It would be erroneous to say that you have to have the most expensive camera in the world to improve your photographs. You do need, however, to understand a little more about light, about composition and about what your camera can and can’t do.
Tip 1 – Light
Understand the light. Ever tried to take pictures of people in the midday sun? Were you disappointed that they had strong shadow and burn out faces and you couldn’t really see them that well at all? If you are going to take photographs of anyone and you want to avoid this you can do a couple of things. FIrst you can just find a shady spot and take the shot then. Most cameras come with a fill-in flash and this is a good time to use it as long as you are not too close as it will lift the face and you won’t have the shadows to contend with.
The other thing you can do, and this is good for landscapes too and that is to take photographs a couple of hours after and before the sun rise and sets. The light at this time of day is gentler, with less shadow and a nice diffused feeling to it. This is good for faces and especially good for landscapes, sunsets, and buildings. The light is bluer in the morning and warmer and more orange in the evening, but both are equally beautiful.
Tip 2 – Composition
Just before you take your shot, stop a second and think about how you have composed it. Generally speaking you would not want to see your main subject to be in the dead center of a picture. The eye should lead into the centre and find other things to look at. The golden area or the law or thirds, defines that you place an imaginary grid over your shot and try to place the central interesting features in the grid corners to the left or right of the center.
You can do this on most cameras through the focus lock. Focus on the main subject, then press the lock and recompose the shot. On more sophisticated cameras there is also focus points which you can choose which allow you to move them around until you have your interest focused effectively.
Tip 3 – Subject
If you have a flower you want a close up of and don’t have a macro function you will struggle to get a focus. Similarly, if you want the background behind your subject blurred, if you don’t have control over your aperture then that is difficult, but there are ways around this and understanding what your camera can and can’t do helps with this. You can’t create a macro unless you have a removeable lens and can buy some extension tubes to help you get closer, but you can create a blur in post processing through photoshop or something similar.
Generally speaking your camera will have numerous features that you have never tried, and it is now that you have to get the manual out and read it. If it doesn’t make sense, and trust me, manuals often don’t, try looking for photographic tutorials online, they are often videoed which is really helpful to explain what the manual is trrying to tell you.
