Mehmet Murat once beautifully described the art of photography by saying: “What do we feel when we look at a good photograph? We just want to be there, right at the exact moment that photo is taken!”
While traditional film photography was amazing too, digital photography has simply added to the magic. From professional cameras to your smartphones, digital photography has made its mark and for all the right reasons! In this blog, let’s take a look at how you can further up your digital photography game and impress the world.
#1 Keep it Steady!
This one is basic. When it comes to capturing memorable photos, let’s start by ensuring that you hold your camera still. It is not uncommon that your hands might tremble or shake while trying to capture a photo. Keeping your camera steady is the only way to get sharp, focused photos. Invest in a tripod if you can!
#2 Make Light Your Best Friend
Good lighting is the key to success in photography. As a beginner working on outdoor photography, you should look for soft light. Unlike hard light which tends to create contrasty hard-edged shadows, soft light looks more natural. To understand better, let’s consider the Sun as an example of a hard light source and a cloudy sky as an example of a soft light source. The latter is spread around and proves a comparatively even source of light. Even if there is a shadow with soft light, its edges are a lot smoother.
#3 Transferring Digital Data
With photography comes the great responsibility of safely transferring and storing image data. Digital cameras usually come with card readers or cables that can be connected to computers to transfer photos. With this comes the excruciating pain of duplicate photos. The whole process is often so frustrating that photographers begin to question their career choice altogether.
To ensure that your data storage is optimized and that you never lose valuable data, you should regularly scan your hard drives or computer for any duplicate files. PictureEcho can be a great help when it comes to dealing with duplicate visual data. It scans your data and detects duplicate and similar photos which you can then review and easily get rid of. This will ensure that the duplicates don’t pile up to impact your device’s speed and performance.
#4 Survey What’s in the Frame
Don’t rush into capturing hundreds of photos instantly. Quality over quantity. Before you begin capturing, take your time to reposition yourself. Carefully observe everything that’s coming into the frame. Make sure that there are no unwanted objects popping in. For instance, if you see an undesirable trash can behind your subject or if there’s a passerby in your landscape, it is best to move around and look for a position that gives you the most desirable frame position.
#5 Sense of Depth
Creating a sense of depth comes in handy when you are photographing landscapes. Creating a panoramic view by using a wide angle or keeping things sharp using a low aperture will help the viewer feel that they are present in the photo. After all, this is what photography is all about! Additionally, you can also place an object or person in the frame to give the viewer a sense of scale and distance.
#6 Experiment with Angles
There’s no book that says you have to stand directly in front of what you are trying to photograph. Don’t be shy when it comes to experimenting with different angles. Climb a tree if that gives you a better perspective! Lay down on the grass and capture the beautiful hazy sky. Kneel down amidst the flower field to capture that caterpillar from beneath!
#7 Panning
As described by Corel, panning is a photographic technique that helps photographers to capture motion. This technique combines a slow shutter speed with camera motion in order to create a sense of speed around a moving object. If you want to enhance your photography portfolio, you should experiment with lower shutter speeds and try to capture moving objects, for example, ferris wheels or even bicycles on a road. While doing so, you might have to move along with the object and simultaneously ensure that your camera isn’t shaky.
#8 Exposure Triangle is Your Bible
The exposure triangle refers to a set of 3 interdependent variables that adjust how your camera will capture light. These include aperture, shutter speed, and ISO. Aperture deals with the amount of focus, shutter speed is linked with the sharpness of motion or blurring out while ISO revolves around light and digital grain (i.e noise). As you progress in your photographic journey, it is best to familiarise yourself with these concepts. When you change one of these 3 variables in your camera’s settings, the overall combination changes and that in turn can significantly impact how your photos turn out.
#9 Invest in Lens Filters
If you are investing thousands in a fancy lens, it is advised to also invest in a UV lens filter. This will help your lens to stay protected from any scratches. Some filters also offer weather-proof qualities. These can come in handy while shooting outdoors, especially in harsh environments. In the longer run, this investment will prolong the lifeline of your equipment.
#10 Capture What You Love!
A good photographer is one who puts his or her heart and soul into the art of photography. When you capture something you love, your passion is reflected in the photos. Whether it’s food or people, mountains or oceans, photograph whatever you like and let your photography be an opportunity to tell a creative story!
