If you want to move from just taking snapshots to doing serious photography, you’ll need to learn how to take artful photos that illustrate your feelings about your subjects. When you want to do this, you should follow some smart photo tips. If you learn their secrets, you could easily become one of them. Use these tips, and you’ll be able to create high-quality photos.
Overcast skies should not be included in the composition of a picture. Including too much of a gray sky will make your pictures appear muted and washed-out. Black and white photos can work great for an overcast sky. Conversely, a bright blue sky will only enhance your photographs, as long as you are mindful of the light.
Play with the manual white balance feature. Taking indoor pictures is tricky because of the yellow tone the lightbulbs give off. Instead of spending the time to fix the lighting, you can just change the white balance from your camera. This will give your photo’s a more professional looking appearance.
Blur the background of shots with people in them just a little bit. When the background is fully focused, the viewer will have trouble determining just what the focus of the picture was supposed to be. You can do this by making the background farther away than your subject.
Pack your equipment for a trip carefully. Take the lenses you anticipate using, and don’t forget to bring along additional batteries and cleaning equipment. Don’t take more than you need, and think about what you can carry for your trip.
Take photos of your travel souvenirs when you’re on a trip. You might take a shot of the store, or photograph the item in its original setting. In this way, you can re-live the experiences that tell the story of your trip and the mementos you chose to bring back home with you.
Make sure the subject you are photographing is close enough to clearly see. A subject too far in the distance loses too much detail for the shot to be very good. Move closer to give your shots vivid clarity.
Take candid shots at a wedding to help warm yourself up while the guests prepare. You may also capture some gems in the process.
Limit yourself to ensure that each photograph you take is creative. You could, for instance, shoot only pictures that involve your pet. You could shoot only pictures with water in them. Focus your shooting to one spot or room and shoot 100 varied photographs. By enforcing this limitation, your mind has to find new ways to express the subject in a great photograph and this causes you to think beyond your normal comfort-zone.
The lighting will have a huge effect on the outcome of your photos. The ideal lighting for outside photos is provided by the sun when it is low on the horizon. When it is too bright, or the sun is high in the sky, it casts unnatural shadows and your subjects will squint into the camera because the light is so strong. If you do use sunlight, position your photo so that the sun is hitting the subject from the side.
Taking great pictures is a useful skill that will offer a lifetime of special memories. It is a skill worth having. You will have to do plenty of research and practice to make your shots better, though it will all be worth it when you reach a higher level of photography.
