Topic: Photography
1. Is it easy to take good photographs? Why/ Why not?
Answer: Well, from my own experience, I can say that it is never really easy to take good photographs mainly because there are just so many things which come into play when trying to take excellent photographs. In fact, one has to have perfect ideas about things like proper exposure, building rapport with the subjects in order to find the perfect angle, lens focal length selection, the right aperture white balance and composition, among other things, to take good photographs. However, as if it is not already difficult enough, one also has to understand, what really works in what situation, in order to take an excellent photo.
2. What are the pros and cons of digital photography?
Answer: Digital photography has become the norm today than the exception when capturing any images, primarily because they offer better quality pictures. Besides, cost and times are also significantly reduced when taking digital photographs as there is no film costs, no processing and proof costs, and no unnecessary printing costs if not needed. So, the end result is an ‘instant’ opportunity to view pictures right after taking them. Finally, another great advantage of digital photography is that one can have complete and instant control over the pictures, especially, if he/she wants to edit them on a computer with some imaging software. However, digital photography is not as good as film camera in capturing motion. Besides, capturing photos with a digital camera is generally easier, but doing anything with the photographs afterwards almost always requires some computer or technological skills.
3. Should people share their photographs online? Why/ Why not?
Answer: No, I am not really very comfortable in sharing photographs online unless it is absolutely necessary for official works mainly because they can be stolen and used by complete strangers for nefarious purposes. Besides, pictures, taken by smartphones or other devices with GPS technology in it, may contain tags which can reveal the exact location where the pictures were taken. In other words, if a picture, shared online, with such tags, it is possible that others will know about his or her location which is a violation of privacy. Having said that, a photo taken on a holiday could be shared online with selected people but people should never share personal photos publicly which is accessible by anyone from anywhere.
4. When can an image be worth a thousand words?
Answer: As humans, we are largely responsive to visual cues as they have the ability to make us feel happy, sad, disgusted, excited and curious. So when we see a picture, which arouses these human emotions, in order to convey some complex or unique messages and ideas, we say that an image is worth a thousand words. Besides, there are some “truths” or “realities” which are just impossible to describe no matter how many words we use, and hence the phrase “a picture is worth a thousand words”.
5. Is a photograph a reliable form of identification? Why/ Why not?
Answer: No, a photograph by itself is not a reliable form of identification unless it is attached with some forms of government-issued documents. Even then, it may not be reliable enough to properly identify a person simply because the facial features of a person, showing on the photograph, might just look different from the features on the real person, as those facial features can change over time because of the age or because of living under different conditions.
6. Is it necessary to take a course to become a good photographer? Why/ Why not?
Answer: In my opinion, it is not exactly necessary to take a course to become a good photographer, but it would certainly help if one chooses to take one in order to learn just the basics like camera bodies, lenses, lighting and processing. However, if one really wants to be a good photographer, he just needs to go out and take as many pictures as he likes. Then he also needs to look closely at his own works and compare them with the styles of works, which he likes, in order to adapt to his own methods accordingly.
