Photography tips

I'm going to start this off with what I can remember so far - which isn't much at the moment but I'll update it as time progresses .Please feel free to add to this list of tips regarding photography - most of which I have heard on the forums . Either contact me or post it in the comments section below .


1.) "Just because you have the tools doesn't mean you have to use them "
Someone told me this after I bought a new flash and started trying to use it on every occasion to 'enhance' images . I had used it with someone standing next to a large window with really good natural light coming from the side..... and totally destroyed the natural atmosphere of the image .
If you have some gear that you enjoy using , or are trying to learn to use don't lose sight of the fact that an image may actually look better without it .


2.) "First find the light , then find the background "
Don't go looking for a nice background then try to get the light right - first find decent lighting , then find the best background for it .


3.) "Fill the frame " 
know what to include in the image and what to exclude - simplify the image . Also keep in mind though , that depending on how you will print the image it is good to have some extra space around your 'frame' to allow for cropping or the possibility of the sides of the image being cut off at different printing ratios .
This is particularly important with group shots of people , if they are touching the sides of the frame they may all fit in if the picture is the same aspect ratio of your camera but doing a "8X10" of the image might chop of a person on either side while an "8X12" would get them all in [ with a 3:2 aspect ratio ] " Always scan the edges of the frame before taking the picture " [ if time allows of course :) ]
Get as close to your subject as possible (of course, within reason). I shoot a lot of sportscars (and other stuff) and I always notice photographers shooting from halfway up the seating area. Maybe they are using a zoom lens with 200 mm or 300 mm at the long end but why not move down the hill and get right up against the fence*, then frame and shoot.

I feel the less distance between the shooter and the subject the more clarity in the image. And using a slight shorter focal length may increase your maximum aperture, which could be a good thing. [ "Peter" planetnikon.com ]



4.) " The camera doesn't 'see' the same way your brain does " .
Learn to look at things the way your camera does .
Have a look at "how the brain sees" .


5.) "If you see something you think is interesting or like - take a picture of it. If you walk away and decide to come back, it may not be there."
Example: I drove by a beautiful huge sycamore tree for years. It must have been over 100 years old. Perfectly formed and stood by itself. I saw it in every season, in every light and always though what a beautiful seasonal picture series it would make. They cut it down. No images, except those in my mind.  ["midocr" - nikoncafe ]


6.) "Don't be satisfied with your first shot." 
Take pictures of the same scene/object/person/etc. in landscape and portrait modes, and from different angles, locations heights etc.
Bracket exposures, focus, dof, and try different lenses. 
["Palouse" Nikoncafe ]

7.) "F8 and be there ! " 
 I think this is old saying comes from newspaper reporters . Essentially it is about the idea of choosing settings that will get all the detail you need and actually being there to capture it as opposed to stressing about ideal settings for a situation with the chance of missing the action .
If you have time then by all means choose the ideal settings but if something important is happening [ eg: at a wedding ] then the most important task at hand is to capture the moment which won't happen again  ..... you could be fiddling with settings and stressing about image quality and miss the shot because time did not allow for it . 
. 

8.) "Check your settings when you pull the camera out of the bag. Or always reset your settings to some base level after you're done."
If I had a dime for every time I pulled my camera out of the bag and shot 30 photos at ISO 800 because that's what it was last night, I'd be shooting with a D3x by now.[ "free range otter" nikoncafe ] 
Before shooting, always remember to check for "W.I.M.P." It stands for "White Balance, ISO, Metering, Priority." This is your pre-shoot checklist [ JGI nikoncafe ]. 

9.) "Don't let the gear get in the way of taking good photos " ["twistedlogic" Nikoncafe]
Otherwise know as " A bad workman blames his tools " . Since today's entry level cameras are better than the first professional digital cameras in regard to image quality it is hard to see how people can still think that really good images are due to the camera gear being used . Although there are some images that require expensive lenses there are still many good images that can be achieved with the right knowledge , and just about any camera .


10. ) " Get it right in-camera "
Never say "oh I'll just fix it in Photoshop" - compose the shot the way it looks in your minds eye and then expose it  

11.) "Never try anything new at an important shoot "
Photography is like hiking in the mountains - you make sure that your equipment works before you attempt a hike . Wearing new boots on a long hike can only guarantee blisters . A new flash or lens could still be faulty right from the factory .
You could slip in that brand new memory card only to find it is not compatible with your camera - or your Nikon D1 doesn't recognize 32 Gig cards . 

12 .) "Beware of 'bulls-eye shooting' " 
It is a common and easy mistake to make - lining the subject up in the centre focus point and firing away , this often leads to pictures with a large gap above the person's head  , or 'uncomfortable space' around the object you may be photographing . Keep the 'rule of thirds' in mind , perhaps placing your subject to the side of the frame rather . With full-body shots of  people though it is often better to have twice as much space above their heads as below their feet - but you still don't centralize their head in the middle of the picture that way .
These are just guidelines as opposed to 'laws' but usually work better than the subject right in the centre of the frame all the time . Sometimes central composition will work better - for example maybe you are taking a picture of a 'bulls-eye' :) and that is the effect you want to show .


13.) " People 'read' photographs " .
This is a strange one . If people read from left to right that's the way the look at a photograph . often a picture will look more 'normal' if it is framed on the right . For example " A bride walking up to the groom leaning up against a tree " - if the tree is on the right then the picture seems to make more sense but if it is on the left it is " A tree , with the groom leaning up against it and the bride walking towards him " ..... which doesn't quite sound normal .
If you were to show people the same image flipped over and ask which one they think has been flipped most of them will pick the one that is framed on the left because to them that one will not feel 'normal' - depending on whether you read from left to right or from right to left .
Depending on what country you are in when you enter a photography competition it would pay to know which way the judges read before deciding on what composition to use because what looks normal to you may look backwards to them . 

14.) "Fishing lures are designed to catch fishermen "
Ok , I made that one up but essentially what I am trying to say is that all those fancy attachments for your flash that keep being invented are primarily designed to make money for the person selling them rather than improve your photography . You can do a lot with one flash either off camera or used on-camera as bounce flash .
Many of those accessories will end up collecting dust once you realize how useless they actually are or how insignificant the difference in the results is .

15.) " Digital costs nothing extra to take more photos " 
We have two lines of thought on this one .....
a.) Don't be shy to experiment , go out and take pictures , try different settings - it's no costing you any more to take twice as many pictures ..... BUT
b.) When it matters , shoot as if you are using expensive film - that way you will think harder about each shot rather than resorting to "Spray and pray" - taking hundreds of pictures in the hopes that a few will accidentally be good . 

16.) " Don't just 'take' good photos , 'make' good photos " .
The light won't always be good but you may still need to take a photo . Bring out the flash , the reflector/s ... whatever you can use to actually make it better . You can't always expect things to work out just right - sometimes you have to do more work for decent images .