If you have just purchased a new compact or SLR camera, you now wonder about how to use it at it’s best. I bet you are excited to start capturing pictures with your new digital device.
But after the first shots, you notice that your pictures do not look just like you wanted to! Fret no longer… this happens to every photography beginner. Start your photographic journey with this short article to find out 4 simple, yet effective, suggestions for taking more interesting and eye-catching photos.
Tip 1 – Try out different camera exposure settings
It’s easy and comfortable to keep the camera on auto mode and just point and shoot. However, get out of that comfort zone. The main features you can easily play with are white balance and exposure compensation. Then, once you got the handle of these, you can move on to more advanced settings: the exposure triangle features – ISO, aperture and shutter speed.
By going through the exposure settings of your respective camera, you can obtain pictures that look more amazing with -0.5 to -2 stops underexposed in bright surroundings (like in snowy or sandy landscapes), and other pictures appear to be better looking with some overexposure (like in a shadow-filled forest). You can also have a better control of difficult photography situations, when some areas are very dark and other are very light, just like in the example below.
Simply by changing the exposure level, you may create enhanced pictures that may bring out different moods from people viewing it. For this reason the quote “A picture is worth a thousand words” is very true indeed !
If you are a photography beginner, then I have to mention you one more thing: try out bracketing (i.e: Consider the same photos with various exposure levels) and bring your favorite pick from them, or even combine them for a HDR effect.
Tip 2 – Bring out some creative blur in photos
Here’s just one simple thing you can do without much struggle with the camera settings:
By introducing some well-planned blur in photos, you’ll be able to bring across certain important features, with the rest pretty much as good complement, providing an overall nice touch. This can be done in 2 basic types.
First type is depth-of-field blur. Varying the lens aperture between .4 to 1.4 can create a lovely, soft background blur which bring sharp focus towards the subject in the foreground. Also, stay closer to the subject in order to blur the far away background.
Second type is motion blur (take a mental note of these therms: panning, zooming). Made by setting the digital camera exposure on shutter priority, and make your time in order to capture interesting streaks because the subject moves while watching camera.
Tip 3 – Create something out of nothing
How can you do such a thing in photography, when the preconception is that you just immortalize what you visualize? This exercise encourages you to move back and rethink how you can take wonderful pictures with issues you already encountered on a daily basis. Fill your frame with details (this is a key word here!) that aren’t immediately noticed by a simple passerby.
One approach is always to you could make your shot round the common elements near you including lines, space and patterns. Substandard anything from the roads on the bridges, the trees, the railings, etc.. You start to see more possibilities and room for creativity.
Tip 4 – Take Unique Photos
Try avoid shooting photos of subjects that everyone has taken an interest before (unless, of course, you do it in an original way, by changing perspective and angle). Photos of the same old Notre Dame (for example) will not be intriguing and nobody will find any excitement in viewing them. You can avoid dull photography by using reflective object around (like a puddle), and photographing your subject as a reflection. Get more inspirational ideal in this article.
Remember, these are just a few tips out of many that can help any photography beginner, with any type of camera (even a phone one) to take better photos.
