The way you take a photo can make it look completely different – the settings, the colour, the mood, and these top tips can help your photos look great, and help capture your special memories forever, rather than just being another photo that gets lost amongst all the others.
Get the right equipment
In an age where every phone has a camera in it, it’s important to get the right equipment. A great camera will take great pictures – a one off investment in a DSLR can be the first step into taking some great pictures. You’ll notice on your camera phone, that sometimes even in the best light, photos can come out blurred, or not capture the colours as well as you’d hoped. With a proper camera, there’s no danger of that. For my birthday, I got a Canon Eos and have been taking some great pictures ever since, such as this beauty of Cavo Grekko in Cyprus; I just love how blue the water is.
Don’t use a flash indoors!
Flash indoors can ruin a picture – it can make the light look completely unnatural. Instead, change your ISO to around 1600 if you can, and use a wide aperture to get the light to the sensor properly, and get a night blurred background with a focused image up close.
Triangles
Known as “The Golden Triangle”, this is the relationship between shutter speed, ISO and aperture, to create the picture. When you adjust one of these elements, the others must be adjusted to get the correct exposure.
If you didn’t know:
- ISO – refers to the sensitivity to light
- shutter speed – the length of time it takes in seconds that the camera shutter is open for, to allow light to hit the sensor.
- Aperture – how large or small the opening is through your lens, and controls how much light can pass through the lens.
Get to know your camera
Learn the different modes, options, configurations etc., and understand what makes each setting work – those intricate menus are there for a reason!
Angles & perspective
Sometimes you’ll see a photographer on one knee and think “why the hell are they doing that?”, well, sometimes the angle or perspective can make all the difference. Rather than simply holding your camera up and snapping a picture, consider taking the photo from above, through a gap in a fence or wall, from low down (such as on one knee), or directly in line with the height of whatever you’re taking a photo of (imagine a glass on a table – put the camera on the table, and try and get it at the same level; you’ll be surprised what the angle of a picture can do!
I hope these tips help you get used to taking some better photos, and move away from the idea of duck-mouthed selfies on your iphone!
