Five simple ways to make striking improvements to your photography, without the need for fancy equipment.
“It is the photographer, not the camera, that is the instrument.” – Eve Arnold
Whether you are a photoblogger or use your blog to showcase your writing, photos enhance every story. They are a critical part of the visual appeal of content on the web. Many people feel frustrated with their photography style or skills, or feel that they need expensive equipment to create attractive photographs. Today, I’m sharing five easy ways to improve your photography without the need for anything other than a phone camera and minimal use of built-in editing tools.
All of the images in today’s post were taken with my iPhone 5s, and I did minimal editing using the native editing tools on the phone.
Tip #1: Change Your Angle
“If I saw something in my viewfinder that looked familiar to me, I would do something to shake it up.” – Garry Winogrand
When we’re taking photos on the fly, it doesn’t really occur to us to ensure that we have a technically-pleasing composition. We point, we shoot, we have a photo of our desired subject. But changing the angle from which you take a photo is a quick and easy way to create a much more interesting photograph.
In the first images I’ve shared below, the one on the left is just a straight-down shot of the leaf on the railing of my deck, and the one on the right was taken by putting my phone into contact with the railing, and shooting down the rail toward the leaf. This photo obeys the Rule of Thirds. I noticed that there was some lovely sunset light coming from the trees far in the background, and wanted to include it in the shot. To make sure my focus was on the leaf, I framed the shot in my phone camera, and clicked the leaf so the focus locked on it.
“Beauty can be seen in all things, seeing and composing the beauty is what separates the snapshot from the photograph.” – Matt Hardy
Tip #2: Straighten Your Horizon
This is a tip that seems simple and obvious, but makes a bit impact on the appeal of a landscape photo, or a portrait of a person or pet. When you’re composing an image in your viewfinder or phone camera screen, adjust your gear so that the horizon in the background is level. Built-in phone camera tools can allow you to straighten a crooked horizon, but it is good practice to try to get it right in-camera.
In the images below, the only difference between them is that I straightened my phone to put the horizon parallel with the bottom of the photo, and included more of the sky, as the lovely clouds were the focus of my image.
Tip #3: Get Stable
“Noodly arms make for blurry photographs.”
To minimize camera-shake and make sure you have crisp photos, you can use your own body as a tripod. This is especially important when shooting with a heavier piece of equipment, but the benefits extend to any camera. Make sure your feet are placed a bit apart, and pull your elbows in to hug your sides, rather than allowing your elbows to “float.” Noodly arms make for blurry photographs. My husband demonstrates improper and proper technique in the images below.
Tip #4: Find The Light
“If you want to be a better photographer, stand in front of more interesting stuff.” — Jim Richardson
I am a light lover. Interesting light-play enhances an otherwise mundane image, so always be on the lookout for it. If you’re photographing a person, play around with where you place them in your environment, to find where the light makes them glow.
I took the image below with my phone as we were going to dinner recently, because I loved the way the dusk light was shining off of the high-rise in the background. This same shot, taken at midday, would not be nearly as interesting
Tip #5: Edit, But Don’t Overdo
In a world of instant vintage filters, HDR apps and oversaturated hues in digital photography, it is easy to give into the allure of the power of digital editing, and go overboard. I’m guilty of it, myself. But, by definition, the word “edit” simply means to modify, not necessarily to enhance. Learning to use the tools available to you to modify your photos (whether it is the full Adobe Creative Suite, or simply the native editing tools on your phone) can give your photos a powerful impact that they might not otherwise have. In most cases, less is definitely more, and remember; just because you can doesn’t necessarily mean that you should.
Unless you’re doing a color conversion, the best edit is a subtle edit. Resist the urge to overdo it, as in the oversaturated photo above.
In the edited image below, I chose to convert to black and white, to place the emphasis on my daughter’s silly face, and it needed a bit of brightening since the original was underexposed. The logo on her shirt was a bit distracting to me, and I didn’t like the expanse of green from the grass in the other part of the frame.
Get Out and Shoot!
Bonus tip: if you’re looking to perfect your craft, don’t leave your camera behind. Have it with you always, and photograph everything. Anton Chekhov said, “Knowledge is of no value unless you put it into practice.” For homework, put some (or all!) of these tips into practice, and write a blog post sharing your before and after photos. Enjoy!
Currently blogless? You’re a click away from sharing your story.
Create your blog at WordPress.com
Great tips! Definitely need to get in the habit of bringing a camera everywhere!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Great tips. I think I need to keep my camera with me a bit more.
LikeLiked by 1 person
this is so helpful and inspiring, thanks for the tips!
LikeLiked by 2 people
Thanks for your awesome tips! I have a question, do you know any free photo-editing website I could use?
LikeLike
Try PicMonkey!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Awesome! I’ll give it a try. Thank you hapabunny! 😀
LikeLiked by 1 person
These are really good tips, I’m trying to get better pictures for my blog can I still use a digital camera to get these great effects?
LikeLiked by 1 person
Of course!
LikeLike
Great tips! I’ll definitely try them out.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Love these tips- super easy to understand. thank you!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I love photography and this post is really of great help. thanks for simple but very useful ideas…..
LikeLiked by 1 person
thanks for the information…i like that ways
LikeLiked by 1 person
Really great tips! I’m definitely guilty of the overedit a time or two myself…
LikeLiked by 1 person
I love Tips #1 and #4 the best because I can use them the most. And, of course, always have my camera with me! I didn’t think of that – the best way to practice. The tips were to the point and interesting. I have a nice camera and I’m thinking about taking a class that will explain the different functions of cameras in general. This gives me inspiration. Thank you for these tips!
LikeLiked by 1 person
The comment above was from Traci Drury at Blushed n’ Polished.
LikeLike
aaaah many thx for tips #3 🙂
LikeLike
Thanks for making this sound very simple. I sometimes put off my blog because I need to psych myself up for taking the photos that might not turn out. When I get a beauty I recognise it and wonder how that happened!
LikeLiked by 1 person
https://lifeperksandstuffs.wordpress.com/
Please do visit my blog. thanks and God bless
LikeLiked by 1 person
Nice ! 🙂 good tips 🙂 great help:)
LikeLiked by 1 person
I take ALL my photos on my iPhone and get so many compliments – I simply change angles and make sure everything is as centred and symmetrical as possible. Let me know what you think of my pictures 🙂 http://www.iaminaplace.com
LikeLiked by 1 person
Great tips! Just got a Nikon D3300, and have been playing around with it, but haven’t been overly satisfied. I’ll definitely be putting these suggestions to use.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanx Jen, Can you tell me why some pictures come better with a minimal 5 mpxl cam than with my 16 mpxl canon shot. I really love clicking random things but somethings come better with my phones camera than the canon powershot…is there anything to do with the lens or what?
LikeLike
Check out this article. 🙂 http://www.techforanyone.com/megapixels-dont-matter-cameras/
LikeLike
thanx a lot
LikeLike
Good tips! also consider including elements in the frame like shapes, lines, patterns, color, etc..
LikeLiked by 1 person
Very helpful tips. It’ll definitely change how I take pictures.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Very useful tips for people like me with limited patience with or placated camera settings .Thanks for sharing
LikeLiked by 1 person
wow So nice…love the tips…thanks..
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks for the tips. A lot of the photo’s I take is of moving subjects so nearly every second photo I take is a blur. I think it’s simply because I’m still getting used to my camera.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Hi everyone , I just posted a blog similar to this one,but with other tips.You shoul really check it out
LikeLike
All are great tips and will definitely keep in mind and make them a habit while taking pictures. Thanks for sharing! 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Good Points Straighten Your Horizon because most of the people missed it.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Brilliant blog for learning photography skills . good one. your are doing really great.
Even i own a blog sanya512.wordpress.com if you could visit it , it would be my pleasure.
good day.
LikeLike
Good tips! Thanks 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yup, great tips. Honestly, I think sometimes reading posts like this that are “beginner” are a helpful reminder of where to start, tip #5 being the most important of all in my opinion 🙂
Cheers!
LikeLiked by 1 person