What you need to do to create stunning pictures How to improve your skills and.? -tips for photographers tips for photographers
1. Remember the exposure
The quality of the photo is directly dependent on the light. You can take a bad shot of a well-lit subject, but you never get a good shot in low light.
Shooting time, light passes through the camera’s opening shutter and super zoom lens, enters the sensor, and forms an image. How exactly the light is captured, and the final photo will depend on three important parameters that make up the so-called exposure triangle.
- Apertureaffects the amount of light that enters the lens. It is measured by the ratio of the focal length to the size of the aperture opening and is denoted as f / 2, f / 5, f / 11, and so on. The lower the aperture value, the more light will be in the frame. This parameter also affects the depth of field.
- Shutter speedis the during which the shutter remains open. It is measured in seconds (1/200 s, 1/60 s, 5 s, and so on). The longer the shutter speed, the more light. The shutter speed also affects the clarity when shooting moving objects. At high shutter speeds, they will be blurry, and fast shutter speeds will allow you to get good photos even of fast-moving objects.
- Light sensitivity– as the name implies, this parameter affects the camera sensor’s sensitivity to light. It is measured in ISO units (for example, ISO 100, ISO 400, ISO 6400). The higher light sensitivity allows you to shoot in low light conditions, but at the same time, it causes the appearance of noise – the characteristic graininess of the image.
- The essence of the exposure triangle is understanding these three aspects of shooting and choosing the parameters appropriate to the situation and your vision of the frame.
2. Hold the camera correctly
The next thing for all beginners to learn is to hold the camera to eliminate or minimize handshakes. When shooting, the shutter opens and lightly hits the camera sensor. If you move while the photographer is open, the light beam seems to spread over the sensor, and the photo is blurry.
Less movement and shaking,
It is best to hold professional cameras with one hand in the palm of your hand and rest them with your elbow on the side. With a smartphone, you should do the same: take it firmly with both hands and press them as much as possible to the body. If you are shooting in low light conditions or at long shutter speeds, it is better to use a good tripod.
3. Follow the rule of thirds
One glance at a photo is often enough to understand who took it – a beginner or an experienced photographer. Professionals pay great attention to composition in the frame, and its absence will immediately betray a beginner.
The simplest principle of composition is to follow the rule of thirds. Its essence lies in the conditional division of the frame by two horizontal and two vertical lines. Along these lines or at their intersection, important elements should be placed on which the eye will stop when viewing a photograph.
In the photo above, the shore in the distance is along the top line of the grid, and the lone tree is exactly at the crosshairs of the vertical and horizontal lines. If the photographer had placed the tree and the shoreline in the center of the frame, the picture would have been less interesting.
4. Change perspective
Capturing a subject at eye level is the surest way to take a boring photo. From this point, we see the world every day.
To create a really interesting shot, you need to change your point of view. It will require:
- The change height of the survey – get closer to the ground or move away from it;
- change the angle – shoot strictly straight or from the side;
- change the distance – come closer or, conversely, move away;
these tips of beauty that they work great both individually and in any combination.
A golf ball shot from a height of a man’s height would not catch your attention. But the photo from the ground level attracts the eye, forcing one to consider every blade of grass.
5. Don’t neglect post-processing
Photo manipulation is often considered a radical change to the original image using filters and effects. This misunderstanding has led some Shotters, to abandon retouching, limiting themselves to “ordinaryl” footage. Their good intentions are commendable, but they don’t understand how cameras work.
Like it or not, all cameras do post-processing on the image. The actual data from the sensor is collected in a RAW file, but what we see on the screen of a camera or smartphone is the interpretation of the RAW data by the device itself. At the same time, the camera does not have the slightest idea about your vision of this or that frame. So why not fix it?
Not all post-processing is tasteless over-photoshopped images. It is correct to consider retouching as applying makeup. Some people overdo it with blush and lipstick, others use cosmetics as a way of expressing themselves, and only a few highlight their best features.
Likewise, post-processing can be redundant, deliberately stylized, or sophisticated and emphasize what is already present in the frame. Use retouching! By underestimating it, you will face a situation where there will be something missing in all your pictures.
6. Shoot often and everything
It doesn’t matter how many YouTube video tutorials you’ve watched or how many Instagram photos you’ve analyzed. Only practice allows you to improve.
An ounce of practice is worth a pound of theory.
Your first photos will suck. You may have to take thousands of shots before you get the one you like. But each of them – even the most terrible – will be one of the small steps to mastery. Practice will help to use theoretical knowledge and allow you to study your equipment better, giving you an understanding of how different shooting parameters affect the final image.
7. Don’t blame the camera
Good equipment is really important for shooting, but not as much as you think. An experienced photographer will make great shots even with a cheap camera, while bad shots will not work even with the most expensive equipment.
It is much more important to rely on correct exposure, work with perspective, composition and use the tips discussed above. If you learn all of this, you can take cool photos with any camera. Even on a smartphone!
Of course, all equipment has its limitations, and over time you will “outgrow” your camera, lens, and other accessories. Still, the bottom line is that by buying an expensive camera, you will not become a professional. the sooner you understand this, the faster you will achieve success.
