Good photos have four basic elements in common:
1. The viewer knows what the photo is of or about
2. The photo background is uncluttered and not distracting
3. The photo evokes an emotion—laughter, tears or something else
4. The photo is in focus—all the elements are clear and not blurry
This is not to say that rules can’t be broken, but keep it’s a good idea to keep it simple when you start out and then try new techniques and compositions as you gain more confidence and experience.
For a more detailed understanding of how to take great photos check out the following tips:
1. Get to know your camera
Read the manual and figure out how all the features of your camera work before you go out and shoot. But don’t be afraid to experiment with different modes and the flash. Take some test shots.
2. Be prepared
Have your stuff together and bring extra supplies including memory cards, film (if using a film camera) and batteries. Take more than you think you’ll need.
3. The rule of thirds
This is a perennial favorite of artists and photographers. Following this rule can improve the composition of your photos 100-fold. It works like this: imaginary lines divide the photo into thirds both horizontally and vertically, like a noughts and crosses board. Place the most interesting elements of the photograph onto the points where those lines intersect.
4. Use the entire frame
Try to fill the whole frame of your shot with your composition. This means getting CLOSE to your subject.
5. Move around
Don’t be afraid to move. Get down to your subject’s level, lie on the ground, stand on a box, move to the side, get behind them, get closer (always get closer than you think you need to be). (insert ANGLE.jpg here)
6. Take candid shots
Gets your subject doing what they do best. For example, if you’re photographing an activist, perhaps shoot them on the street trying to get people to sign a petition. Look for the emotion in a situation. Look for spontaneous actions.
7. Be aware of your background…but don’t let it dictate your entire shoot
You want to avoid poles sticking out of people’s heads or having a busy background that distracts from your subject. But you don’t want to miss a great moment because the background wasn’t perfect. (insert powerlines.jpg here)
8. Lighting
Experiment with sunrise, sunset and cloudy days. Harsh, mid-day sunlight can be difficult to navigate even for experienced photographers—it creates lots of shadows that can distract from your photo. Other lights are softer and easier to work with, and can be more flattering to people. In general, unless you want to go for a silhouette, shoot with the sun or primary light source behind you.
9. Tell a story
You’re photographing your subject because it tells something about the world. Define what you want your images to say. If you’re doing a series of photos remember that great stories usually have beginnings, middles and ends.
10. Always take the extra shot
You can never have too many pictures to choose from, especially if you’re using a digital camera. Have a variety so you can pick your best.
And a last spiel about ethics in photography:
The emergence of digital technology has led to a heated debate on the ethics of digitally altering images. Before picking an ethics code to follow, you need to decide the purpose of your photographs—are they journalistic images or creative images:
The ethics of photojournalism:
In photojorunalism (also known as documentary photography), photos are meant to be a truthful document of a person or situation.
It’s really important that you don’t alter the reality of your photos when using them for this purpose. This means that you can’t use Photoshop to remove the pole sticking out of your subject’s head. This means you can’t add any content to your photo that wasn’t there, and you can’t take any of it away either. It’s lying. You can, however, remove red-eye or lighten the tone of a picture to make elements more visible. You can also crop a photo to improve composition or shift the focus of your photo. But do not alter reality. It’s unethical. And if you were a photojournalist at a newspaper or magazine, it could get you sacked!
The ethics of creative photography:
These are images that take a creative license and are not meant to be strict representations.
In this case you can do pretty much anything you want. So long as your purpose is to create art, and not to mislead or deceive the viewer, then you’re on the right side of ethics.
Happy Photo Taking!
