AUTOGRAPHS

5 Tips for Taking Better Photographs

Most of us don’t want to turn professional, we simply want reliably good photographs. We don’t have time for in-depth study of apertures, film speeds or darkroom development. Maybe we only take shots of special occasions.

We often get our first camera as a child and happily snap away, thinking the results will match up to what we saw. Instead we took blurred random shots, stuck fingers over the lens and often gave up in disgust.

Well the time has come to brush the dust off your camera, take on board a few general tips and hopefully see some great results!

Tip one: Light
The light falling on a subject is what we usually recognise first when taking a photograph. We know there are rules, but what are they?

• Details get lost when the light is too bright – and that includes using a flash too close to your subject.
• The ‘slow’ or ‘synchro’ flash function available on many cameras balances the amount of light given out – handy when too much flash will white-out the subject.
• When taking photographs of people, make sure your subjects are comfortable with the light shining on them and not screwing up their eyes.
• A bright light behind your subject will put them in shadow. Some of this will be counteracted by flash, but you could still end up with a poor result.
• Lighting from the side creates interesting shadows and shapes, but be aware of how much shadow is being cast. If shooting outside, early mornings or evenings are the best for side-lighting, when natural light is softest.
• Many cameras have an anti-red eye function, but you can help eliminate it by increasing the light falling on the person (anti-red eye features work by giving out a quick pre-flash).
• Professional photographers use light reflectors to bounce light onto their subject instead of relying on direct flash. Get the same effect by shooting near white walls or other reflective surfaces.

Tip two: Colour
All colours have an opposite (have you ever seen a colour negative?). Knowing a little about colour allows you to create contrast and drama in your photos.

• Red is opposite green on the colour wheel, so a single red flower in a green field will have dramatic impact.
• Standing a person in blue clothes against a blue wall will not work to best effect. This is where it helps to know that the same outfit against a wall of any shade of orange will ‘pop’.

Colours don’t need to be stand-out dynamic, but noticing the colours of surroundings, not just your subject, can help you to improve your final results.

Tip three: Composition
Composition remains a neglected area for most people. If you think it is an inborn skill or that it requires a degree in art, think again.

The main rule to be aware of is the ‘rule of thirds’. Break your picture into three areas horizontally and three vertically, like dividing a square cake into nine equal pieces.

Allowing any horizons (the skyline, a wall, rooftops) to sit along one of your two horizontal lines creates a more pleasing image than letting it run across the centre of the shot. The same is true for vertical lines. Equally, it may seem logical to place your subject slap in the centre of your picture but this can make for a dull image. More pleasing to the eye is to set the subject off-centre, against or over one of your imaginary dividing lines.

Tip four: Focus
So, you point the camera at your subject, allow the camera to do the focusing and press the shutter button, right? Maybe. Auto focus is a brilliant tool that takes the guess work out focusing but it will also fix on the closest object. If you are deliberately shooting with something coming between you and your subject, the results won’t be what you expected.

Many digital cameras with auto focus will allow you to check the camera’s focal point. Obviously it’s impossible to give you instructions compatible with every camera, so this is one tip that will need you to have some basic knowledge of your camera or be able to check the instruction booklet.

Don’t worry about going beyond the basic functions on your camera. If you are already familiar with your camera’s basic operation, now would be a good time to take another look at the operating manual. Those lengthy instructions can seem horribly daunting when you first take the camera out of its box, but once you’re comfortable with its basic operation, learning more is not only manageable but logical.

Tip five: Revision
Owning a digital camera means you can revise your own photos. This can be done instantly – shoot, check, delete, adjust, re-shoot – or later on, by twiddling on your computer. You don’t need to be a whiz on PhotoShop, just check out the simple software that came with your camera for how to edit your images. This might mean resizing so that your image prints the right size for a photo frame, or changing the digital size to a lower resolution. Some software allows you to remove red-eye, change colours or apply funny effects.

When taking pictures in film, a good development lab can help you with resizing, cropping and correcting minor flaws. Remember, however, that some problems cannot be fixed at the development stage; out of focus shots cannot be corrected, and some overly dark or light shots cannot be improved to perfection.

About the Author

Abbi Rouse is Head of Marketing at www.7dayshop.com, the UK’s cheapest source of camera memory, digital cameras, film and peripherals

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