AdoramaPix Forums/Community Chat/General Discussion
Share your photographic wisdom
Al Escudero
posted this on August 09, 2010 06:35 pm
A friend of mine picked up a new camera this summer. Since she liked my photos, she asked me if I could give her some tips for how to take better pictures. This is always a tough question. How do you distill years of experience into a handful of tips? What tips will an amateur be able to understand and relate to that won’t make their eyes glaze over and cause them to suddenly remember a pressing appointment elsewhere?
You’ve all seen them… photos by friends and family that make you wince. The indoor flash shots that make it look like the subject is in a dark cave. The portrait shot where the person is dead center and straight ahead with a bunch of empty space to either side. The back-lit shot where the background is perfectly exposed and the people are silhouettes.
Here is a challenge to members of the AdoramaPix community. Can you pass on a few nuggets of photographic wisdom that are simple enough for amateurs to understand and remember that will tangibly improve their photos?
I'll get the ball rolling with a few comments of my own.
Comments
When shooting people on a sunny day, don’t have people facing the sun. You’ll end up with squinting faces and harsh shadows.Fill Flash is your friend. If the sun is behind your subject, use your camera’s fill flash to fill in the shadows. Even on cloudy days, fill flash will eliminate the dark shadows under people’s eyebrows and make colors richer.
The dramatic lighting and colors in the morning and evening can make for more interesting photos.Photos taken at high noon tend to be washed out and have harsh shadows.
Try shooting from different angles and putting your subject off-center. Taking photos from exactly straight ahead usually makes for boring photos.
Eliminate distracting elements. When composing your photo, ask yourself if the various elements in the viewfinder are adding to the photo, or distracting viewers away from the subject. What story are you trying to tell with that photo? If your subject is vertical, don’t be afraid to rotate your camera in order to eliminate distracting elements.
If you want close-ups of people’s faces, stand at a distance and zoom in rather than zooming out and pushing the camera in close. Facial features get distorted at wide angles.
I remember the first (real) lesson I learned from a professional: "having an expensive camera won't make you a better photographer", said in response to my desire to have a camera like his. With todays "Auto" mode prefered digital cameras it's easy to get (and accept) okay pictures and never learn anything about the basics. Learn the basics of exposure control (Apature, Shutter Speed & ISO). My tip: Read, read, read. Don't read the "quick start guide, read the instruction manual. Learn to shoot on apature priorty and shutter priorty and the difference between the two. Learn about (the science of) light, black & white are not colors they are the two extremes of grey.Light is the photographer's pallet (containing all the colors of the spectrum) and the camera is like your brush. Lastly, don't be afraid to make mistakes, shoot, shoot shoot. With todays digital storage medium it doesn't cost anything but time. Be your own worst critic, don't settle for "pretty good" push yourself to always try to do better. Explore the "MANUAL" setting on your camera.
Maybe I'll give some more pertinent tips later
Keep your ISO as low as possible, (slight) under xeposure is better than over exposure, fill the frame with your subject and look at the whole view finder to make sure of your composition, especially when photographing groups outdoors (you don't want people with trees growing out of their heads)