I’m short of time at the time of typing this up so this will be quick.

3 quick and easy tips or a review of 3 quick easy tips:

1)      If you want some dramatic lighting, position the sun so your subject’s head eclipses it. Keep in mind that if your subject moves much you can expect to be looking directly at the sun so coordinate carefully.

2)      Focus on the eyes. Poets write whole poems about the eyes for a reason.

3)      Get down or up to your subject’s level. What level? See number 2 here; eye level.

Bonus tip: a simple background often converts well to grayscale.

How to get good at photography.

Sunday I was out photographing an amazing school dress rehearsal of She Kills Monsters when a student approached me and asked me a very good question: how do you get good at photography? And I answered with the truth: Go out and do photography.

I intend to write posts that offer advice on how to improve your photography on this blog (in addition to small business advice, and posts on fine arts here and there), but this post will skip 95% of that and tell you the ultimate secret. If you want to get good at photography then you have to go out and photograph things.

Imagine a book about history that is sitting on your desk. Now there are lots of things you can do with that book – use it as a door stop, a paperweight, use it to balance out an uneven table, maybe combat a mosquito with it, etc. But the only way you will ever acquire the knowledge that is written in that book is if you actually sit down and read the book.

The same is true about photography. Whether you have a top of the line brand new mirrorless camera or 2006 smartphone – if you want to get good at photography than I’d suggest you go out and do photography. Early on, it will fill clunky and awkward but as you start to take more and more pictures you start to become more comfortable with the process and your equipment. Eventually, you will get good enough that you will start to know what questions you want to ask to improve your own photography. Once you know what to ask, your research into improving your photography becomes a lot easier.

This is also true of the creative side of photography. I am a bit stronger on the technical side of photography and early on I struggled on the creative side. My advice: don’t view creativity as an all or nothing asset. Think of it more as muscle, the more you build it the easier it comes to you. Sure, when you start off it might look very simple, but few artists start with a flawless and limitless well of creativity. No, they usually build it up over time and you can too. It’s never too late to start and even if you are older when you do keep in mind that your creativity will have a much stronger base of lifetime experiences with which to build upon.

So, if you want to get good at photography then I’d suggest starting with actually photographing things with whatever camera you have access to. Don’t wait for the fancy $10,000 camera with the fancy $10,0000 lens falls in your lap. Just take what you have and go photograph. You won’t regret it.

Framing

Framing is a great way to put focus on the subject of your picture and adds intrigue to the overall photo. The best part of all, though, is that it often isn’t very difficult to do and if done successfully can really take a good subject and make it incredible.

Focused on play.

So how do you frame? You simply find something that will overlay around the subject of your photo. For example, in the photo here where the toddler is busy at play. I quietly took one of her toys with a hoop on it and positioned it and myself in such a way that she was in the center of it. Now the important thing to note here is more often then not you’ll have to position yourself and the frame around the subject. It is usually easier to have the subject stay put and you move rather than the other way around. If I moved this toddler, it would have disrupted her focus and good luck getting a toddler to focus on anything in exactly the same way.

See nothing around to frame with? Two solutions:

1) Bring something.

2) Think outside of the box.

Bring something – you don’t have to limit your photoshoots to just photography equipment. If you are familiar with an event, location, or even family you are going to be photographing you can bring items that compliment that shoot including items that might help you do some framing. For the toddler above, I could have brought a literal frame and had her hold it as I took the picture. It just takes some planning ahead, but you should be planning anyway.

 Think outside of the box – You are rarely photographing in a void. In the picture above there were toys. When I shoot weddings, I grab two wine glasses and position them in a way that they frame the subject. If I am outdoors, I grab some long grass and hold it close to my lens to great nature frame or use the branches of a short tree. The point is, there is always something to be used for framing. It just takes a little outside of the box thinking. Yes, it can be a challenge, but the good news is the more you challenge yourself to come up with things to frame with the better you get at thinking up things to frame with. So just keep trying.