Everyone wants to be a master photographer. But it’s not as easy as grabbing a camera and shooting a masterpiece. There’s a lot of work photographers put into taking magnificent photos. Below are a few tips and tricks that can give you a leg up on the other amateurs and have you on your way to taking great photos.
Set up some basic programs for your DSLR camera. By setting some of the basic values ahead of time, you don’t have to mess with them in the event that you want to get a shot in, in a short amount of time. Instead, you just press the button and start shooting.
A good photography tip is to use color contrast as a way to create your focal point. Basically this means the area you want the viewer to focus on should have high color contrast. A good way to achieve this is by putting two pure colors side by side.
You can do a lot to change the quality of your pictures by adjusting the focus of the shot. What is your primary subject? This doesn’t always have to be in the center of the photo. Having your subject in the lower right hand or left hand corner, for example, can increase dramatic aspects of your picture.
Be careful when shooting with the ISO feature set at a high setting. It will allow you to capture photos in low light settings but it opens the door to noisy pictures that may look grainy. Ideally you should keep the ISO set low or increase it very slightly to capture the low light photos.
Do not shoot in full daylight. You are going to get some of your best photos on an overcast day. The bright sunlight can cause overexposure, loss of detail and terrible shadows. Shoot at dusk or at dawn on days that are not cloudy for optimum results in your photos.
Keeping your camera very steady is the key in shooting images that are crisp and very sharp. Many cameras have an automatic stabilizer built right into it to allow for some leeway. If you are still having problems keeping your camera steady, invest in some kind of a tripod.
If you want to be able to take great photos, take lots of them. You’ll need a memory card large enough to hold them all. If you have a memory card that is large enough, you will never worry about being able to store additional photos on your card. A bigger memory card also lets you shoot in RAW format, which provides more editing options later on.
When photographing young children, time and patience is your best friend. Children are taught to “say cheese” whenever a camera is focused on them, inevitably creating artificial, fake smiles – or worse. Ideally, a child will become comfortable being photographed when the pressure to “perform” is removed. Simply encourage them to go about their normal activities and then follow them around with your camera, clicking when they naturally smile or are obviously enjoying their surroundings.
Those are only a few of the tricks out there to help you take amazing photos. But photography isn’t something you will learn over night, so remember these tricks and try them out until you get the hang of them. Before you know it, you’ll be taking professional quality photos!