Okay! It goes without saying that techy camera gear and beautifully engineered lenses are AWESOME, but without some skill in taking a well crafted image you may still end up disappointed in your work. And what if you’re just using your smartphone?
Here’s a bunch of tips to help you take better pictures now, regardless of the gear you’re using.
Tip Number One: Get Closer and Simplify!
Are you taking a picture of your kid on a cool new bike? Then why is there a tree, half of your neighbour’s car, and a stray cat in the shot? Clear it up! If it’s a portrait that focuses on someone’s face and eyes, then why are you including their jeans and old trainers and the rest of their body?
Think of your viewer’s eyeballs and make sure the subject of your picture is immediately clear. If it doesn’t add to the image - get rid of it.
Tip Number Two: Get Your Headroom Right!
There are two super common issues here - either you decapitate your subject and chop the top of their heads off, or there’s wayyyyy too much open space above the head and we’re left wondering if it’s a picture of them or the empty space! Give their scalp a little room to breathe, but make sure we know what the subject is.
Tip Number Three: Be Aware Of Your Backgrounds.
Is a streetlamp sticking out of their head? Are they standing awkwardly half on some grass and half on a path? Is there a bush behind them that makes their face blend too much with the scenery?
Make sure we know what the subject is, but make sure your background is complementing the overall picture, not screwing it up.
No branches sticking out of Carter’s head! The taller grass on the left of the image balances him out, while the path behind him also makes the scene more interesting - see the next tip.
Tip Number Four: Depth, Depth, Depth.
Photographs are two dimensional, but they represent three dimensional space, and that’s how we view the world. So please, for the love of aesthetics, don’t take pictures of people in a flat line in front of a flat wall. Oh my god no. Try to think in layers. Give us some depth and a sense of space.
There’s a bunch of ways to go about this. You can include foreground elements that are closer than your main subject, you can use objects like paths and trees and rivers to lead further into the picture, you can line up other people some distance behind your subject… just try to think in more than two dimensions.
Shooting over Glenn’s arm here is a simple way to add a little interest and three-dimensionality to the picture. If I’m on a shoot where I’m mostly documenting the action instead of posing, I’m constantly moving to try and shoot over someone’s shoulder or to get a chair between us… anything!
Here I used the yellow-green plants both behind and in front of them to give the picture some depth.
Tip Number Five: I’ve Been Framed!
The landscape around you is positively bursting with natural and man-made frames that you can use to give your pictures a more cohesive composition. Move on from the ‘I just got this guy to stand randomly in the road and took a picture of him’ and start using your surroundings to border your subject and highlight them. Trees and buildings are the most obvious ways you can do this. Here’s a few examples:
The two trees here, one standing and one fallen, box Charlie inside his part of the picture.
Probably the textbook example - use a door! Look at the beautiful black frame around the image. Love it!
I hope that helps you start making more interesting pictures! It also should be noted that rules are meant to be broken ;) and sometimes you just don’t have the materials on hand, but when you can, give it a try. I promise it’s worth it!