In an age where we have the development of the mobile phone camera and the selfie much photography is seen as a family snapping affair most people see it as a personal statement record of their and their familie’s lives.In away I guess this selfie culture really reflects the world that we live in. . Few really look into an image trying to understand what the photograph is really depicting.A photograph is a photograph nice shot of me and friends or tourist icon with me. Yet even with the advent and sophistication of the new technology it still takes a good eye and technical knowledge to achieve consistency in high artistic quality work. A good photograph can be as interesting as viewing a film or DVD. The great single image states an awful lot remember the image of the skyscraper construction workers sitting on the steel girder hundred of feet above New York. A staged image but still tells us about the heights and the the working environment of workers in the early days of the great skyscraper the image screams period. 
The great and iconic photographs of Marilyn Monroe, 
especially the skirt blowing up in the updraft and the man in front of the tank in Tiananmen Square and all the images that have depicted life changing events.
The art of the great photographer is depicting the story in the most dramatic format possible just like the old masters Rembrandt, Caravaggio with their use of light to make the most powerful statement along with the professional’s ability to spot the moment and be quick enough to catch it.The word “photography” is a combination of the Greek root words “photo-,” meaning “light,” and “-graphia,” meaning “writing” or “drawing.” Thus, “photography” literally means “writing or drawing with light.” . The moment can also be subtle and not totally dramatic requiring an interested eye to gain understanding. The professional photographer uses light composition clarity diffusion all to gain maximum impact, post shoot development can be as important as the shoot. Professional work can take many hours in the post shoot period in order to achieve the desired result whether for a wedding, artistic image, journalistic, fashion or magazine shoot. With all the innovation there is still no click and produce method that will give a planned result.In fact in professional photography Photoshop is one of the most un-user friendly programmes, however it is also one of the most powerful. Photoshop is designed to allow the professional to develop his or her own templates and techniques for developing the right image for the right moment. It is now necessary that the professional understands a raft of powerful programmes all designed to help achieve the required result. Even simple photographic shoots are time consuming, images need to be checked in there hundreds usually at 100% in size bad images need to be eliminated, the files need to be reduced to an acceptable quality and number. Quite often this means the professional eye spending days on the exercise of selection and correction.
Point and shoot camera compact and phone are built around small sensors with many pixels too small to take in enough light to give images the definition achieved by bigger professional cameras. Pixels can be a red herring as the bigger the pixel the more light it attracts and the better clarity of image. A camera with a large full frame sensor or bigger and not so high number of pixels can sometimes give a clearer image than a high number of pixels as the larger pixels attract more light.
Understanding the camera is vital for having the control to achieve the result and consistency of work. Today the digital camera is an incredibly complex piece of machinery. I have great respect for the photographers of the past working blind relying on their mathematical knowledge to gain results although there was a period where image composition could be checked using polaroid. Today working blind has been taken away from the photographer however the modern era has seen the development of a raft of sophisticated technical settings giving the photographer the potential for great control over the resulting image. We live in a world where focus and understanding seem to be considered less important unless there is personal relevance. The world of the professional photographer is understanding the mass of technical developments, lenses, fundamentals of camera development, lighting, composition, printing papers, studio working, Software development and printing, mathematical ability is still useful, in fact today’s professional photography is as complex as the days of film and in some ways possibly even more complex in order to eliminate random. The camera gives us some of the greatest understanding of ourselves and the professional photographer can take this understanding to even greater levels – Knowledge is and should only be the road to understanding. The camera is the tool or paintbrush allowing us greater levels of understanding.
Images of London a vibrant City capturing the sole of a Capital City
Image Shane Aurousseau
Photographer Shane Aurousseau
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