Photography is, in my opinion, one of the best ways to capture art. With quick access to smartphones and digital cameras, taking photos has never been easier — but the question is, how do you go about taking a good photo?
This guide will serve as a foolproof manual for improving your photography skills. Whether you’re capturing your day-to-day life, documenting memories with friends, or working on your Instagram feed, these eight tips will help you with getting that perfect shot.
So, grab your camera or phone and get ready to snap away!
Tip #1: Understand composition
We’ve all heard the phrase “a picture is worth a thousand words,” but what can we do so that someone says that about your photo?
You’ve got to start with composition, which is arranging the objects in a photo so it’s pleasing to look at within the frame. First, identify your focal point, the part of the image you’re immediately drawn to. Then, you can use the rule of thirds to position your focal point in the left or right third of the image while leaving the other two-thirds open.
In your phone’s camera settings, you can turn the grid on to assist you with applying these techniques.
Tip #2: Play around with exposure
Exposure is the amount of light that reaches the frame of your camera. Essentially, it determines how bright or dark your photo will be.
According to Adobe, “When you take a picture, you press the shutter button to open a camera’s aperture, and light streams in, triggering a response from a sensor. Exposure is the amount of light that reaches your camera’s sensor, creating visual data over a period of time.”
Mastering exposure plays a big part in improving your photography skills, as it can impact both the mood and clarity of your photos.
Tip #3: Utilize leading lines
Incorporating the compositional technique of leading lines is one of my favourite things to capture in photography. These lines, which can be either natural or human-made, are meant to lead the viewer’s eye to the focal point of the photo.
Leading lines are also a great way to add depth to your images and can be found on a winding path, a row of street lamps, a city skyline, and so on.
Tip #4: Explore different angles
It’s all about perspective! Experimenting with different perspectives is bound to add some creativity to your photos. Angles in photography can make or break a photo as they help to transform mundane scenes into beautiful artwork.
High, low, and wide angles are just a few different perspectives to try out. For example, if you’re trying out street photography, try getting your camera as close to the ground as possible and shoot upwards. For other angles, using a tripod is a good way to capture if you’re having difficulty with it.
Tip #5: Have good lighting
You need to have enough light for your focal point to be visible. If it’s too dark, your camera will have problems capturing the scene. Natural lighting is great for high-quality images.
I prefer to shoot in the morning, in overcast weather, or at golden hour, the last hour before sunset and the first hour after sunrise, because of the softer colours the camera picks up on, rather than broad daylight and the darkness at blue hour (just before sunrise and after sunset) and nighttime.
Now, if you’re ever photographing indoors or when it’s dark, lighting equipment is a solution to these problems. It’s also important to note that if there’s too much light in your shots, you might see unwanted shadows in your images.
Tip #6: The more shots, the better
I can’t stress this enough — take more than one photo! Even if you think you got the perfect shot, snap a few more, just to be safe.
Try different angles and poses and/or switch up your camera settings, anything so you end up with a variety of pictures. It’s always better to have 20 photos to choose from than one because it’ll give you the chance to pick the perfect picture. Also, spontaneous moments come across as more genuine and authentic than posed photos!
Tip #7: Know your camera settings
If you’re shooting on a DSLR, take the time to understand ISO, shutter speed and aperture, as well as the different shooting modes (I really enjoy taking photos on aperture priority).
If you want to level up your photography game, you’ll have to eventually make the switch from shooting on automatic to manual – you’ll have much more creative liberty then!
Tip #8: Editing can make all the difference
The power of post-processing is really all that. Editing allows you to refine and enhance your photographs in the best way possible. You can edit your photos in the built-in editing software on phones and laptops, but to take things a step further, the Adobe Lightroom mobile app is free and allows you to use most of the editing tools without having to pay.
By editing your photos, you can play around with cropping, colour correction and grading, and even touch-ups! Also, it’s best to use a light hand in the beginning, you don’t want to go overboard with changing the appearance of your photo and be left with a final product you’re unhappy with. Let the photo itself do most of the talking, and try tweaking the brightness and contrast at first (this is called colour correction).
Keeping these tips in mind, you’re bound to take some great photos. Remember, practice is key!