of visuals and haptics - what kind of creative are you as a photographer?

photo by Borj Meneses for Digital Photography Plus

How you present your photographs shows what kind of creative you are as a photographer. What kind of creative are you? Haptic or visual?

Have you ever wonder how some photographers reached a particular style that individually represent them - or why people viewing specific photos react more or appreciate certain pictures more than they would other photographs?

Ever think why some photographers present their subjects totally different from what they are in reality - how some banal objects are distorted to form an ambiguous image quite unlike what they really are?

photo by Nanette Villanueva for Digital Photography Plus

And then there are others who choose to present their view of the world for what it really is. They either document, enhance, or even emphasize, but not totally veering away from how the image is supposed to be.

Which is the right or wrong way in presenting your image as a photographer? Is there a proper or an improper way or even a much better way of viewing or appreciating photos?

How a photographer choose to present their vision of the world has a lot to do with the mental processes they underwent in arriving at the final image. It has got something to do with what creative type a photographer as an artist is.

So what kind of creative photographer are you?

There are 2 kinds.

photo by Christopher de Venecia for Digital Photography Plus

One is a visual photographer. They use their camera to document the world as it is. A camera becomes a recording device and a lot of importance is given to the subject. Documentaries and photo-journalistic works are typical example of a visual photographer. Their photographs make us react more strongly to actual events or images. It enables us to view things and places that we’ve never experienced or seen before. If you as a photographer give an objective view of the world reflecting the images within it as it is, or if you as a viewer appreciate this kind of photos or images, you are a visual creative.

photo by Nanette Villanueva for Digital Photography Plus

Another creative kind gears to a more expressionistic, intuitive way of presenting their images. They do not just capture images they incorporate their most individualistic way of personal expression. Colors are determined by their own emotional or personal symbolism. They break from tradition, as they present the essential nature rather than the physical nature of their subjects. Images are distorted or abstracted, moved or rearranged to liberate their inner vision actively imparting part of themselves to their photos. These types are called haptic photographers. A viewer appreciating this kind of photos more can be haptic creatives.

There is no right or wrong or much better way of appreciating or viewing or expressing things in photographs. It is just the way people are, showing how they are creatively wired. No matter what type of creative you are, it is in your own disposition as a photographer to make your own image work. The possibilities are endless. Do not let someone else dictate or set the limits to what you ought to present or achieve in your images just to be appreciated. Do not compete with others in their own turfs, create your own niche, and don’t be influenced by fads. The important thing is you enjoy the process of making photographs to continue doing so. In the end this will allow your creative capabilities to shine forward and be recognized.

definition of a professional photographer

photo by Lourdes Inosanto of Lourdes Inosanto for Digital Photography Plus

By definition, what is a professional photographer? Are there parameters that delineates a pro from say an enthusiast or an amateur photographer? Are there certain rudimentary skills that you need to possess before you get considered as one.


Here's a little bit of trivia. Hope there aren't any violent reactions, hahaha.. just a thought provoking piece to talk about - so what is a professional photographer by definition?


Simple - it is someone who is a photographer by profession. It means he or she earns a living through photography. So if you take photos as a hobby, no matter how good you are, you remain an enthusiast. Those, on the other hand, who take pictures in the park no matter how amateurish can be considered a professional photographer. Happy shooting! :)

digital camera's full frame and non-full frame proportion

This is a must to know if you are a photographer who plans to shoot for magazines using a digital camera (an editorial photographer), or if you are a magazine art or photo director, or a magazine editor - what the full frame and non-full frame digital camera proportions are in connection with your magazine size. This is especially important if you are one of those photographers who prefer to be in control of how much your photos should be cropped. For editors, art and photo directors you need to know in advance whether or not a photographer's camera is full frame or not, to calculate the space for your masthead for cover photos so that you will know how much of the photo you can tightly crop without sacrificing the photo composition.

Here are the proportions:

photo by Edmund Chan
Canon 5D mk2 - full frame

photo by Warlen Hipulan Rodriguez

Canon 1100D

The size of a full frame digital camera is 3 inches longer in length in proportion to the usual magazine size of 8 1/2 X 11 inches. So if you are using a full-frame camera and you are shooting for the cover of an 8 1/2 X 11" sized magazine, aside from the provisional space you will allot for the masthead, you should allow space for the cropping of additional 3 more inches on its length.

But if you are shooting for National Geographic, no need to make provision for a 3-inch space for cropping. National Geographic takes the actual proportion of full frame cameras, all you need to allot space for is the masthead.

Non-full frame cameras, on the other hand, are the exact proportion of an 8 1/2 X 11 inches magazine. Here you can control the cropping of your photos and preserve the dignity of your composition.

These same proportions are in effect when you have your photos printed in a vertical orientation, too. In the pre-digital days when people use mostly film cameras, notice that when you enlarge a photo to fill the usual 8 1/2 X 11-inch photo paper, some of the areas are automatically cropped either on top or at the bottom in a vertical orientation just like a full frame digital camera. This is because full frame cameras adopted the proportion of a film camera. So if we want to preserve the cropping of our photos when we have it printed the best thing to do is print it with either a white or black border. Notice that after the photos were printed with border, the left and right-side borders of the prints are thicker than the borders on its top and bottom side in a vertical orientation, clearly demonstrating  the difference in proportion.