Taking a picture is as easy as pushing a button, but taking a beautiful photograph is a work of art. You can take great photos with a simple, point-and-shoot camera or get lousy shots with the most expensive, top-of-the-line camera. It is not the camera that produces wonderful images, it is the photographer. To help you take great photographs, here are some helpful tips.
Be mindful of the framing of your subject. What this means will vary by subject. For instance, if you are taking a picture of one person, getting a close shot where the subject fills the frame is your best bet, since details are important. On the other hand, a landscape shot might benefit from being further away, as you get the entire scene this way.
If you can’t use a tripod while taking photos for some reason, you should always brace your upper body on a solid surface. Hold your breath if you can while taking the shot. This will minimize shake during the exposure, resulting in clearer pictures. A tripod is always best, however.
A lot of people think that days that have lots of sunlight are ideal for taking pictures. In fact, bright sunlight can ruin most pictures. Downsides to direct sunlight shots include glaring, awkward shadows, uneven highlights and human subjects squinting if they face the camera. If you can, take your pictures in the early morning hours, or in the late evening if you are taking photos outside.
Try not to be too mechanical with your shots. Sometimes it is better to get an eclectic angle than to shoot various run of the mill photos. Also, try to implement the scenery into your photos as often as possible if you want to capture a more personal and unique depiction.
Do not forget to take pictures of yourself. You can still compose the background and choose how you want to use light and colors. Give instructions to a friend and look at the preview before you go pause. These pictures will be nice memories when you look back at them.
To create an unusual and creative photograph, try changing your perspective. People are used to seeing things from normal human-height and eye-level viewpoints. Getting up high or down low can drastically change how a scene appears. Done right, this will create a startling, memorable shot that your viewers will appreciate.
If you do not have a tripod available to use for low lighting situations, try using your motor drive. Try to turn it up to high and then proceed to take a series of shots. Disregard the first shot and go ahead and keep the others that will always be sharper than the first.
One of the best ways to take better photographs is to master the exposure levels and modes of your camera. Modern cameras have a wide range of preset exposures and scene modes that are specificity designed to take photos in different situations. Learn how to use those first and then work your way into learning how to manage manual exposures.
Leave yourself some “Lead Room” or “Active Space” when dealing with subjects that move in your shots. This is just basically some empty space either in front of the subject or behind the subject. This makes for a less-cluttered and more pleasing action shot for the viewer to look at.
Now that you have some helpful tips, you will be able to start taking more great pictures. With this knowledge and some willingness to make some easy adjustments to your shooting techniques and your camera, you can get some pretty amazing shots from any camera that you are using.
