Launched just under a year ago is gorgeous photography site Lumitrix, where you can buy limited edition contemporary prints for £50 a pop. It’s the perfect place to buy beautiful photography and a lovely idea for a really personal gift. Freelance photographer and founder Cara Connell shares her photography tips…
What top three camera tips would you give to a beginner ?
1. The pros say it is not about what equipment you use and that a great photograph can be taken with any type of camera. I hate to admit that I am a creature of habit and am only happy if shooting with my Canon. Find a brand and format that you are happy with and build up your confidence with it so that your settings become instinctive – that way you can focus wholly on what you are trying to create rather than how to do it.
2. Shoot, shoot, shoot. Its true – that is why so many people say it in their advice. With experience shooting becomes like a reflex, it is like becoming fluent in a language and that is when you can command your image.
3. I wish I had gone for tuition for Photoshop right at the beginning, rather than trying to teach myself it for a good two years. Having tuition just sped up the process so much – and really accelerated my understanding of the rationale behind it.
What is your favourite lens to shoot with and why?
My Canon 85mm f/1.8 USM Prime lens. It is perfection – the capabilities of the aperture are sensational providing amazing depth of field and clarity so that light is captured beautifully and a subject jumps out at you from its background.
This photo (taken in Havana, Cuba) and the one above (Bondi Beach) both by Sydney photographer Louisa Seton.
What do you wish you knew about photography when you started out?
The less equipment the better. Don’t over complicate the process – some of the most beautiful images can be taken using natural light and capturing the essence of the moment rather than building a huge scene and taking a less special moment.
What makes a photograph beautiful to you? Do you have a current favourite photographer on the site?
Capturing a moment that most would otherwise miss due to the noise of living life too fast. It would be unprofessional to claim a favourite. What I can say is that certain images may not have had much impact on me when I first saw them – but with time certain ones grow on me to a level where I fall in love with them….a slow burner shall we say.
This photo by Indian photographer Nandini Valli Muthiah
And, slightly unrelated, but how did you go about renovating and decorating your gorgeous west London flat?
Thank you for your compliments about my flat: there was no professional approach to designing my flat. With each room I would find one piece/colour/material or piece of furniture that I fell in love with and then build around that piece. The walls in the kitchen were done with a wonderful artisan I found in East London called John Harragan- he can create whatever magic you want to. The key points for me were to keep the flight full of light, and a gentle mix between ultra modern with a hint of rustic and raw materials.
A big thank you to Cara for her brilliant tips and thoughts on photography – do check out Lumitrix and it’s gorgeous gallery. This incredible stallion by Astrid Harrisson is next on my shopping list.