"Advertising Photography: Booming Sector"

As we all know photography is a unique and creative medium of self-expression. Photography and painting are the same. Each renders imagination in tangible form. Photography requires an eye for aesthetics and a person has to have some inborn talent to do well in this field. Photography, which is an art in itself, has a history of over 150 years.

Generally, photographers tend to specialize in one field of work such as advertising photography, journalistic, fashion, macro and press photography etc. In the current scenario advertising photography has become good source of income and a means to a comfortable life.

Advertising Photography and its Growth in the Market: Mainly it requires very good techniques and erudition. Generally the advertising photographers are given certain instructions before the shoot and they have to keep these in mind when they are deciding on angle and visual effects.

The creative departments of the advertising agencies arrange the shoots where they may be employing full time photographers, hiring free lancers or hiring them from the studios. This is the best-paid and most competitive branch; to succeed in this field what you require is ability, efficiency and right personality.

Advertising Photography and its Specialization: Advertising Photography is destined for advertising purpose and it can be of any subject. Generally it’s categorized in to the following specialist areas such as Still Life, Food, Cars, Draperies, Landscape and Portraiture. An advertising photography is likely to build a reputation for excellence in one of these areas. In these situations some photographers manage not to be type cast and produce variety of creative works.

Subject Placement: The biggest mistake many photographers make is to try to shot a person’s whole body, head to toe. Don’t attempt this, unless clothes are important (such as a uniform). Instead, focus on the face. The eyes and mouth are the most important features, so start there and work out until you have just enough to represent the individuals. Crop tightly, and don’t be afraid to overflow the frame with person’s face.

Direct eye can be as engaging in a picture as it is in real life. When taking a picture of some one, hold the camera at the person’s eye level to unleash the power of those magnetic gazes and measuring smiles. For children that means stopping to their level. And your subject need not stare always at the camera. All by itself that eye level angle will create a personal and inviting feeling that pulls you in to the picture.

Setting the Scene: Try to set-up your camera ahead of time rather than making people wait. Help relax your subjects by engaging them in to conversation. Get them to laugh or smile with a joke from the day. Finally, be sure to put yourself in the shot- that’s what the self-timer is for.

By G.A.R.Santhosh© 2008

My Internship at The New Indian Express

Doing an internship is a great way to make new friends and to learn new things within the industry. Impressing the right people could lead to future work, to collaborations between the company you did your internship with and the one you end up working for, and glowing references that put you one step ahead of the competition.

I did my summer internship at The New Indian Express. I must say it’s the best internship firm for mass media students. It provided me ample opportunity to learn provided i wanted to... I initially started my training from reporting department, feature and at last the editorial. They provide me adequate training pertained to each desk.

Actually in the beginning i was so scared about my performance, since I was amateur in to that field. But my mentor Mr. Rajagopal from editorial desk guided and motivated my performance. His unique way of teaching made to me learn and develop my career in a better way. The atmosphere is so good that they wont treat you as a trainee or intern but as an employee.

I was able to work with the cross-cultural environment and this literally allowed me to improvise my communication barrier. This added a new layer to my career and made me free to express my views. During this 30 days of internship allowed me to identify my potential skills into action.

In the end, taking an internship offers many benefits. From my perspective it promises to be a memorable and enjoyable expereince, it offered me the chance to impress potential employers in a real working enviroment. This internship is something that i feel which had let me know about 5 major parameters such as gain valuable work expereince, have an edge in the job market, decide if this is the right career for you, networking oppurtunities and gain confidence. It’s a great way to try out your chosen filed make sure you like it before you commit on a more permanent basis

By G A R Santhosh(C)2008