Do you want to take the next step beyond casual photography? Learn how to make your photos go from mundane to fabulous by using the tips below. With an eye to improving the fundamentals, the advice here will help you become a much better photographer.
Understand and anticipate the impact that wind will have on the photos that you take. For example, if you are planning on shooting flowers, avoid days where the wind is very active. When flowers and plants are stable, you will have the best chance to get the highest quality and resolution in your picture. In situations where you don’t have a choice, such as weddings, have a contingency plan. Are there sheltered areas where the wind will have less impact?
Blur your background when taking portraits of live subjects. When everything in the picture is focused including the background, it will make the picture a bit busy and it will be hard for the viewers to specifically focus on the subject of the picture. An easy way to do this is to make sure that there is a larger distance between the subject and the background.
A great photography tip is to talk to as many photographers as you can to learn their tricks. Learning on your own is an excellent path, but it’s always helpful to hear about what other photographers are doing. You might learn subtle tricks that can really improve your photographs.
Do not rely on your equipment or on editing too much. Expensive equipment can make every picture look great, but the artistic quality of a piece still depends on your creativity. You can take great pictures from an artistic point of view with an extremely cheap camera as long as you create something original.
Play with lens distortion. Most photographs use portrait lenses or zoom lenses to focus on an object, and use a wide-angle lens for landscapes and such. By using a lens for a different use than its intended one, you will get a very original photograph. Do not let this become your style: learn when you can use an original lens.
A good photograph should capture only a part of something. You do not need to get a panoramic vision when you can find the right detail that says it all. You should learn how to look for something that will speak to people and convey the meaning you are looking for.
Learn the apertures of the camera and understand how they are used. The aperture varies the amount of light allowed to travel through the lens which expands and contracts to allow this light to pass through. The more light that is allowed to travel through the lens, more objects in the photo will be in focus. The less light allowed through, the focus will shift to only focusing on objects in the foreground.
Many parents cannot resist the temptation to put a bow in the hair of a young girl when she is being photographed. If at all possible, discourage this practice. It creates an unnatural feeling to an image, while almost always contrasting with the fine texture of human hair. Bows dominate the image and detract from the young girl’s natural features.
Learn to turn your camera on it’s side. If the subject that you are shooting is taller than it is wide, then use your camera to make it take up more of the frame. Turn your camera on it’s side and take a vertical picture instead of the traditional horizontal one.
Things like light and focus might seem basic, but they are essential if you want to capture that special shot in the manner that it deserves. To produce stunning photos, follow the advice that was presented in this article.
