|
Take Better Photos- Practical Motorhome
It’s an all too common scenario. You’ve been out for the day, in some of the most stunning scenery that we are blessed with in this country and of course you took your camera along with you to record some of the beauty that you witnessed along the way. However, the pictures that you now see on your computer having downloaded the images just don’t seem to have the impact that you had hoped for.
So where did you go wrong? You were in the right location, you pointed the camera in the right direction and you have the latest digital camera with lots of mega pixels. Surely you should be getting better pictures than this? Well, of course you should and you can. So here are ten top tips to getting pictures that you can be proud of.
1. Take a camera with you. This may seem obvious but it’s all too easy to leave the camera behind as you pack your bags with other necessities. It doesn’t matter if it’s a compact camera or a more sophisticated SLR, you can achieve excellent images with both, it’s just that the SLR is more flexible but still doesn’t guarantee superior results.
2. Take a tripod. This may seem an unnecessary item to add, but even a small, lightweight model will be a great help in achieving superior results. The truth is, that a tripod slows down the picture taking process and makes you consider the scene before you more carefully. You are less likely to just snap away as you walk along, which is guaranteed to produce unsatisfactory results and with a camera on a tripod, you are more likely to get the horizon straight at least, which is a common photography mistake.
3. Don’t shoot in the middle of the day. The light at midday is horrible for landscapes and it is very difficult to get a good image at this time of the day. Early in the morning and late in the afternoon, the light is both softer and warmer and generally shows off the landscape in a more pleasing manner. If you can time your trip to coincide with these times of the day, your photographs will look 10 times better as light is the key to any good photograph.
4. Fill the foreground. The trouble with big, wide views is that everything is in the distance and this generally leads to boring compositions. If you can find something to fill the foreground however, then your images will instantly have depth and be much more pleasing to the eye.
5. Shoot vertical. Not all photographs have to be shot in the horizontal format. Many scenes work best when you turn your camera on it side and is especially useful to make use of a prominent foreground feature. It may not work on all compositions, but make sure you try it anyway as an alternative.
6. Keep an eye on the sun. The old saying for photography was always shoot with the sun over your shoulder and whilst this is okay for some pictures, for landscapes it is often better at an angle of 90 degrees to your scene. This will then give your image depth and reveal texture and therefore won’t look so flat as it would do if the sun was behind you.
7. Don’t let the sky dominate. Unless the sky is particularly dramatic and what made you get your camera out in the first place, don’t let it dominate the picture. The sky is best kept to only the top third of the image and this allows the landscape to take priority. The same thing applies to placing the horizon across the middle of the frame, as this means that neither the sky or land is dominating the picture and again usually leads to boring pictures.
8. Think about composition. Don’t just plonk your subject in the centre of the frame, but instead see if it works with it placed to the left of right. A good technique is to imagine the frame divided into thirds and place your subject on one of these points instead.
 |
9. Take the camera off automatic. Even most compact cameras these days have exposure settings other than program. These are usually aperture priority, shutter priority and full manual. These settings may seem a bit daunting, but are simple enough to use. Aperture and shutter priority just allows you to set the aperture or shutter speed of your choice, rather than the camera choosing. The camera will then set the other setting to get you a correct exposure. So for landscape photography, you usually need a small aperture of f16 or f22, so that everything is in focus from front to back. Therefore, if you set the aperture to this, the camera will give you the correct shutter speed to get the picture right. However, this may end up being quite slow, so this is another reason why the tripod is important.
10. Think about your sunsets. If you are out late and want to catch a sunset, then there are few simple rules to think about. First, wait until the sun has actually set, as this is when the colour really takes hold. Also, find something to fill the foreground of your shot even if it is silhouetted against the sky, as this will add extra interest to the shot.
If you remember these simple tips, then your photographs are guaranteed to look as good as when you pressed the button. If you stop and take a few moments to think about the scene in front of you, you will find that your results will be significantly better and no doubt make your friends jealous of your achievements. They may even give you that satisfying WOW! compliment, that every photographer likes to hear.
© Craig Roberts
|
