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15 Photography Tips to Help Improve Your Photos
If you’re looking to improve your photo skills, you’ve come to the right place. These 15 photography tips are great for those just getting started and for those looking to brush up on pre-existing skills!
Let’s jump right in!
1. Get Yourself a Quality Camera
If anyone ever told you that all cameras were created equal, they were lying to you. Truth be told, if you’re shooting with a crappy camera, you’re going to get crappy photos in return.
The good news is, a high quality camera does not have to ring you dry. You could literally use the camera on the back of your cell phone. Seriously, some of these phone cameras take phenomenal photos! Whatever you decide to go with, whether it’s a DSLR, SLR, mirrorless or phone camera, it’s important that it has the capacity to produce quality images.
2. Learn How to Use Said Camera
So you went out and purchased a fancy-smancy new camera. Now what? Here’s another hard truth. You could have the Krabby-Patty-Secret-Recipe of cameras, but if you don’t know how to use it, it will be very hard (if not impossible) to get the quality images that you desire. There’s just no getting around learning how to use your camera.
So study the ins and outs of your camera (and accompanying equipment) and you’ll soon see the quality of your images greatly improve.
3. Have You Met Our Friend Natural Lighting?
*Turns up mic volume for the folks in the back* This is probably the most important photography tip on this page. Natural light is your best friend. And the great thing about it is that it’s free to use. Yea, you heard right, FREE!
Whether you’re shooting a model, products or whatever, natural lighting will take your images to the next level. Unlike studio lights that can sometimes be a pain to set up, natural light is free. It’s consistently present. It illuminates the subject in ways that artificial light just cannot and oftentimes, it’s what the client prefers. Sounds like a win to us!
4. Artificial Light Is Sometimes Unavoidable
We’re based out of sunny Los Angeles, however we understand that not everyone is as blessed (We kid. We kid!). If you live in one of those places that does not get enough sunlight (sorry!), there’s always the artificial light option.
If natural light is your best friend, artificial light is that friend that’s kind of annoying but you keep them around simply because they’re useful sometimes. Yep! That’s a pretty accurate analogy.
Truth be told, some shoots just call for artificial lighting. Lucky for you, there are a plethora of options available so you should have no problem finding lights that suit your needs!
5. Mind Your Composition
Have you ever seen a photo and thought to yourself: ‘This picture would have been even better if the model moved to the right just a bit more.’? We do it all the time.
Composition is essentially how a photo is framed, or set up. It’s important because it helps to guide the viewer’s eyes and gives them a roadmap to your vision, if that makes sense.
Before you place your finger on the trigger, take a few seconds to think about everything that’s happening in the scene. Is there a pole that looks as if it’s protruding out of your model’s stomach? Does the background call for your model to be centered or off centered? Giving thought to the composition of your photo will set you up for success before you even snap your photo.
6. Rule of Thirds
You’ve probably heard of the term “rule of thirds, but for those who haven’t, we’ll do our best to explain it!
A lot of times, newer photographers tend to place their subject in the center of a photo. Who can blame them, though? All our lives, we’ve been taught the importance of symmetry, balance and centering things. However, when it comes to photography, sometimes it’s best to throw all of that out of the window.
The Rule of Thirds works like this: imagine that your image is divided into 9 equal parts (squares). The idea is if you place your subject in the top, left, bottom or right area, it will make for a more interesting composition.
7. When in Doubt, Bokeh it Out
The other day, we came across a user who was speaking negatively about people who use bokeh in their photos. This guy was going in as if bokeh had stolen his baby. DISCLAIMER: If you hate bokeh as much as that guy, please jump on ahead to the next tip because this one is all about bokeh love.
What is bokeh? If you look at most beauty and fashion bloggers, you’ll notice that a lot of their images feature a blurred background or defocused background with only the subject in focus. That’s bokeh and it’s truly magical. To achieve it, you simply need a camera that has a wide aperture (1.8 or higher is the magic spot!) and the trick is to keep a fair amount of distance between your subject and the background. It may take a bit of practice to really nail it, but once you get it, you GET IT!
8. Choose Your Models Wisely
Quite simply, if you’ll be shooting with models, it’s important to pick the one(s) that works best for what you’re trying to achieve. Some photos require heavy body posing whereas others may only require a beautiful face.
When preparing for your shoot, be sure to give some thought to the type of photo shoot you’d like to have as this will determine the type of models to use.
9. Photoshop to the Rescue
While it’s best to get things like white balance and exposure correct while you’re shooting, sometimes that doesn’t happen.
Photoshop and Lightroom are just a few of the amazing tools available to photographers to assist with photo editing. You can do everything from adjusting colors to increasing/decreasing exposure. It’s kind of scary and somewhat concerning, but you can literally do anything your mind can think of with editing tools.
10. Plan Ahead
If you don’t plan ahead, you’re ultimately planning to fail. Just like with anything in life, if you go into something with a set plan, you’re setting yourself up for success.
What does planning entail? Create a mood board filled with inspirational images. If you have a client, share this with them so that you all are on the same page. Put together a shot list with all of the images that you hope to capture. You can even take things a step forward and attach an inspirational image to each shot on the list.
In short, prepare as much as possible in advance so that when it comes to shoot day, you’re ready to hit the ground running!
11. Get Your Learn On
Google is another one of your best friends. You can find just about anything your heart desires on Google. If you’re looking for a more structured learning environment, there’s YouTube and also Lynda.com (our fave). Lynda.com is our personal favorite because it’s free.99 if you have a library card or if you’re in school.
We also have a database of tutorials for you to check out here on our website.
12. Seek out Feedback
Receiving critique on your images can sometimes be hard. We know. However, if you want to get better, constructive criticism is something you should welcome with open arms.
The day you start to think that you have nothing to learn from other people, is the day you’ll stop growing. If you’d like a safe place to share your work and receive feedback, join our community of photographers over on Facebook.
13. Raw, Baby Raw!
If you haven’t been shooting in RAW, this photography tip is about to change your entire world.
What’s wrong with shooting in JPEG? Everything. When you shoot in JPEG, the information in the photo gets compressed and you therefore have a lot less to work with. Shooting in RAW allows you to preserve all of the information, which gives you more editing capabilities and ultimately leads to higher quality images.
You don’t have to take our word for it though. Give it a try for yourself!
14. Filters Are Your Friend
Yes, filters are great, except when they are not. People can sometimes go a little overboard with filters, which can take away from the beauty of an image.
But where oh where would we be without filters. For example, Instagram is a social media platform that relies pretty heavily on filters. They can help you create a cohesive and visually appealing feed. Our only suggestion is to let your work speak for itself and to use filters as an enhancement not as a cover up for not-so-great photo work.
15. Practice Makes Perfect
Practice, practice, practice! The best way to improve as a photographer is to get out and practice. No amount of reading and video watching can replace real life experience.
And there you have it! Fifteen tips to help you become a better photographer! Now that you’ve finished reading all of our tips, grab your fancy-smancy camera and get to shooting! Be sure to stop by our “Pix Tips” Facebook group to share your work!