If you’re finding that a lot of your pictures are coming out with the same kind of style and lacking something that you can’t quite put your finger on, try trying something new. There are an infinite number of ways to get a good shot on any one item or place. In this article, we’ll supply you with a few suggestions that can help change the kind of images you end up with.
Be selective about the elements that you include in your photo. Go ahead and remove anything from the picture that doesn’t belong there or makes the frame seem unbalanced. Use panning shots that keep your subject in focus but blur the background if you can’t remove all unwanted distractions from your shot.
Use a good lens to get a better image quality. You can create artistic pictures with any kind of equipment if you work hard and adapt your style to your equipment. But getting a good lens definitely opens up more possibilities. For instance, you can capture more details and get a better focus.
When taking a picture, try to take one at a medium distance and then take one closer. You may decide later on that a picture would have looked better had you taken it a little closer. Also, try to make sure your subject is toward the center of the picture.
Do not use the flash on a camera unless you are in a darker location. Using a flash outdoors in a location that already has a lot of light will just make your picture come out too bright. Some cameras have an automatic flash setting so that your camera knows when the flash is needed.
Make sure to set up your compositions so that vertical lines are truly vertical. Tilting the camera backwards to capture a tall building, for example, can cause the building to appear as if it is falling backwards out of the frame. Photographs in which buildings are not vertical often appear unnatural.
Get closer when you are taking photos. Especially when you are taking a series of shots, from which you will chose the best, get in there. The better your scene fills the frame, the better the overall picture will be. Take several shots, so you can get the nicest shot possible.
A great photography tip is to try out different lenses. A cool lens you can try is the fish eye lens. With the fish eye lens you end up with a lot of neat distortion around the center of the image. It can make your photographs much more interesting.
Play with the idea of depth of field and aperture. Most photograph place their object in the center of their composition and have their background look blurry. Reverse this convention and blur your object to focus on your background. You can also play with the placement of your object in the picture.
When taking group shots, pay attention to the height and build of each person in the photograph. Arrange the subjects so the taller ones are in the back row, with the tallest one in the center. If tall and short subjects must be placed together for some reason, consider having some people sitting and others standing.
Now that you have a handful of new ideas to help improve your photography style, have fun and try to see how many of them work for you. You may find that all of them improve your pictures, or you may find that some just don’t add what you’re looking for to the style they already have. Most importantly, just have fun!
