7 important photography tips, for any aspiring photographer
They say, the most important critic in your life, is yourself. If this is the case, then the world is either filled with very skilled photographers, or bias self assesments, according to Canon’s 2016 ‘Photography trends study’.
The report revealed that: ‘80 percent of consumers rated their own photography skills as good to excellent’, as well as ’62 percent boasted that they think their snapping skills have improved in the past two to five years’.
This study clearly shows that, even if people are amazing photographers or not truthful with themselves, they want to improve their photography skills nonetheless.
These tips are made with the sole intention of improving your photography, so after taking them in, grab your camera, select a location to shoot and try them out!
1. Leading lines
One of the most influential elements in photos, is the lines that create and compose the image. But these are not just boring old lines, in photography, these are called ‘leading’ lines.
This specific detail is highlighted a lot within photography, as leading lines are what makes an image appeal to the naked eye. The line helps guide the viewer’s eyesight from the start of the line, till the end, therefore also attracting the viewer to stare at the whole image.
Without leading lines, some people think an image has no structure and will condemn it, but sometimes an image with no lines can blur the concept we have of photos, whilst also creating a piece of abstract art, accodring to a master class article.
2. Editing
When starting out in photography, it feels really easy to simply capture an image and then improve it massively in editing softwares such as Lightroom or Photoshop.
Try to stay clear of that, as a good photo will be perfect in its own natural state and over editing images which are not good to begin with, will not have positive results.
Instead, when editing an image, try to only increase the features it already has. For example, if an image has lots of shadows and a few sun spots, increasing the contrast alone, will make the two differernt photo aspects more individual. This will then make the conflict between the two aspects more visible and give the image a unique feeling.
Over editing occurs too frequently in photography, so have more faith in your photo skills, as the Skylum post suggests…
3. Texture and zoom focus
When people talk about the ‘texture’ of an image, they aren’t talking about the feeling of the paper it is printed on. Instead it is used to help describe the possible feelings you would feel when touching the surfaces within the picture.
For example, a photo of the dessert would have the texture of a drought and sand, giving a dry feeling to the viewer. But in order to shoot the texture in the image correctly, you must make sure to focus your zoom perfectly on the subject.
Even being a millimetre off with the focus of the camera, can result in the surface of your photo’s subject becoming blurry and losing definition. Thus losing its texture, which is why correct zoom focus and texture go hand in hand in photography.
4. Rule of thirds, composition and structure
One of the most fundamental elements to ALWAYS consider when talking photos, is the rule of thirds.
This magnificent little grid, allows you to structure your image whilst capturing it. This therefore gives you the chance of arranging your: main subject, the negative space around it and a possible second subject, perfectly into the grid, to make use of the whole image frame.
Moving things around in order to fit everything perfectly within the grid is called composition in photography. By composing your image, it gives you the power of selecting what your viewers will focus on the most within the photo, therefore not just making you a more precise photographer but a composer (of some sort) too!
As, photography experts in the Shaw academy said: ‘In a landscape photo, place the horizon on one of those horizontal grid lines, instead of dead center in the photo. This allows you to highlight either more of the sky, or more of the land, whichever is more interesting.’
5. Depth of field
Many photographers do not see depth of field as one of the main elements to be looking out for in your images. That is because all photos, by nature, have either shallow or deep depth of field when captured.
With its effect being so subtle, it is easy to sometimes forget the true effect of the depth, as it can change any photo’s meaning, simply by changing the zoom.
When capturing your photo, think about what you are focusing on and what your main subject may be. With this in mind, use either a shallow depth of field, if the subject is close to you or a deep depth, if the subject is far. Lastly, strategically place your subject within the rule of thirds and voila, you have your photo with a specific focus…
6. Colour or black & white?
Deciding if you want to leave an image in colour or change it to black and white is a common dilemma within the photography community. But, in the end it all depends on you and your image.
Black and white photography is mostly used when trying to communicate a certain dark or more emotive feeling across the picture. When changing your image to B&W, it means shadows and contrasts throughout the photo will increase massively, whilst brightness and saturation are killed off completely.
This effect is what leads to B&W images becoming popular, as viewer’s tend to feel more emotions coming from that type of photos, as we associate darkness with more negative and deep impacting feelings, such as loneliness and fear. For example, on Instagram, the hashtag ‘#B&W’ is used in over 38 million posts, whilst ‘#Colourpics’ has 30 million (statistics from Instargram search).
7. Creativity
In the end of the day, photography is still an art and as will all art there is no right or wrong answers. So, there is also no wrong or correct way of capturing an image. Even a blurry and out of focus image can be seen as amazing, if that is its purpose and a feeling is communicated through the blurriness.
All of the tips listed above are simply suggestions that one may try out when the creative juices run to a low point. As much as following all of these tips, also try to break some of them.
For example, not following the rule of thirds, may result in a photo with no particular focus, but instead a highlight of the image as a whole. This technique is perfect if it is a very zoomed in picture, where the subject fills the whole frame and there is no need for a specific focus.
The best photography always seems to be when it is from the heart and the emotions the photographer is feeling are truly conveyed correctly. This is why folowing your own way to taking photos can lead to your pictures having a unique selling point, making each one a signature of your style.
“Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don’t matter, and those who matter don’t mind.”
― Bernard M. Baruch
