I'm sorry...but you know, back, deep in your mind, that your photos are significantly different than what you see in magazines and in print. Why is that? You have the $500 camera with those lenses. Or, you just got the top-of-the-line "point and shoot" camera, and it's got a zoom that is almost unreasonably fantastic. The tools are there, but the product? It's lacking. So, all of you who got some very nice (read: expensive) cameras this holiday season, pay attention. Here's my top ten ways to improve your picture taking skills:
1. Simplify your photo composition. Most times, when on vacation, you're trying to take someone's picture, and, what you walk away with is a shot of them fairly far away with a ton of stuff going on around them. Look at the magazines, beyond landscape photography, most portraits or photos "of something" are taken with very few things happening in the background. It's why when you went to SEARS for your portraits, the professional photographer has a very neutral background behind you. It makes it clear what/who the subject of the photo is. And, if that isn't possible then...
2. Move in close to your subjects! This is huge. We can't very easily control what's going on in the middle of Manhattan at Rockefeller Center. So, instead of having those thousands of people in the photo with you, get in close to your subjects so that some of that extraneous business just simply isn't there.
3. Look your subject in the eye and make sure it's in focus. Whether it's an animal or portraits of your kids, if the eye is out of focus it's completely noticeable. Make sure that the autofocus trains on the subject's eyes, because, as humans, that's where we look first. Everything else can be out of focus...but if the eye is good, you're golden.
4. Use a flash outdoors and during the day. Why? Because Earth's yellow sun is so supremely bright, it tends to cast shadows...on your subject. And, the extremely bright highlights to the very dark shadows is really hard for your camera to negotiate. However, if you can soften the impact of the sun by providing your own flash, that will allow for the colors to be more "true" and for the details to pop.
5. Know your flash's range. OK, so I did what you said, but they still have shadows all over their faces. Well, how far away did you take that picture from? Typically, a flash on the top of your camera is only good up to 10 feet. That's right, if your subject is more than 10 feet, the built-in flash is almost completely useless. That said, some of the DSLRs and the more expensive cameras have what's called the "hot shoe" where you can add an external flash, and some of those can beam nearly 100 feet...if you have the money, that is. Flash ain't cheap.
6. Move your subject from the middle. Whether you want to admit that your vain or not...you are. You are biologically programmed to enjoy things that are more symmetrical. They are more beautiful to us. So, when you take a picture where things are kinda the same from left to right, but aren't...people notice. And, one way to hide those potential imperfections is to offset your subject. Look at those magazine pictures again, subjects are rarely set in the middle.
7. Take some vertical pictures. Right? Seems silly, but most people take pictures with their cameras horizontally...not to say that the person is laying down, but that the resultant image is oriented landscape. But, what if you're taking a picture of a tree, or mountain, or person (unless they're laying down)? It's far more efficient to just rotate the camera and take the shot capturing the long view. It also allows you to move in closer to your subject (see #2) and to simplify your composition (see #1).
8. Whether it's taking pictures of people or scenery, be a picture director. You know that wedding photographer that you didn't like who was constantly moving/shuffling people around before the shot? That's you now. If you want your pictures to look like a professional's, then act like a professional photographer. Move people. Have them in the light...or out of the light. When you're taking shots of stuff outdoors, move yourself so that the subject and backgrounds are compatible. If your taking pictures of your dog...don't take them from above, get down and shoot that dog in the face (wait, that came out strangly). It's up to you to make your photos better, so, take as much control of the situation that you can, and make them better.
9. Take as many pictures of a particular subject that you can...and then take some more. Why? Memory is cheap, and you will never have that particular moment of time back, ever. This solves the problem of lining everyone up and taking one shot only to find someone's eyes are closed. Or, if you're someplace exotic that cost a bit to get to, what's the likelihood that you're going back to take the images you forgot to take? You may get there, but it won't be the same, and probably will take a while to save up for the return trip.
10. This is the most important one: only show friends and family the good pictures. This does two things: it impresses the hell out of your audience. Because of the small sample size, their opinion will likely be "wow, these are amazing...all of his/her work must be just as good!" They may be right...they may be wrong. But, one thing's for certain, they'll never know. The second thing that it does is truncate the number of photos you would potentially show someone. Why is this important? It keeps them from getting bored of you, your vacation that they obviously didn't go on, and your subject matter. Selling someone on seeing your vacation photos works best when they're a fraction of the total shot, and that they're the best you took.
I hope this helps. Other things to make sure you have are power and memory cards. If you run out of either, you're done taking pictures. I don't always practice what I preach, but examples of all of the above can be seen on my website. Next time you're ready to take a picture, think about these 10 things and see what kind of results you get. I guarantee you're going to be impressed with yourself...or at least frustrated...but at least you know what to do now, and knowing is half the battle!
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