling to Europe, Asia, and North America. I must’ve taken 15,000 photos during that time, and I’m posting them a little at a time on Instagram.
Thank you for visiting my Instagram site and taking the time to look at my photos! It’s always good to get the opinion of an expert in the field of photography!
Now that you have an Instagram account as well, I would suggest that you post a few of your photos, then include a link to your website on your Instagram page. This way, when someone clicks on the link, it will take them straight to your blog.
I have done this with my other Instagram account @tygus.shooting, and it has improved traffic to my website dramatically. If you visit that site, and click on Tygus.net above the pictures, you will be taken directly to my website.
I will also be following you on Instagram,min anticipation of your wonderful photographs!
Thank you once again, and keep up the great work!
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I might be finding myself with some more free time in the next 15 – 20 days…. will get to Instagram for sure. And I know I can count on you for support, right? 🙂
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Loved your idea of going out and taking photographs every day! You’re right, practice makes perfect!
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🙂 and it is so funny too. You’ll always have an excuse if anybody asks ‘why are you carrying your camera with you anytime?’ you can tell them about your project and your blog!
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Absolutely! Just email me at Tygus.shooting@ gmail.com if you need any assistance. Cheers, and happy St. Patrick’s Day!
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