1. Find the light
At risk of stating the obvious, light is probably the most important part of getting a nice looking photo. I could write a book on all the considerations that go into finding good quality light but there are a few quick tips that will get you started.
- The best times of day to get nice even photos areย very early in morning and late afternoon. At all other times you will need to find some shade to get photos that don’t look either way too bright or way too dark.
- If you are inside find a place next to a window before you start using the flash. If you use the flash just realize that the photos are going to be very flat and not of optimal quality.
- Cloudy days are great for nice even light.
2. Get close, bring heads together and make triangles
If you want to capture engaging photos you need to fill the image frameย withย peopleย (if not, you’ll be relying on composition, which is a lesson for another day).
There are three main tipsย to capturing engaging photos:
- Get nice and close and fill the frame with the subject/s
- Tell everyone to get their heads together
- If you have a group of people try and make triangles with their heads as demonstrated below.
3. Know your camera/phone
This one is a must. Learn what you camera is capable of and theย all of the different functions. Cameras on phones are very advanced these days but sometimes you need to look more into their functions to best take advantage.
Look into a number of different applications and find the one with your style of usability and advanced functions. My picks for both shooting and editing include VSCO and Snapseed.
4. Get on their level
When photographing kids it is important to get down on their level to best capture the essence of being a child. Photos from above can make them seem very insignificant and won’t capture their personality. Phones are great for this as you can simply hold it really low and shoot away. If you are struggling to hold the camera low and press the shutter most phones have a 2 second timer that works a treat.
5. Increase your skill (not your gear)
People can get a little carried away with wanting best gear thinking this will make them a great photographer. One hot tip is that the more expensive the gear, the harder it is to use. Yes you can buy an expensive camera and shoot in auto all day long but you will soon find that auto won’t be all its cracked up to be once optimal conditions change.
Spend time just shooting with your phone/compact camera, experimenting with different angles, lighting and composition. A good photo is 90% talent and 10% equipment.
I hope these few tips might get you out of trouble for the time being. If you are interested in more support and training, flick Knight Photography a message and we can support you with anything you need.
Extra tip…after all this if you still can’t get your photos to sing…contact Knight Photography…guaranteed to make memories you will be proud to have on your wall ๐
Join the conversation