10 Tips to Improve Your Photography
1. Shoot every day
Like any skill, the more you do it and practice, the better you get. The best camera you have is the one in your hand, so if you’re without your full camera kit, you can still take great photos with your phone camera. Photography is photography, so take pictures with a camera, any camera. Practice, Practice, Practice.
2. Shoot raw or highest-resolution JPEG
RAW is a file format like jpeg, but unlike jpeg, it captures all the image data recorded by your camera’s sensor rather than compressing it. Shooting raw gives you the best performance from your camera sensor. That is a fact. Not only will you get higher quality images, but you’ll also have far more control in post processing. For instance, you’ll be able to correct problems such as over or underexposure and adjust things like color, white balance, and contrast.
3. Pay attention to the background
Evaluate your scene, especially taking portraits. Is there a tree growing out of the subject’s head, or just a funky new hat? Isolate your subjects from the background by adjusting depth of field, moving the camera, or moving the subject.
4. Learn to read the histogram
Although you probably glance at your camera’s LCD screen to see if you’ve correctly exposed an image, the best way to accurately check exposure when shooting is to use your camera’s histogram, which is the little graph that shows up next to your images.
The left side of the graph represents the blacks or shadows and the right side represents the whites or highlights.
If the graph is skewed to the right, your image may be overexposed and you can lose a lot of detail in the lighter areas of the photo. If it’s skewed to the left, it’s likely underexposed and will be too dark.
5. Know your lenses
Different lenses do different things to an image. Know how your telephotos compress and your wide-angles distort. Sometimes you only have your one lens. Know its strengths and weaknesses. For all your lenses, know which apertures are sharpest and know when you lose sharpness.
6. Try a prime lens
Zoom lenses are convenient and can be very good, but there isn’t a substitute for a top-quality prime lens. A zoom can mask laziness in photography. A prime lens forces you to not only think, but to move, as well. This will open up more opportunities than it will close.
7. Don’t overload your camera bag
A heavy camera bag is no fun, unless someone else is carrying it for you. Pack only what you need; photography can become a chore when you are overloaded with gear. Minimize and travel light. Your shoulders and back will thank you.
8. Control the triad
There are three things you need to master when it comes to achieving the perfect exposure on your photos: aperture, shutter speed, and ISO.
Aperture is the opening in your lens and controls how much light gets through to the camera’s sensor. A wider aperture (a lower f-number) lets more light through, while a narrow aperture (a higher f-number) lets less light through. A wide aperture is great when you want to isolate your subject, but when you want the whole scene to be in focus, such as group shots, you’ll need to use a narrow aperture.
Shutter speed controls how long the shutter stays open when you take a picture. The longer the shutter stays open, the more light gets through to the camera’s sensor. A fast shutter speed is good for freezing action, while a longer shutter speed will blur motion.
ISO controls the camera’s sensitivity to light. A low ISO setting means the camera will be less sensitive to light, while a higher ISO means it will be more sensitive to light. An ISO setting of 100 to 200 is usually ideal when shooting outdoors during the day, but when shooting in low light situations, such as indoors or at night, a higher ISO of 400 to 800 or higher might be necessary.
9. Shoot during Golden Hour
Golden hour happens about 60 minutes after sunrise or before sunset.; when the sun is barely above the horizon. The bright orange and reddish hues produced during this period make the colors in photos look stunningly vivid and dramatic.
Shooting during golden hour will improve the lighting, color quality, and mood of your image.
The warm, soft light can be used to bring details to life when the subject is placed in the foreground. Shooting at golden hour gives your subject a flattering glow. Skin tones tend to be more natural and your subject won’t have harsh shadows on their face. The creative possibilities are unlimited during golden hour!
10. Have Fun
This may sound like a no brainer but, have fun! When you’re having fun on your shoot, your client will feel your positive energy and relax. Don’t just treat it like work but give your clients an experience and a good time. Your clients will remember their experience over everything, which translates into how much they love their photos.
