by Brynna Williamson
Everyone likes taking photos. Photos tell a story. They’re a way for us to share the exciting, interesting, funny, or even sad or weird moments in our lives with those who couldn’t be there. However, when someone shows you a bad or blurry photo, it can make life feel really boring, really quickly. Here are some quick tips on how to improve your photography!
Photo tip one
Don’t Invest In A Camera.
Everyone uses their phone these days. Trust me; I’m literally a journalist by profession, and even colleges nowadays are teaching us to just use our phones as cameras. I could go into the technical details of what makes your phone a better camera than many cameras that are out there, but I wouldn’t really understand it any more than you would, so I won’t. The upshot is, if you’ve got a phone that was made post-2018 or so, your phone’s camera is going to be more than adequate to take the kind of pictures you see here.
Photo tip two
Be Patient For A Good Shot
You know what’s the worst? Trying to sit still and admire someone’s photo of a random event. You know what’s even worse than that, though? When you can’t even see anything in said photo because it’s so blurry.
Don’t be that guy. Let me teach you how to avoid being that guy, cowboy. When you’re taking a photo, first, make your hand as still as possible. You can do this by gripping the wrist of the hand you’re taking a picture with, or by setting your elbow on something solid like a table. Then, be patient when you’re getting set to take the picture: a surefire way to get a blurry photo is to just lift your phone and take a quick snap without thinking about it. Instead, make sure to line it up just right to how you want it, and then take the picture. Thirdly, and finally, when you’ve got it all set up, make sure you click on the object you want to focus on in your photograph. When you physically click on the part of the image you want to stand out, your phone goes, “Oh! This is important!” and makes sure it’s not blurry for you.
In my experience, taking multiple photos is so worth it. There are tiny differences in pictures that do end up making a difference. Maybe in photo one, the sun went behind a cloud and you can’t see the fish; but in photo two, it came out again, and you can even catch the sun’s glittery rays in its scales. Worth it!
Photo tip three
Try Different “Styles” Of Photo On Your Phone
This may sound daunting to someone who isn’t very technologically savvy, but trust me, trying different photo styles on your phone is as easy as 1, 2, 3. Just open your Camera app, and at the bottom there’s a list of words like “video,” “portrait,” “photo,” or others. Click the one you want to try, and practice with it. It might sound scary, but different camera modes won’t bite, as far as I’m aware.
“Photo” works just fine, but a friend recently turned me on to “portrait” mode, and I’m telling you, that’s where the magic happens. “Portrait” mode blurs the background on objects, helping it to stand out and look sort of “glowy” and special. Play with it and see what all it can do!
Photo tip four
Get Different Angles For Your Photos,
Not Just Straight On
This is where my college class on photography really taught me to be creative. “Straight on” photos, where you’re looking at the object of your photo as if you were standing right in front of it, are fine and all; but when you have a slightly different angle – say, flat on the ground, looking across some grass at your deer, or slightly sideways, so you get a little to the right of you and the deer – that’s where photos start to become interesting, and they make people stop and look. Just try it. You’ll see what I mean.
Photo tip five
The Rule Of Thirds
The Rule of Thirds is a biggie. This is another principle that I learned in college, and had to have someone demonstrate for me before I understood it.
Basically, the rule of thirds is this: we’ve all been trained to place the object of our photos in the middle of the picture, but that training was a lie, ol’ friend. I know, it sounds crazy, but believe me, it’s true. If you imagine every photo divided up into a 9-square grid, the human eye is actually drawn to the intersections of the four lines. That’s not as complicated as it sounds – see photo for explanation.
So, instead of putting your trophy deer in the middle of the photo, if you really want it to stand out and look nice, stand in a place where the impressive part of the deer, or fish, or flower, or frog, etc., is in that intersection. And, there’s good news – in most or all phones, you can even turn on that grid to give you a helping hand in the rule of thirds principle! Look up online how to turn this on for your phone.
Photo tip six
Play With Light, Shadow And Color
The most interesting photos, in my experience, show some aspect of light. Light is not just a background part of our lives, it’s extremely vital for us. So, acknowledge that! Light in photos is intriguing. Is the sun setting where you are? Try and catch some of that. Is it filtering prettily through forest leaves? Don’t crop it out! Is it shining just right on your flower? Use it! Even the use of shadows can be pretty.
With color, one nice thing to do is to make sure you have pretty colors all together in a photo. If, for instance, you have a shot of a blue-ish fish, don’t take a picture of you holding it near the water. The water, friend, is blue, too. Your fish will just blend into the background, and suddenly you’ll be that guy trying to show someone a blurry, blended photo again.
Instead, put a blue-ish fish on a pretty white plate. Or, lying next to a purple fishing pole. Put a big strong buck next to some yellow light, and some green leaves, not next to an orange rifle or in the bed of your red truck.
Photo tip seven
Be Creative With Your Photos
Of all of the photo tips, this one I don’t know how to explain except in these words: be a storyteller. What is the point of you taking this particular photo at this particular time? Each photo does tell a “story;” that’s why you’re taking the photo. Is the point that you just snagged a heavy-racked buck? Well, then, experiment with how you can show all his points without just being a boring, standard photo.
Is the point of your photo that you love nature, and you found a pretty bird? Well, wait patiently until it’s landed somewhere nice, or is looking at you, and then take your photo. Is your point that your 5-year-old just caught his first fish? Maybe get down low so you can look up at him with it, or have him hold the fish (don’t drop it now!).
In other words, figure out what will be so special about this particular photo, and then capture that aspect of it. Make your photo stand out!
Photo tip eigh
Clutter Is Bad
One thing that will make a photo look completely un-special in a heartbeat is to have it all junked up with background clutter. A fish in the bottom of your boat might look nice, but not if the bottom of your boat has leaves, mud, and hooks lying all around. A tractor in the backyard looks nice, but if there’s trees everywhere and you can’t really see it, it’s not picturesque anymore (I speak from experience on this one). A photo of a child holding up a fishing pole proudly would be a winner, but if there’s a bunch of other people in the background, it takes the attention away from him and it’s just not that great anymore. Instead, move him or your camera angle to a place where you can get as clean and focused of a picture as possible!
All of this being said, not all these tips are necessary for a great photo. Sometimes, you just get lucky and you take the perfect photo with no experience or training! However, if you really do want to take the kind of picture that you’ll want to hang in the house somewhere, just try a few of these tips. They’ll help!
