10 Easy Ways to Improve Your Photos (Part 2)Yesterday we looked at the first 4 Easy Ways to Improve Your Photographs. I hope that you have had a chance to digest some of this and maybe even put some into practice. So today, here are the 4 more tips. Remember, that you do not have to put all of these ideas into effect at once. Work your way through the list slowly and get these ideas down.
It is very easy to get into a rut in anything, especially in photography. When you find that you are taking the same things, or types of images, or the same types of compositions, you should stop and find out why. Many times it is because what you already know you are more comfortable with. If you take lots of flower pictures, they become easy for you to take. If you have problems photographing people, then you will avoid that and take more flower pictures. Well if you want to improve you are going to have to go outside of your comfort zone. If you don't like photographing people, just because you are not comfortable doing it, then that is a really good reason to go and do it. If you avoid something then you will never become good at it. And for those of you saying, 'Well I don't want to photograph people', you should still do it. There are valuable lessons to be learned. Just the act of going outside of your comfort zone is a good exercise, no matter in which field it occurs. It will build confidence and make you mentally stronger. It can open up new horizons for you, and hey, you just might like it.
Today, with the internet, you have access to so much information that no one could read it all in a lifetime. You should never stop learning, even in areas that you feel you know well. I still read about photography just about every day and I learn something new about it every day. My students always bring articles and books to my attention. There are thousands of photography web sites that teach, show, discuss, review everything photography. Photography is one of the most popular items on the internet. So utilize your resources to their fullest. I once had a student come up to me after a lecture and lament that we did not offer a Night Photography class. I told him, we did, and here it is; take your camera, go out at night, and shoot. End of course. Don't wait for knowledge to come knocking at your door. Go find it. You will be a lot happier with the results. And because we are visual people, besides all that reading, you should be doing a lot of looking. I do not mean just seeing things. You should really see them. See the shapes of objects, their textures, color, the way the light and shade surround them, their environment, their design, their composition, etc. So read, read, read, and look, look, look your way to better images.
Just like an instrument, you need to practice photography if your are going to get better at it. In the beginning, when you are learning more of the technical aspects, it is important to practice to make using your camera an automatic event. After you have been making and composing images for a while, and practicing that, the act of composing will become subconscious. If you photograph long enough you actually get into a state of photographing unconsciously. Many people ask me what I was thinking about when I took a particular shot or how I set the camera, etc. They are often amazed when I respond that I wasn't thinking about anything and I do not know what settings the camera were. I photograph pretty much unconsciously. Just like a pianist plays through a 30 page concerto from memory. It is the same thing. And we all get to this point the same way, through repetition, through practice. If you were studying piano and did nothing between your weekly lessons, do you think that you will improve. Treat a camera like a musical instrument and you will make it sing.
It is great when we have role models and people whom we admire in our field. I recommend that you find one photographer that you really like and make them into your 'photo hero'. Mine is Sebastiao Salgado, a brilliant documentary photographer. A good way to do this is to study this person, their biography, and their work. Really look at their work and figure out what draws you to it and why you like it so much. You photo hero may not even take photographs in your area of interest, but that is fine. The best way to go about this is to get one of their books, if they have one. Yes, you can look at their work online and it is cheaper, but investing in a nice photo book will help you more. The images are large and well printed and right there in front of you. It is hard to ignore a big book on your table or one that you are carrying around every day. You should look at this book every day and absorb it. Now this can be an active process, where you try to figure out why an image is so good,etc., or a passive one, where you just look at a few images and then go on with your life. Either way you will be subtly training your brain to take good pictures because you are showing it good pictures and saying "Hey this is what good pictures look like. This is what I want to take." The idea is not to copy your idol, just absorb them. Don't discount the power of this simple learning process. Do it and you will be amazed at the results. If you can pick someone who is living that is better. This gives you the opportunity to converse with them, or even meet them. One of the thrills of my life was meeting Salgado a few years back. Talk about motivation!
5. Go Outside Your Comfort Zone
It is very easy to get into a rut in anything, especially in photography. When you find that you are taking the same things, or types of images, or the same types of compositions, you should stop and find out why. Many times it is because what you already know you are more comfortable with. If you take lots of flower pictures, they become easy for you to take. If you have problems photographing people, then you will avoid that and take more flower pictures. Well if you want to improve you are going to have to go outside of your comfort zone. If you don't like photographing people, just because you are not comfortable doing it, then that is a really good reason to go and do it. If you avoid something then you will never become good at it. And for those of you saying, 'Well I don't want to photograph people', you should still do it. There are valuable lessons to be learned. Just the act of going outside of your comfort zone is a good exercise, no matter in which field it occurs. It will build confidence and make you mentally stronger. It can open up new horizons for you, and hey, you just might like it.
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6. Read, read, read, look, look, look
Today, with the internet, you have access to so much information that no one could read it all in a lifetime. You should never stop learning, even in areas that you feel you know well. I still read about photography just about every day and I learn something new about it every day. My students always bring articles and books to my attention. There are thousands of photography web sites that teach, show, discuss, review everything photography. Photography is one of the most popular items on the internet. So utilize your resources to their fullest. I once had a student come up to me after a lecture and lament that we did not offer a Night Photography class. I told him, we did, and here it is; take your camera, go out at night, and shoot. End of course. Don't wait for knowledge to come knocking at your door. Go find it. You will be a lot happier with the results. And because we are visual people, besides all that reading, you should be doing a lot of looking. I do not mean just seeing things. You should really see them. See the shapes of objects, their textures, color, the way the light and shade surround them, their environment, their design, their composition, etc. So read, read, read, and look, look, look your way to better images.
7 Practice, lots.
Just like an instrument, you need to practice photography if your are going to get better at it. In the beginning, when you are learning more of the technical aspects, it is important to practice to make using your camera an automatic event. After you have been making and composing images for a while, and practicing that, the act of composing will become subconscious. If you photograph long enough you actually get into a state of photographing unconsciously. Many people ask me what I was thinking about when I took a particular shot or how I set the camera, etc. They are often amazed when I respond that I wasn't thinking about anything and I do not know what settings the camera were. I photograph pretty much unconsciously. Just like a pianist plays through a 30 page concerto from memory. It is the same thing. And we all get to this point the same way, through repetition, through practice. If you were studying piano and did nothing between your weekly lessons, do you think that you will improve. Treat a camera like a musical instrument and you will make it sing.
8. Pick a Photo Hero
It is great when we have role models and people whom we admire in our field. I recommend that you find one photographer that you really like and make them into your 'photo hero'. Mine is Sebastiao Salgado, a brilliant documentary photographer. A good way to do this is to study this person, their biography, and their work. Really look at their work and figure out what draws you to it and why you like it so much. You photo hero may not even take photographs in your area of interest, but that is fine. The best way to go about this is to get one of their books, if they have one. Yes, you can look at their work online and it is cheaper, but investing in a nice photo book will help you more. The images are large and well printed and right there in front of you. It is hard to ignore a big book on your table or one that you are carrying around every day. You should look at this book every day and absorb it. Now this can be an active process, where you try to figure out why an image is so good,etc., or a passive one, where you just look at a few images and then go on with your life. Either way you will be subtly training your brain to take good pictures because you are showing it good pictures and saying "Hey this is what good pictures look like. This is what I want to take." The idea is not to copy your idol, just absorb them. Don't discount the power of this simple learning process. Do it and you will be amazed at the results. If you can pick someone who is living that is better. This gives you the opportunity to converse with them, or even meet them. One of the thrills of my life was meeting Salgado a few years back. Talk about motivation!
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