Think You Can’t Take A Professional Quality Photo? Think Again!

July 10, 2013 by  
Filed under Photography Tips

Photography can be daunting if you have never taking a picture with a proper camera before. With all the different photography sites out there, new photographers may not know which advice to take seriously. Below are some tips to assist you in getting all of this information organized to where you can start taking better photos.

Snap your photographs quickly and instinctively. If you dawdle, your subject may move away, the lighting might change or something else may ruin the shot that you have worked so hard to frame. The more rapidly you can photograph your subject, the more likely you are to get your desired shot.

Keep things as simple as possible when you are trying to capture a picture. You can often create a gorgeous picture without playing around with the different motion and color settings.

When starting out in photography, you should keep it simple with the settings of your camera. You should try to become knowledgeable about one part of a control, such as shutter speed or aperture, prior to moving on to the next one. This will let you focus on the picture you are trying to capture, instead of wasting time messing around with your camera while your subjects walk away.

Many people think that bright, sunny days are best for taking pictures, but the truth is that direct sunlight can ruin any photo. This not only causes glares and shadows in your pictures, but it also casts uneven highlights, and makes your subjects quint when they’re facing towards the camera because of the sun. Aim to take outdoor pictures during the two golden hours, dusk and dawn.

An important factor in photography composition, is framing. Zoom in on your subject or the most important part of the photo and cut out extraneous objects from the background. By using the zoom feature you can clear up any unwanted clutter and eliminate any unwanted focal points.

Don’t pack your equipment carelessly when traveling. Be sure to take all of the lenses that you will need, as well as spare batteries, a tripod, extra memory cards, and any cleaning accessories. Do not take more than what you need and think about what will be convenient to transport with you on your trip.

Attempt to move closer to the person or thing that you want to take a picture of. If you are too far away, you will lose the details of your subject. Make it easy for yourself and your viewers to see a subject clear and vividly.

Just like a military sniper, once you have your picture ready and in focus, you should pause to hold in a breath and steady yourself before taking the shot. Even the smallest movement could make your picture come out wrong. Some people agree that it’s best to stop breathing right before pressing the button, as a way of personally steadying yourself.

If you like the idea of becoming an old-school, film-and-darkroom kind of photographer, you can get yourself off to an inexpensive start by searching your local second-hand shop for a film camera. For dramatic effect, choose black-and-white film with an ISO rating of 200, which will work in most situations. When you develop the pictures, consider using old fashioned papers as well. Fiber-based papers are good.

Often, the subject is directly staring at the camera. You can create a more interesting shot by directing your subject to focus on a point off-camera instead of directly at the lens. You could also have them focus on an item that is within the frame of the picture.

There’s a myth that white is an excellent color to wear for photos, but this is false. Since many cameras are automatically set to focus, the camera takes all the colors from the photograph into account. As a result, the white clothing will look washed out in the photograph.

When setting up a scene to be photographed, you must choose between emphasizing the subject’s highlights or shadows. Or, you can use photoshop or some other program to blend two photos together.

Don’t miss a shot because you’re trying to correct your settings. At the same time, you don’t want to settle for factory presets. Experiment with the different settings so that you can take control of what your picture looks like.

Educate yourself on using your camera’s ISO setting to achieve the best quality picture. Keep in mind that high ISO settings mean you will be able to see more on your photo and print a photo with more grain. This can result in awful photos; unless your picture requires that type of effect.

The advice included in this article was meant to give you some essential photography information in a clear and understandable format. If you remember these tips, for they will help you to be a master photographer.

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