Whether you shoot selfies by the bathroom mirror, take snapshots of your family at picnics, or do professional photoshoots, chances are you deal with photography in your life. When learning languages, we often chase the practical, “everyday” vocabulary, so arts and crafts tend to fall by the wayside. Let us go over some phrases that will let you talk about your photography!<\/p>\n
Starting with the basics, you may already know these ways of saying “to take pictures” (I will be listing the imperfective form first for verbs that have two aspects):<\/p>\n
\u0441\u043d\u0438\u043c\u0430<\/span>\u0442\u044c, \u0441\u043d\u044f\u0442\u044c<\/strong> – to shoot someone\/something \u0444\u043e\u0442\u043e\u0433\u0440\u0430\u0444\u0438\u0440\u043e\u0432\u0430\u0442\u044c, \u0441\u0444\u043e\u0442\u043e\u0433\u0440\u0430\u0444\u0438<\/span>\u0440\u043e\u0432\u0430\u0442\u044c <\/strong>– to photograph, also known colloquially as \u0444\u043e\u0442\u043a\u0430\u0442\u044c\/\u0441\u0444\u043e\u0442\u043a\u0430\u0442\u044c \u0429\u0451\u043b\u043a\u0430\u0442\u044c, \u0449\u0451\u043b\u043a\u043d\u0443\u0442\u044c<\/strong> is a colloquial way of saying “to take a snapshot of something.”<\/p>\n According to Denis Sinyakov<\/a>, “…\u0431\u043b\u043e<\/span>\u0433\u0435\u0440\u043e\u0432, \u043a\u043e\u0442\u043e<\/span>\u0440\u044b\u0435 \u0441\u0434\u0435<\/span>\u043b\u0430\u043b\u0438 \u0435\u0449\u0435<\/span> \u0447\u0442\u043e<\/span>-\u0442\u043e \u043a\u0440\u043e<\/span>\u043c\u0435 \u0442\u043e\u0433\u043e<\/span>, \u0447\u0442\u043e \u043f\u0440\u043e<\/span>\u0441\u0442\u043e \u0449\u0435<\/span>\u043b\u043a\u043d\u0443\u043b\u0438 \u0444\u043e\u0442\u043e\u0430\u043f\u043f\u0430\u0440\u0430<\/span>\u0442\u043e\u043c, \u0433\u043e\u0440\u0430<\/span>\u0437\u0434\u043e \u0431\u043e<\/span>\u043b\u044c\u0448\u0435, \u0447\u0435\u043c \u0433\u0435\u043d\u0438\u0430<\/span>\u043b\u044c\u043d\u044b\u0445 \u0444\u043e\u0442\u043e\u0436\u0443\u0440\u043d\u0430\u043b\u0438<\/span>\u0441\u0442\u043e\u0432<\/strong>” (… there are many more bloggers who did something beyond taking a snapshot with their camera than there are genius photojournalists).<\/p>\n You probably learned very early in your Russian-learning endeavor that picture you take is called \u0444\u043e\u0442\u043e\u0433\u0440\u0430<\/span>\u0444\u0438\u044f<\/strong> (please note that \u043a\u0430\u0440\u0442\u0438<\/span>\u043d\u043a\u0430 won’t work in the case of photographs). The colloquial synonym for this is \u0444\u043e<\/span>\u0442\u043a\u0430<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Some typical adjectives to describe your \u0444\u043e\u0442\u043e\u0433\u0440\u0430\u0444\u0438\u044f are:<\/p>\n \u0426\u0432\u0435\u0442\u043d\u0430<\/span>\u044f<\/strong> – color<\/p>\n \u0427\u0451\u0440\u043d\u043e-\u0431\u0435<\/span>\u043b\u0430\u044f<\/strong> – black and white<\/p>\n Very often in Russia you need to have you picture taken for a specific document according to very precise requirements<\/a>. This is somewhat different from the US, where you can have your passport picture taken in a drugstore. These are called \u0444\u043e\u0442\u043e\u0433\u0440\u0430<\/span>\u0444\u0438\u044f\/\u0444\u043e<\/span>\u0442\u043e \u043d\u0430 \u0434\u043e\u043a\u0443\u043c\u0435<\/span>\u043d\u0442\u044b<\/strong>. Some types include:<\/p>\n \u0444\u043e\u0442\u043e\u0433\u0440\u0430<\/span>\u0444\u0438\u044f \u043d\u0430 \u043f\u0430<\/span>\u0441\u043f\u043e\u0440\u0442<\/strong> – passport photo<\/p>\n \u0444\u043e\u0442\u043e\u0433\u0440\u0430\u0444\u0438\u044f \u043d\u0430 \u043f\u0440\u0430\u0432\u0430<\/span>\/\u0432\u043e\u0434\u0438<\/span>\u0442\u0435\u043b\u044c\u0441\u043a\u043e\u0435 \u0443\u0434\u043e\u0441\u0442\u043e\u0432\u0435\u0440\u0435<\/span>\u043d\u0438\u0435<\/strong> – driver’s license photo<\/p>\n \u0444\u043e\u0442\u043e\u0433\u0440\u0430<\/span>\u0444\u0438\u044f \u043d\u0430 \u0432\u0438<\/span>\u0437\u0443<\/strong> – visa photo (these can vary depending on what country the visa is to)<\/p>\n As far as equipment is concerned, most likely you will need a \u0444\u043e\u0442\u043e\u0430\u043f\u043f\u0430\u0440\u0430<\/span>\u0442<\/strong> (camera). Cheap point and shoot cameras are colloquially called \u043c\u044b<\/span>\u043b\u044c\u043d\u0438\u0446\u0430<\/strong>, which literally means a soap container, probably because of their shape and overall flimsiness. Nowadays many amateur photographers in Russia are starting to use the higher end SLR cameras<\/a>. These are officially called \u0437\u0435\u0440\u043a\u0430<\/span>\u043b\u044c\u043d\u044b\u0439 \u0444\u043e\u0442\u043e\u0430\u043f\u043f\u0430\u0440\u0430\u0442<\/strong>, which gets shortened to \u0437\u0435\u0440\u043a\u0430<\/span>\u043b\u043a\u0430<\/strong> colloquially.<\/p>\n The person taking the pictures is of course a \u0444\u043e\u0442\u043e<\/span>\u0433\u0440\u0430\u0444<\/strong> (not to be confused with the English word photograph!). Back in the days, you would need some \u043f\u043b\u0451\u043d\u043a\u0430 (film), but now you can make so with a \u043a\u0430\u0440\u0442\u0430 \u043f\u0430\u043c\u044f\u0442\u0438 (memory card).<\/p>\n What kind of pictures do you want to shoot? The \u0436\u0430\u043d\u0440\u044b (genres) are numerous and include the following:<\/p>\n \u041f\u043e\u0440\u0442\u0440\u0435<\/span>\u0442<\/strong> – portrait<\/p>\n \u041f\u0435\u0439\u0437\u0430<\/span>\u0436<\/strong> – landscape<\/p>\n \u0420\u0435\u043f\u043e\u0440\u0442\u0430<\/span>\u0436<\/strong> – photojournalism<\/p>\n You can also talk about genres using the noun \u0441\u044a\u0451\u043c\u043a\u0430<\/strong> (literally, a photoshoot). So, you can say, “\u042f \u0437\u0430\u043d\u0438\u043c\u0430<\/span>\u044e\u0441\u044c \u043f\u043e\u0440\u0442\u0440\u0435<\/span>\u0442\u043d\u043e\u0439 \u0441\u044a\u0451\u043c\u043a\u043e\u0439<\/strong>” (I shoot portraits).<\/p>\n \u0410 \u0432\u0430\u043c \u043d\u0440\u0430\u0432\u0438\u0442\u0441\u044f \u0444\u043e\u0442\u043e\u0433\u0440\u0430\u0444\u0438\u0440\u043e\u0432\u0430\u0442\u044c? \u0412 \u043a\u0430\u043a\u043e\u043c \u0436\u0430\u043d\u0440\u0435 \u0432\u044b \u0441\u043d\u0438\u043c\u0430\u0435\u0442\u0435? \u0412\u0430\u043c \u0431\u043e\u043b\u044c\u0448\u0435 \u043d\u0440\u0430\u0432\u044f\u0442\u0441\u044f \u0447\u0451\u0440\u043d\u043e-\u0431\u0435\u043b\u044b\u0435 \u0438\u043b\u0438 \u0446\u0432\u0435\u0442\u043d\u044b\u0435 \u0444\u043e\u0442\u043e\u0433\u0440\u0430\u0444\u0438\u0438?<\/strong> (Do you like taking pictures? What\u00a0 genre do you shoot in? Do you like black and white or color pictures more?)<\/p>\n Naturally, there is much more to be said about photography in Russian. We have barely scratched the surface in this post, but hopefully this was helpful to get you talking about it. Let me know if you would like to have any other aspects of the art covered!<\/p>\n Finally, here is a short clip from the Russian cartoon \u041f\u0440\u043e\u0441\u0442\u043e\u043a\u0432\u0430\u0448\u0438\u043d\u043e about a “photohunt” (\u0444\u043e\u0442\u043e\u043e\u0445\u043e<\/span>\u0442\u0430<\/strong>). \u0428\u0430\u0440\u0438\u043a the dog is switching from one kind of shooting to another.<\/p>\n
\nIn an interview<\/a> published in Afisha (\u0410\u0444\u0438\u0448\u0430) Russian photographer Sergey Maksimishin (\u0421\u0435\u0440\u0433\u0435\u0439 \u041c\u0430\u043a\u0441\u0438\u043c\u0438\u0448\u0438\u043d) says, “\u041e<\/span>\u0447\u0435\u043d\u044c \u043b\u0435\u0433\u043a\u043e<\/span> \u0441\u043d\u0438\u043c\u0430<\/span>\u0442\u044c \u0432 \u0410\u0444\u0433\u0430\u043d\u0438\u0441\u0442\u0430<\/span>\u043d\u0435, \u0430 \u0432\u043e\u0442 \u0441\u043d\u0438\u043c\u0430<\/span>\u0442\u044c \u043d\u0430 \u0431\u0430<\/span>\u043d\u043a\u043e\u0432\u0441\u043a\u043e\u043c \u043a\u043e\u043d\u0433\u0440\u0435<\/span>\u0441\u0441\u0435 \u2014 \u044d\u0442\u043e \u0443<\/span>\u0436\u0430\u0441”<\/strong> (It’s very easy to shoot in Afghanistan, but shooting at a banking convention is a nightmare).<\/p>\n
\n<\/strong>Photographer Valery Nistratov, interviewed by the same publication, says<\/a>, “\u041a\u043e\u0433\u0434\u0430 \u044f\u00a0\u0444\u043e\u0442\u043e\u0433\u0440\u0430\u0444\u0438<\/span>\u0440\u043e\u0432\u0430\u043b \u043a\u043e\u043d\u0444\u043b\u0438<\/span>\u043a\u0442\u044b, \u043c\u043d\u043e\u0439 \u0434\u0432\u0438<\/span>\u0433\u0430\u043b \u0442\u043e<\/span>\u043b\u044c\u043a\u043e \u043f\u0440\u0438\u0440\u043e<\/span>\u0434\u043d\u044b\u0439 \u0430\u0432\u0430\u043d\u0442\u044e\u0440\u0438<\/span>\u0437\u043c” <\/strong>(When I was shooting conflicts, I was moved only by my natural recklessness”).<\/p>\n