Taking good photos is all about the basics. If you know the fundamentals, you can set up shots that will impress your family and friends and will look good forever.
Read on to learn how to take better photos by getting the basics down.
The rule of thirds
If you want to talk basics of photography, you have to talk about the rule of thirds. This is the most basic rule of photo compositions. Basically, you divide your view into thirds, both horizontally and vertically. A lot of digital cameras and phone cameras have settings that will do this automatically for you, or you can just imagine the lines are there.
You will then line up important elements with the places where the grid intersects. You could also line up trees, buildings, or the horizon with the lines to break the photo up into thirds.
Check the background and the light source
Always check your background and light sources before taking a snapshot. Move around and check which place is best for your photograph, as there will probably be one or two spots that are ideal. Try to get the light source behind you, so that it is shining on your subject. If the light is behind the subject, the subject will be backlit, and this will obscure it in shadow.
Try also to get the best background you can. Usually the best background will be simple, allowing the subject to take centre stage, but sometimes a busier background can add visual interest or provide context to the photo. Move around and find the background you like best.
If you have to choose between a background of natural beauty and a car park, always make nature the background. No one wants to feel like they had a family fun day in a car park.
Change up the angles
Sometimes getting a new perspective on an old subject is as simple as standing on a chair or lying on the ground. This is true for many subjects, but it’s also true for photography. Many people take photos from one position: standing up, with their arms at face height. This creates a lot of photos that have the same perspective, which can get boring.
You can take a photograph that has a sense of life and energy in it, simply by getting way above or below the subject.
Get to know your camera’s settings
Whether you are using an advanced digital camera, a camera app on your phone or a vintage camera you inherited, you will find it has different settings. Get to know these settings. Figure out what they do, what light they are used for, how they focus, what shutter speeds they use and what sort of subjects they are best suited for. These are like the settings on your washing machine or your television: they tell your camera how to do its job the best way it can.
If you have an owner’s manual, take some time to read it. It will tell you what each setting is used for, so you don’t have to guess. Then start playing around with the settings. Reading is great, but nothing gives you the knowledge of how to use the settings like practical experience.
Feel free to play around and make mistakes
To take better photos, play around and make mistakes. This may be the most important basic principle when it comes to taking better photos, and really, each of the previous tips hint at this. You will learn how to best implement the rule of thirds by playing around and making mistakes. You will develop an innate sense of the best backgrounds, light sources and angles by just doing it. You will learn how your camera’s settings work and which ones you prefer by taking loads of photos, making mistakes and sorting the good photos out from the bad.
Even once you are a more experienced, assured photographer, you will have to take loads of photographs, play around with angles and settings and eventually sort the great photos from the bad. So give yourself permission to play around and make mistakes, so you can start having more great photos and fewer bad ones.
With these tips, you should find it much easier to take better photos. What are your favourite subjects for your photography? What is your best photography tip?
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