Ever since I started studying photography, people have been asking me how to take good pictures. There are many different styles and types of photography, but the majority of the key photography tips work for most of them.
Move Beyond the Point and Click Camera
I cannot stress enough, if you want to take quality pictures, learn how to use a Single Lens Reflex (SLR) camera. I cannot believe that many self proclaimed amateur photographers use a snapshot camera.
I know that this is the age of technology, and that the advances in digital cameras and memory are getting better and better every day, but there is just not enough versatility with a point and shoot. They are good for general every day pictures, but they just do not offer the professional results and versatility obtained with a single lens reflex camera.
With all of that in mind, the increase in versatility equates to more functions in the camera. So, once you have a good SLR (preferably digital), make certain that you learn these functions from the owners manual. Learn how to control the ISO (film) settings, the white balance, the aperture opening setting, and the shutter speed.
Note: In older SLR cameras (not digital) ISO is a function of the film and refers to the film's speed. Only digital SLRs offer ISO function settings.
Clear the Scene of Distractions
Too many photographers shoot much wider then they really want and fix the shot later by cropping it down to what they wanted. This just causes more work later, and there is no guarantee that all of the distractions can be cropped out.
One of the main characteristics of an SLR is that what is seen in the viewfinder is what the lens actually sees (point and click cameras have a viewfinder that usually looks above the camera lens). This is why you get what you see in the view finder with an SLR (no more cropping off the top of your uncle's head like a point and click sometimes does). By taking everything in the viewfinder into account, you may notice distractions that you otherwise would not have.
I really hate it when I capture that perfect scene to later find out that there is something in the background that I did not notice before that is distracting to the viewer.
Putting the Shot Together
A very often used composition technique is the Rule of Thirds. Divide the viewfinder into nine equally sized boxes like on a tic tac toe game board. At the point that the corners of the boxes come together (the intersection of the lines) is where you should place the subjects of interest in the shot. Any vertical or horizontal lines, such as a landscape horizon or the corner of a building, should be placed on a corresponding dividing line.
This technique causes stress in the scene, and this stress causes interest.
Keep in mind that the more a shot is prepared before taken, the less likely Photoshop will be necessary.
Note: You should reset the white balance of your SLR before major session changes. If you correct of changes in lighting between sessions with using correct white balance, fewer Photoshop corrections will be necessary later (it can be a big time saver). The answer to how to take good pictures is not to fix them in Photoshop later.
Portraits
While the subjects above on how to take good pictured usually work for all styles, there are some techniques that are commonly used with particular styles. With portraits, the subject does not encompass the entire scene so it is important for the subject to stand out.
One of the easiest ways to make sure the subject of the portrait stands out is to place him or her in a narrow depth of field. The depth of field is the length of the distance in front of the camera where things in the scene appear equally in focus. This is controlled by how big the opening of the aperture is. The lower the aperture setting is, the bigger the opening in the aperture and the more narrow the depth of field.
Note: This allows more light through the lens of your camera so ISO settings and/or shutter speed must be used to compensate.
Photographing the subject in a narrow depth-of-field with the foreground and background out of the field causes only the subject to appear in focus. This results in the subject really standing out and even seeming to pop out of the picture.
Landscapes
Another common style requiring specific photography techniques is landscape photography. Unlike portraits, with landscape photography the entire scene is the subject; it is often desirable to keep the entire scene equally in focus and to shoot at a wider perspective to encompass as much of the scenery as possible.
In order to obtain this, an infinite depth of field is needed along with a lens that allows a perspective broader than the human eye. The Wide angle lens allows for both and is the most commonly used lens in photographing landscapes. These lenses allow a large perspective of a scene to be captured.
A high aperture setting must be used in order to obtain an infinite depth of field. Remember, the larger the aperture setting the smaller the opening. The shutter must be left open longer to compensate for this. With that in mind, it is absolutely necessary to use a tripod or other camera stabilizing apparatus with landscape photography so the camera will not move while the shutter is open.
I hope this article has been helpful. If it has helped in any way, the next time someone asks how you take such good pictures, feel free to send them this article.
