Though many people don't realize it, photographs are a vastly flexible art medium. There is absolutely no reason you should ever feel limited to shooting what's in front of you or documenting reality. Just as with painting or sculpting, there is plenty of room to exert your influence on the way your photographs turn out. So, let's talk about several fun things you can do with your pictures that you may not normally consider.
1. Change Your Angle
One of the most common things done in photography is the eyeor head level height in which photos are taken. While this makes perfect sense, it may not necessarily be the best angle for what you're shooting or the statement you want to make.
Spend an entire day shooting entirely from the ground (get down on one knee or crouch) and see how getting below your subjects changes how reality appears to your viewers. If you're feeling really lucky, try shooting entirely from your hip without double-checking the focus or the framing - you may end up with a lot of throw-away images, but you also might end up with something you could have never captured with a traditional method of shooting.
2. Push Your Film
All film has a recommended development time at any given temperature. For example, when developing 400 speed film in 70 degree chemicals, you would need to soak the film for 7 minutes before rinsing but don't take my word as you should check the recommended times off the developer manufacturers box. What many people don't realize is that the longer the film develops, the more stark the contrast becomes. The lights get lighter and the darks get darker.
If you're fortunate enough to develop your own film, try pushing your film an extra two or three minutes and see how it affects the final product. While it's easy to push your film too far into an overly contrasty mess, a little extra time can sometimes create a stunning result by adding extra contrast to important areas of your photograph.
3. Use the Bulb Setting
Any camera (even most digitals) that has manual settings will have the option to set your shutter speed to 'B,' or bulb. Simply put, this setting will make your camera shutter stay open for as long as you have the button pressed and is a terrific way to capture some images you may not have thought possible. Unfortunately the bulb setting won't work in daylight since it will overexpose the image, but in a dark environment it can create lots of new photo opportunities.
Place your camera on a tripod facing the night sky and leave your shutter open for 5 minutes (using a cable release) so you can capture the stars moving as the earth rotates. You can also hold the camera shutter open and have someone spin around holding a flashlight and then snap the flash and you'll have a shot of them encircled by light. This setting requires a lot of practice and experimentation but can often have tremendous results.
The next time you're feeling adventurous, remember these three photo experiments. For these experiments all you need is a cable release and a single lens reflex (SLR) camera or a digital SLR (DSLR) camera and you're all set. Just remember that you should only do experiments with photographs you're willing to lose - your daughter's wedding might not be the best time to try shooting everything from the hip. At the end of the day all that matters is that you have fun and create images that are beautiful, truthful, and important to you.
