Okay so I have a confession to make, sometimes {and only sometimes} only my trusty ‘fit in your back pocket’ Coolpix camera will do. You know those times I mean – when you’re out with friends maybe at a theme park or on a bike ride? My big DSLR is just to…well…BIG!
So, I thought I’d share a little blog with you about taking better photos and the things I consider when using my back pocket camera. They can apply to any camera you use and will instantly improve your photos 😉 Hope you find them helpful! Here we go…my ‘top 3’ tips:
Light
I LOVE light and you’ll often hear me talking about how amazing the light looks at certain times of the day {I’d make a rubbish vampire!}. Ideally I avoid shooting in midday light as it causes harsh shadows on people’s faces and squinting eyes. Sometimes however, you just can’t help it and you have to work with the light you’ve got. In these instances I look for open shade. Buildings and canopies provide great open shade. Where possible I have the person standing just within the shady area so that they still have plenty of light bouncing on them.
Framing
It’s amazing how just applying the ‘rule of thirds’ framing technique can make your image *pop* and draw the viewers eye to the most important part of a photo. So how does it work? Imagine your view finder is split into 9 squares {check out by diagram below} – anything that falls on the green spot is going to draw the viewer to that area. I like to place eyes, laughing mouths or kissing lips on one of those points. If I’m taking a landscape picture than I will place the most important or interesting point of my landscape in that area too. You can also experiment with placing an object in the squares at either corner with the rest of the image showing only open space – often less can say more. If you remember nothing else from this blog, remember that everything doesn’t have to be in the centre of your view finder. Having your main subject top left for example or bottom right will add a new dimension to your photo. There’s a great article here about applying the rule of thirds.
Shoot from different angles
One thing I learnt very early on as a tog is to ‘use your legs’. It’s tempting to stay in the same position when taking photos – maybe you’re sitting down at a table happily snapping away. Well, get out of your chair and move around; change your angle, shoot high and shoot low. I love being on a child’s level when photographing them so you’ll often find me lying on my tummy – it allows me to see the world from their eyes and also provides me with some beautiful intimate photos (check out my Photographing babies {Top Tips} blog). When I shoot people – specially close up, I like to have the camera a little higher than their eye level if possible, so that they elongating their neck a little {it’s great for hiding that double chin – and trust me, your great aunt will love you forever for it!!}.
Well, these are just my top tips, I’m sure you’ve probably go your own too. Feel free to share them in the comments box below – happy snapping 😉
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