How to Take Great Photos!

Well, this isn’t something that happens overnight, and people spend years of their life perfecting this skill, but I can give you all a few pointers.



First is exposure. You don’t want the pics to be too dark or too light, but rather just in the middle. Many cameras have auto exposure and do this for you, but it can't always be trusted; so sometimes you might have to take control in manual mode to adjust. Every camera is different, so I suggest you take the time to read your manual. Ugggh! I know you don’t want to, but i'ts really important.

Secondly, once you've perfected this, your creativity can really shine through. One thing that I find a lot of amateurs do is not look at their background close enough. A lot of times you can be shooting, but if you don’t have a clean background, it can look as if a telephone pole is growing out of your model's head. So always be aware!!

I, personally, like to shoot at the beach because it makes things clean - all you have is sand, water and sky in the background. But even at the beach, the time of day you shoot is really important in all your photographs always.

The sun can create harsh shadows that are not flattering to your model's face. Sometimes an overcast day can be really nice to shoot in, but a favorite for many photographers is something called the “magic hour," which is usually during sunrise or sunset. The sun is less harsh, and it turns a golden color that is just beautiful on your model's skin.

The only problem is this time of day only lasts about 45 minutes; so you have to design your shot and work quickly. A nice effect during sunset is having the sun behind your model, highlighting her back and using a flash on your camera to light the frontal. If you have the chance to put a gel on (which you can get at a camera store) you can put a warming gel, which is a yellowish red color, on the flash.

If you have to shoot during the middle of the day, which is the absolute worst, try and find some open shade that is completely covered. This way there will be no ugly shadows on your model. Just try and experiment! Usually your best pics will come by something you do by accident. So keep at it, and good luck!!!!