My most focal hobby is taking photos. I have always been a visual person, who looked at scenery through a perspective where I imagined what I could see, being hung up as a photo. I have been improving my skill over the last three years in taking photos of various things such as: scenery, people, architecture and performance.
My main area of expertise in the realm of photography is performance photography; as it is the style I have done the most. It excites me to watch shows being performed while I capture scenic moments; and due to being a highly visual person, I tend to wait for the right moments to capture a scene. Using a Nikon D3400 DSLR, I have taught myself the best tricks in how to take the best photos during a performance, as I am now knowledgeable about the right ISO, shutter speed and exposure settings to set my camera to. The strict timing of taking photos during a limited run of performances, thrills me as I am only given a few moments to take a photograph.
Another type of photo I take are personal ones, in a photo-shoot manner. In my undergraduate Theatre course, I took the module Documenting Performance; where I conducted a photo-shoot with people who identified within the Queer spectrum. In this photo-shoot, I experimented with props, angles and lighting – which ultimately helped me find my personal style in photography, as I discovered that I enjoyed taking photos which had strong colours within them. Before this experience, I had never taken photos of people so close up before, but since these photo-shoots; I am eager to take photos of more people in the future.
I also enjoy taking photographs of my surroundings. The scenery around me, particularly when I am in historic sights or among nature is very enticing; as I often find edges and angles that I can capture from. I find that I capture a different style to before, as my more scenic photos tend to be sharper edged, with a mixture of modern and historic architecture within my gallery – as I often like to mix various different styles within my portfolio.
I strive to broaden my skill and take on more opportunities to take photos of people and performances, as it is a hobby that I thoroughly enjoy.