Do your pictures leave something to be desired? Are they blurry or are the subjects in them too far away? Maybe they are too dark or people all appear to be frowning or squinting into the camera. Read on for some simple tips you can use to take better pictures. I promise you don't have to be a professional photographer!
1. STEADY GIRL
A shaking camera equals blurry pictures. Hold your camera steady by using both hands and pin your arms to your sides or rest your elbows on a ledge. If you really struggle with this, try using higher speed film. I generally use 400 speed and rarely have a blurry photo. And for real clarity with action shots try 800 speed film.
2. YOU LIGHT UP MY LIFE
The very best light for outdoor pictures is early morning, evening or an overcast day. The glare of the sun often creates harsh shadows and makes your subject squint. If you are taking picture in full sun, position yourself so that the sun is behind you and to one side. This will shine light on your subject’s face and cast a little shadow to outline them. Better yet, place your subject in a shady area with a shadowy background. Use fill-flash to add light to the face and fill in shadows.
3. YOU’VE BEEN FRAMED
Sometimes you want a wide angle shot to include the background, but more often than not I’ll bet you crop at least a third off of most of your pictures before using them on your scrapbook pages. For really great shots, zoom in. Fill the frame of your camera with your subject. Most people take full body shots. Try using your telephoto, or just get closer to your subject. Check the edges of your frame before you snap that photo and see if you can get even closer. Try taking some very close up shots of faces that even overflow the frame.
4. DON’T LOOK AT ME
Usually we line people up, tell them to look straight at us, smile, say cheese, and hope no one blinks. Instead, try getting sneaky. Go for that candid shot when you catch your subject unaware. In some of my favorite pictures of my kids, they are looking intensely at something (profile shot), or even walking away (holding daddy’s hand). My sister recently took a picture of my very tall, strong 50+ year old uncle holding his frail, almost 90 year old mother’s hand as they were walking away. It was breath-taking.
5. UP, DOWN OR SIDEWAYS
I used to take almost all my pictures horizontally. Once in a while I might tip my camera on its side and take a vertical shot. Now I take about an even split of each. In fact, most shots of people fill the frame better vertically. It eliminates excess background. It also makes your scrapbook pages more interesting.
6. AVOID A BULLS-EYE
Instead of framing your subject smack dab in the center of your picture (unless of course you plan on using it for target practice), use the rule of thirds. Imagine your photo divided up like a tic-tac-toe board. Position your subject on one of the lines or intersections. They will be off-center and your picture will be more interesting.
7. SPICE IT UP
Don’t take all close-ups or all landscape shots of one event. Mix it up and don’t forget to take some identifying shots of where you are or what you did to get ready: street signs, campground or hotel signs, preparing the Thanksgiving turkey, the plate of cookies and glass of milk for Santa and the stockings all hung in a row!
8. JUST OVER THE HORIZON
The horizon line of your picture is where one element meets another: where the sky meets the ground or ocean, the ocean meets the beach, a building meets the ground or the wall meets the floor. Usually you want to avoid that line running through the middle of your picture. Place it above or below depending on what you are trying to photograph. If you are taking a sunset picture, the sky should fill most of the frame, with the horizon line (the ground) in the bottom third of your picture.
9. WHERE AM I OR WHO AM I?
When taking pictures of large buildings, monuments or majestic scenery, take a variety of angles. Just taking a photo of a person in front of the Leaning Tower of Pisa from close up leaves us guessing, “Where are you?” Then again, if you back off and get the whole tower in, we’ll be guessing, “who is that” standing next to it? Those shots are great to take, but be sure to get a shot of the person close up with the tower in the background. Then we know both who and where you are.
10. CRAWL ON YOUR BELLY OR HANG FROM A TREE
Well, maybe not, but do experiment with different angles. Instead of just shooting a picture from your normal perspective, get down low and take a picture of your child at their level or even looking up at them. Lie on the ground and take a photo of your flower bed looking up towards the sky. Then again, sometimes you may want to get a shot from above. Stand on the stairs and take a picture of your hotel lobby from above. If you have a balcony above your living room, take a picture of the kids opening Christmas gifts from above.
Try some of these tips the next time you pull out your camera. I think you'll find your scrapbook pages will come alive!
