SQLAuthority News – Most Valuable Photographer – Vijay Raj

Vijay Raj, a Microsoft MVP, is also a wonderful photographer. A good snapshot stops a moment from running away.  ~Eudora Welty

If I could tell the story in words, I wouldn’t need to lug around a camera.  ~Lewis Hine

Vijay Raj is a passionate Technology Evangelist and a Microsoft MVP. He recently took few snaps of my daughter. As soon as he put the images on his album online, it was instant hit and was wallpaper of many desktops. Every praise one does for Vijay is not enough. I personally have no words to express my feeling after looking at the photos he has taken. If you really like the photos, I strongly suggest to visit Vijay’s technical blog – msigeek.com and photo page iClickd.

Every great dream begins with a dreamer.

Our thoughts create our reality.

What Makes a Photograph Truly Good

Looking at these pictures again, I kept asking myself one question: why do some photos stay with us for years while others are forgotten in a second? I am not a photographer, but spending time around good ones has taught me a few things that apply to anyone holding a camera, or even just a phone.

• Light matters more than the camera. Soft window light or the gentle light of early morning and late evening flatters every face. The most expensive camera cannot rescue harsh, flat light.
• Wait for the moment, not the pose. The best pictures of children rarely come from “look here and smile”. They come from patience, when the child forgets the camera and simply is herself.
• The eyes tell the story. Focus on the eyes and the whole picture comes alive. A glance between two people can say more than any caption.
• Keep it simple. A clean background and one clear subject make a photograph easy to feel. Every extra object in the frame competes for attention.
• Get down to their level. Photograph a child from a child’s height and you enter her world instead of looking down on it.
• Connection comes first. People relax in front of someone they trust. The warmth you see in a good portrait is often the warmth between the photographer and the person in front of the lens.

A good photograph is not only about skill. It is about attention, patience and care. That is exactly what I see in Vijay’s work, and it is why these pictures are among the most precious things we own.

A great photograph is not taken with a camera, it is taken with patience and a lot of heart.

Published by Pinal Dave on SQLAuthority. More of my work at pinaldave.com.