You got your first camera for Christmas and you’ve been blasting away ever since. The thing is, you’re photos suck and people don’t seem to be interested in your work. There’s hope though, let’s have a chat about why your photos aren’t working and how you can fix them.
Composition :
This is a tip I always give to first timers. Composition is very important and it can make or break a photo. Imagine a coca cola can, how would you approach it? Most likely dead centre in the front…right? That’s why you need to bend your legs a bit. Take a photo from the bottom or stand on a ladder and take a photo from high, or from a slight angle. Try anything else than the normal everyday heads on shot.
The rule of thirds is also a very important composition rule, go and study this important rule!
No Technical Know How :
In photography technical aspects such as aperture, shutter speed, ISO settings and white balance settings are important to get a fantastic shot. Software in cameras differs from each other and that’s why you won’t always get the perfect settings in “Auto Mode”. Switch your camera to manual (If possible) and play around with the settings. It’s okay you won’t break it.
As an example of how your settings can drastically change your photo, I’d like to encourage you to stack bottles behind each other (so you can see each of them at eye level) and focus you’re camera on the middle bottle. Start from f5.6 and then enlarge the aperture until you hit f22.
Practice and Training :
The next best thing is to keep on practicing. You’ll pick up things as you go along and you’ll find your own style. Even the best photographers had to start somewhere and weren’t professionals from the get go. Go with photography groups and learn from others in the group. Sign up for photography classes as well since this will give you focus on different subjects and will help you perfect your photography skills even further.
Extra Equipment :
Extra equipment like a tripod, bean bags, lens cleaners and filters will help you reach that extra edge. Buying the right kind of flash for night shots will also greatly enhance your photos. If you haven’t bought any filters yet I’d advise you to buy a skylight filter as well as a Polaroid filter to play around with.
