How to take (really) amazing pictures
I love movies and we know that sometimes, there are certain lines (also known as catchphrases) which just become iconic and unforgettable for many people such as, for example, “I will be back”, “Follow the white rabbit”, “life is like a box of chocolates”, among many others.
Within that, one of such lines which have remained in my mind is Blade Runner’s ‘Tears in Rain’: “I’ve seen things you people wouldn’t believe. Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion. I watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhäuser Gate. All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain. Time to die.”
This line is certainly open to many different interpretations, and I have decided to bring it here because, for me, it speaks about the importance of seizing the moment, because, in life, everything can be temporary. Within that, I do believe that photography helps us not only to register special moments but to freeze them in time. However, it should not be a matter of just pointing and shooting but employing at least some technique to produce really memorable scenes which will not fade away like tears in rain.
Evolving from this initial reflection, I consider that you might have already come across several articles (and probably also videos) addressing a list of tips on how to take good pictures (see, for example, the article How to become a better photographer: 50 photography tips). That is fine because there is plenty of good material out there. However, the aim and approach adopted in this article are slightly different. Built on top of my theoretical and mostly practical experience of over 30 years of photography, I believe that I have something interesting (and useful tips and tricks) to share with you.
I do not define myself as a professional photographer (meaning that I do not make a living out of this occupation), but rather as a great photography enthusiast (see my portfolio at 500px, Getty Images, Pexels and Twenty20). Therefore, the suggestions and tips addressed in the present article, have been developed under this perspective, which I consider making them quite accessible to a wide audience of beginner and amateur photographers as well.
Having said that, the first aspect I want to address is that great pictures are made primarily by you rather than the camera. I mean that, sometimes, people tend to think that they need the fanciest and sophisticated camera they can afford (plus several expensive accessories) to produce amazing pictures.
However, this is not a flawless rule. What matters the most is the photographer’s eye behind an image. What do you see that other people simply do not? Which particular aspect or detail do you want to portray? Which moment do you want to capture? All these sorts of questions should drive your action before actually taking the picture. They come in a matter of just a few seconds in your head, but they play a more influential role in the final quality of your pictures than the equipment you use.
It is true that if you can afford to purchase modern and sophisticated cameras with many technical resources, chances are that you might be able to take quite nice pictures. Nevertheless, if you do not have well-trained eyes and a creative mind to see what others do not, the final result can be as ordinary as any other shot produced with much simpler equipment.
In fact, this is the reason my personal motto is that “photography is the art of turning the ordinary into extraordinary”, which means that the photographer’s eye and creative mind should always be in control. You should master the equipment to create the image you have seen in your mind, rather than being simply ‘controlled’ by the camera.
This reflection leads us to another important aspect regarding taking amazing pictures, which comprises the ability to “telling a story” with your images. I am sure that you are familiar with the old (and cliché) phrase ‘a picture is worth a thousand words’. However, when I say that your pictures should tell a story is more than this cliché phrase conveys. It means that when creating your pictures, the combination of the elements in the frame should convey something that will not only capture the viewers’ attention, but also convey some emotion, or make them reflect, imagine other scenarios and develop their own interpretation of the scene.
It also means that rather than simply impulsively pointing and shooting in any direction without any reasoning at all, you should try to foresee the final image in your head before pressing the shutter button. Nonetheless, do not get me wrong. Unless you are in a very controlled situation (e.g., in a studio, external shooting in a scenario, etc.), this process usually takes just a few seconds. Indeed, it is a matter of evaluating whether the final result will be as close as possible to what your eyes have captured or not and taking the decision to go ahead or ‘abort the mission’, so to speak.
It is also true that different from many years ago in the times of film photography where you really needed to be more selective (in this regard, see the article About memories and digital photography), nowadays all of us can afford to be more adventurous when thanking pictures. Nevertheless, despite the convenience brought by digital photography, having a set of well-established minimum standards for your photography style does help you to produce better results more often.
Within that, without trying to overwhelm you with lots of technical rules and camera settings, I suggest that you should pay attention at least to two important aspects to frame amazing pictures: 1) light, and 2) composition. Of course, you should also consider the focus of your image, aperture, exposition, etc. but I consider that these two aspects comprise the minimum which will help you produce incredibly nice pictures.
Regarding light, the basic rule is to avoid taking pictures of your object positioned behind a very strong source of light (e.g., a person standing with the sun immediately behind her on a beach) or somewhere else with a very weak or scarce source of light (e.g., in a dense wood full of tall trees blocking most of the natural sunlight). So, try to make the natural sunlight work in your favour in such a way that it highlights your object correctly, does not create undesirable and dense shadows, and make your main object really shine and stand out in the frame.
What concerns the composition, nowadays, most (if not all) digital cameras (including smartphones) display a virtual grid, which helps you to compose your scene. Although this topic might look quite obvious and intuitive for many people, there are still many others who are not that familiar with this resource, and that is why it is important to be addressed. So, the trick is just to position the main object of your image at the central grid, while keeping a proportional distribution of the remaining elements in the other quadrants.
In addition to these tips, it is also relevant to say: never miss an opportunity! It means that, sometimes, it can happen that you do not have at hand your right photo equipment, but this should not prevent you from registering a particular moment, which most probably will not repeat itself. However, chances are that you might have your smartphone at hand. So, just use what you have available (following the aforementioned rules, tips and tricks) and do not miss the moment.
I believe that is also common knowledge that a tripod comprises a very interesting, affordable and useful accessory for producing steady photos, especially exploring angles or positions which might be more difficult for us to hold the camera. So far so good. However, the only problem I have experienced a couple of times while trying to use my tripod has been with security personnel.
On more than one occasion, I have been approached by them kindly requesting me not to use the tripod without prior authorisation. It has happened to me a couple of times in public parks (including a botanic garden) and around some skyscrapers.
As I said before, I am not a professional photographer but, maybe, under the eyes of security personnel, the use of this kind of accessory might give the impression that one is a pro. Anyway, I do not want to generalise (eventually, I was just unlucky in those places) and neither criticise the security personnel for doing their job, since they might have received instructions from somebody else to do that. Instead, I am sharing this experience more as a sort of alert to beware of the use of your tripod in certain public spaces because you may (or may not if you are luckier than me) not be allowed to use it without prior written permission.
Other than that, I am quite confident that if you are taking pictures in the open nature, at the seaside or in the mountains, you might not face this sort of restriction.
Finally, I also truly believe that taking pictures should be fun, relaxing and entertaining, always. No matter if you are doing it to make a living or as a hobby, you should always enjoy what you are doing and feeling proud of your achievements. As such, sharing your pictures with friends, relatives and even people you do not know should also be considered.
In addition to several social media platforms which allow you to share your photos (e.g., Pinterest, Instagram, Mix, etc.), there is also a number of stock image websites, apps and online communities where you can share your productions, engage with many other photographers (pro and amateurs), and eventually, even selling some of your pictures. Examples in this regard include: 500px, Pexels, Twenty20, Flickr, among many others.
Furthermore, do not forget to also explore numerous apps which afford you the possibility of creating printable digital albums that you can easily share and display among friends and relatives.
