Decide on your main subject
A picture is most successful when it tells a single story, so focus on one subject. In Photographing people, capture them while they are doing something they love.
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| Using Isolation aperture of F3.5 allows me to focus on the rider |
Move your subject away from the middle
A common mistake we usually commit is to place our subject right in the middle of a picture. Pro photographers call this mistake. "Bulls-eye". To produce a picture that tells the story more interestingly, try this simple tip: when composing a picture imagine a tick-tack-toe dividing the scene. Now, focus on the four intersecting points on the tick-tack-toe and place your subject on one of the four intersecting points. In the photography world this is known as the Rule of Thirds. Note however, that most DSLRS have the tick-tack-toe or the grid feature. You just have to enable it. Check your manual.
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| The Rule of thirds. |
Unless you're creating an affect, shoot with the light behind you so as it acts as a backlight. Illuminating your photo. You can also use the light coming in from the side of your subject as it flatters most people faces.
Move close
Close-ups bring a sense of intimacy and enables you to capture interesting details that will otherwise be too small when the picture is taken from afar, liek the dimples on your daughter's cheeks. But be careful not to get too close or the picture will be blurry. The closest you can get is about one step away from the camera. Unless however, you have a dedicated macro lens
you can get as close as a foot from the subject.
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| A dragon fly shot using a tamron macro lens |
When taking a photo of a group, tell them to look in one direction - be it towards you (facing the camera) or to another object in the photograph. This unifies the composition and brings visual harmony to the group photo.
Include space
When photographing a moving subject, like your child playing a soccer, capture the space in front of him to give the appearance that he has somewhere to move visually. Likewise, when the subjects are looking at a certain direction, allow ample space to capture their line of sight to balance the whole picture.
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| Cycling can sometimes give you this face. |
Make the most important element in your photo the most colorful. Warm hues like red, oranges and yellows are attractive colors for taking pictures.
Experiment with camera angle.
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| Good colors are abundant on parties on children parties |
Test all angles possible with your subject - from the sides, behind, high-angle, or low angle. When taking a photo of children. Take the picture from their eye level (get down on your hands and knees if you must) to capture the animated feel of being in their world.
Plain background is best.
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| Shot using a single speed light bounced from the ceiling |
Backgrounds, when they are too cluttered and distracting, can ruin the entire scene. A plain background , like a clear blue sky, is ideal because it helps focus the attention to your subject. So study the area surrounding your subject and take note that nothing is growing out of his or her head like a branch a tree trunk or a pole.
Take a lot of pictures. Allow yourself to commit mistakes, and don't expect that every picture you take will turn out a masterpiece. Ask about things you don't understand, and continue to explore the fun and surprising world photography brings.
TC.
