Top 10 Digital Photography Tips Take Your Digital Photography to the Next Level!
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Use the Rule of Thirds
Avoid Camera Shake
Learn to use the Exposure Triangle
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Use a Polarizing Create a Sense of Filter Depth
25 Don’t Use Flash Indoors
26 Choose the Right ISO
30 Experiment with Shutter Speed
Use Simple Backgrounds
28 Pan to Create Motion
Table of Contents
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Whether you are a beginner or more experienced with photography, here are some of our favorite tips that will help you improve your photography!
1) Use the Rule of Thirds Taking your photography to the next level could be as simple as following the Rule of Thirds, a basic and easy to use composition technique that can increase viewer engagement, maximize visual impact, and transform your images from good to great. The Rule of Thirds provides a means of reliably creating balanced, visually pleasing photographic compositions based on the way the human eye naturally moves and focuses when viewing an image.
Though the principle has been used by artists throughout history, the technique was first described and given its name in the 18th century by painter, author, and engraver John Thomas Smith. Since that time the Rule of Thirds has become one of the most widely recognized and followed photographic techniques.
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What is the Rule of The Rule of Thirds Thirds? in Use First of all, I want to point out that I believe To make it more visual and easier to unthere shouldn’t be any rules in photography derstand, let’s look at some example images as it’s a creative craft where strictly followwhere the Rule of Thirds has been applied: ing rules will limit your creativity. Instead, I choose to look at the Rule of Thirds and other compositional rules as guidelines and techniques that will help you in creating better photographs. So, what is the Rule of Thirds? The principle of it is to break the image into thirds, both horizontally and vertically, leaving you with 9 frames. These frames serve as guidelines as to where you should place subjects of interest in your image, either at the intersections or along the lines. In other words, the main subject (or a point of interest) in your image should be placed at the intersections between the frames. This is at the lower or upper right or left intersections. By placing the elements at these spots, you’re creating a more visually pleasing image that naturally helps guide the viewer’s eye. Visualizing these lines might be challenging in the beginning but luckily you can use the grid view in most cameras’ Live View or Viewfinder – it’s also possible to use an overlaying grid while displaying an image you’ve captured. Look through your owner’s manual to see exactly how this is done in your camera.
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The Basics of The Rule Of Thirds
at first, but it quickly becomes automatic and effortless as you consistently use the Rule of Thirds to compose images.
intersect are the strongest focal points, and the lines themselves are the second strongest focal points.
The theory behind the rule In some cases, your camera is that placing objects of can actually do the visual- interest on the intersection izing for you; many digital points or along the lines The Rule of Thirds is based cameras have a convenient rather than in the center on dividing an image into a built-in function that alof the picture will not only symmetrical 3 x 3 grid like lows the photographer create a balanced and visua tic tac toe board, with to actually see the grid ally appealing image, it will two equally spaced vertical through the viewfinder. enable viewers to interact lines that intersect with This grid serves as the with the image more nattwo equally spaced horframework on which the urally; studies have shown izontal lines. Visualizing subject and objects of inthat most people naturally the grid overlaying your terest are positioned. The focus first on one of the image may be challenging four points where the lines intersection points rather
5 than in the center of the image. Using the Rule of Thirds to compose photographs ensures that viewers are immediately drawn to your subject without distraction or visual confusion. In addition, aligning horizontal or vertical lines within the image to the lines in the grid can significantly enhance visual impact and allow the eye to travel naturally around the image. This can be particularly important in landscapes, seascapes, or any image with an obvious horizon line. Using the Rule of Thirds to compose your images not only reliably creates photos that work with rather than against the way we naturally focus, but it can also add interest and help you tell your story by giving your pictures a sense of movement, energy, and direction.
How To Use The Rule of Thirds Once you’ve identified the points of interest in your photo, start by determining which are the most important and move around until you have the key elements positioned at or near the strongest intersection points and lines of the grid. The objects in your image don’t have to be lined up to fit precisely on the grid; close will do, but the closer, the better. Ideally, the most important point of interest in the image will be lined up with an intersection point. When the subject is the only point of interest in the image, the strongest position is generally the upper left intersection or the left-hand line. When there are multiple points of interest in the picture, the strongest position is often the lower right intersection. But rules are made to be broken, and it’s always worth trying a solo subject on both grid lines to see which works best with all the other elements of the photo.
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Using The Rule of Thirds in Landscapes The Rule of Thirds can clarify the key element in a landscape photo by guiding the viewer’s eye and eliminating visual confusion.
Putting the horizon line in the cente r of the image tends to effectively cut the picture in half, which can stop the eye from moving naturally around the entire image. A centered horizon line can also make it difficult for the viewer to determine which part of the picture is the primary focal point. Aligning the horizon with one of the horizon-
tal grid lines clearly establishes the subject and creates a sense of flow that allows the eye to travel naturally around the picture. Whether you position the horizon in the top or bottom third of the image will play a major role in the relative importance of land (or water, in the case of seascapes) and sky; generally speaking, whichever segment of the image gets more space will be perceived as more im-
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7 portant. Aligning the horizon with the lower horizontal line will make the sky the primary focus, and aligning the horizon with the upper line will put the primary emphasis on sea, land or structures. The vertical grid lines are also important in composing landscapes. Placing a large object like a structure or a tree in the center of your picture automatically makes it vie for the viewer’s attention and focus, which may not be desirable if what you’re actually trying to capture is the beautiful sunset. But placing a large object in alignment with one of the vertical lines turns it into an anchor that frames and enhances your subject.
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Creating And Controlling A Sense Of Motion The Rule of Thirds is also important in creating and controlling a sense of motion. If you’re shooting moving object, pay attention to the direction it’s moving and align it such a way that there’s more space in front of it than behind it. For example, if you’re shooting a boat sailing toward the right, align it with the left vertical grid line. This makes it appear that it’s moving toward the center of the image and automatically leads the viewer’s eye into the picture. Aligning a right-moving object with the right vertical grid line will make it appear that the object is about to disappear and will lead the viewer’s eye out of the picture.
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Using The Rule of Thirds to Emphasize Space And Help Tell A Story Using the Rule of Thirds to align the important objects in your image can give the viewer a stronger sense of space and help tell a story. Placing the most important object on an intersection point will tend to bring it forward and give it more impact, while secondary objects placed on vertical gridlines will tend to recede while remaining part of the action.
Using the Rule of Thirds in Portraits The Rule of Thirds can be invaluable in shooting portraits, adding balance, symmetry and interest and even helping capture the personality of the subject.Positioning the subject so the body is aligned with one of the vertical lines and the eyes are aligned with one of the top intersection points adds interest to the shot and eliminates the “mugshot� effect that center positioning sometimes creates.
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Using the Rule of Thirds in Portraits
line depends to a great extent on which direction the subject is looking.
Aligning to the left vertical line with the eyes at the top left intersection point is typically the most appealing composition if the subject is looking straight ahead or to the right, but if the subject is The Rule of Thirds can be in- looking left, try aligning the valuable in shooting portraits, body the right with the eyes adding balance, symmetry with the right top intersection and interest and even helping point. capture the personality of the subject. Aligning the subject with the line that’s opposite to the way Positioning the subject so the they’re looking will lead the body is aligned with one of viewer’s eyes into the image the vertical lines and the eyes rather than out of it. If you’re are aligned with one of the shooting a group, you can use top intersection points adds both the upper and lower horinterest to the shot and elimi- izontal grid lines to align your nates the “mugshot” effect that subjects. center positioning sometimes creates. Whether you align the subject with the right or left vertical
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When Not to Use The Rule of Thirds – And How To Use It After the Shoot
can always use your trusty editing program to achieve a balanced and harmonious composition.Many popular image editing programs, including Photoshop, incorporate a Rule of Thirds guide in their cropping function.If your image editor doesn’t offer this capability you can still use the Rule of Thirds on an existing image by visualizing the grid over your image and cropping it so that the major points of interest are aligned with the grid lines and intersections.
The Rule of Thirds is a great tool, but it’s not the right choice for every photo. There are times when using the Rule of Thirds will actually weaken or defeat the purpose of your composition. In some cases, centering a subject is the best option; it can help demonstrate a sense of size or space, and centering is an effective way to emphasize the symmetry of a subject. Headshots should generally be centered horizontally, but using the Rule of Thirds grid for vertical alignment can be useful.
A Valuable Guideline To Be Used With Creative Discretion The Rule of Thirds is one of the best
and most reliable composition techniques, and in many cases using it will result in a stronger, more balanced, and more engaging photo. Positioning the eyes along the top But like all rules, it’s made to be brohorizontal line will generally create a ken when the situation calls for it. sense of balance and keep the subConsider it a guideline, use it when ject from looking lost in the frame. it’s appropriate, but always trust in your own creative judgment. If you feel an existing image could benefit from the Rule of Thirds, you
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2) Avoid Camera Shake Camera shake or blur is something that can plague any photographer and here are some ways to avoid it.
sure that you are using a shutter speed that is appropriate for your lens’ focal length. If you’re shutter speed is too slow, any unintentional First, you need to learn how to hold movement of the camera will result your camera correctly; use both in your entire photograph coming hands, one around the body and out blurry. one around the lens and hold the camera close to your body for sup- The rule of thumb is not to shoot at port. a shutter speed that is slower than your focal length to minimize this Also, for handheld shooting, make problem:
13 1 / Focal Length (in mm) = Minimum Shutter Speed (in seconds) So, as an example, if you’re using a 100mm lens, then your shutter speed should be no lower than 1/100th of a second.
length, aperture, shutter speed, and other settings?
If so, check out our most recommended course: Extremely Essential Camera Skills. It’s the easiest and quickest way to learn how to Use a tripod or monopod whenever take great photos while learning all possible. the basics of your camera. Are you confused by any of the terminology? Do you want to easily control your camera and finally get rid of the confusion about focal
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3) Learn to use the Exposure Triangle
To get your photos looking their look the way you wanted them, and best, you need to master the three often disappointing. basics: Aperture, Shutter Speed and ISO. It’s a better idea to learn how to use Aperture-priority or Shutter-priYou also need to understand the ority modes, and ultimately shoot relationships between these three in Manual mode. To easily learn controls. When you adjust one of how to do it, we recommend the them, you would usually have to Extremely Essential Camera Skills consider at least one of the others, Course. to get the desired results. Using Auto Mode takes care of these controls, but you pay the price of not getting your photos to
15 If you can only buy one filter for your lens, make it a polarizer.
4) Use a Polarizing Filter
The recommended type of polarizer is circular because these allow your camera to use TTL (through the lens) metering such as auto exposure. This filter helps reduce reflections from water as well as metal and glass; it improves the colors of the sky and foliage and will help give your photos the WOW factor. It will do all that while protecting your lens. There’s no reason why you can’t leave it on for all of your photography. We recommend Hoya Polarizer Filters for the best combination of performance and price.
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5) Create a Sense of Depth
When photographing landscapes, it helps to create a sense of depth, in other words, make the viewer feel like they are there. Use a wide-angle lens for a panoramic view and a small aperture of f/16 or smaller to keep the foreground and background sharp. Placing an object or person in the foreground helps give a sense of scale and emphasizes how far away the distance is. Use a tripod if possible, as a small aperture usually requires a slower shutter speed.
17 Wide Angle Lens The first and the probably also the most common tip is to use a wide angle lens. As a wide angle lens covers a bigger field of view than the human vision, it also accentuates the perspective distortion of the elements in your scene. Everything close to the camera will become very large, and everything farther away becomes smaller. This accentuation of perspective creates a sense of depth.
Foreground By introducing a kind of foreground, you can easily create depth, and almost anything works. Stones, small waterfalls, branches, patches of heather, patterns in some sand, etc. By having a foreground, it is easy for the viewer to distinguish between what is close to the camera and what is far away. Using foregrounds in your photos is not limited to wide angle lenses.
18 Leading Elements Leading elements can also help show depth in your photos. Roads, trails, streams, branches, etc. work great to lead the viewer’s eye into the photo. It is easy to see how the leading element is big when it is close to the camera and how it becomes smaller as it leads into the photo.
Natural Perspective The above tips rely on the natural perspective of any scene with depth. However, the above tips are also examples of multiple elements. You can also use it with only one element. In this case with lavenders, it is easy to understand that the big lavenders in the photo are close to the camera and the small ones in the distance are far away. Although also accentuated by the wide angle perspective, the below example was actually photographed as 200mm.
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it. What you need to take into consideration is whether the viewer can distinguish the layers You often want to have some from each other. It is easy if the separation between the layers of layers are all different kinds of the landscape; however, sometrees with different colors, but if times, it does help to overlap you are photographing a couple them to emphasize the depth of of silver birches, it may be hard the photo. In that way, you can to distinguish them as separate show that something is closer to layers of the landscape. the camera than what is behind
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Atmosphere
Fog, mist, dust, and other atmospheric phenomena are great to accentuate the depth of a photograph given that you already have multiple elements in your scene. If you have a scene with a lot of atmosphere, we naturally perceive the foreground to be dark and contrasty, while the background becomes flatter and the light is scattered between all the particles. In the above example, fog helps to separate the two silver birches.
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Depth of Field The last tip is to photograph with a shallow depth of field. Three factors influence how much the background and/or foreground are out of focus: the distance between the subject in focus and the camera,
your focal length, and the aperture. By using these techniques, you can throw the background, foreground, or both out of focus, which also emphasizes the depth of the photo, as shown in the heather photo above.
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6) Use Simple Backgrounds The simple approach is usually the best in digital photography, and you have to decide what needs to be in the shot, while not including anything that is a distraction. If possible, choose a plain background – in other words, neutral colors and simple patterns. You want the eye to be drawn to the focal point of the image rather than a patch of color or an odd building in the background. This is especially vital in a shot where the model is placed off center.
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7) Don’t Use Flash Indoors Flash can look harsh and unnatural especially for indoor portraits. Therefore, there are various ways you can take an image indoors without resorting to flash. First, push the ISO up – usually ISO 800 to 1600 will make a big difference for the shutter speed you can choose. Use the widest aperture possible – this way more light will reach the sensor, and you will have a nice blurred background. Using a tripod or an I.S. (Image Stabilization) lens is also a great way to avoid blur. If you absolutely must use flash, then use a flash with a head you can rotate, and point the light to the ceiling on an angle. To ensure you get the most flattering light for portraits, landscapes or anything else you want to capture
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8) Choose the Right ISO
27 The ISO setting determines how sensitive your camera is to light and also how fine the grain of your image. The ISO we choose depends on the situation – when it’s dark we need to push the ISO up to a higher number, say anything from 400 – 3200 as this will make the camera more sensitive to light, and then we can avoid blurring. On sunny days we can choose ISO 100 or the Auto setting as we have more light to work with If you want to capture a subject in motion, then
use the panning technique. To do this, choose a shutter speed around two steps lower than necessary – so for 1/250, we’d choose 1/60. Keep your camera on the subject with your finger half way down on the shutter to lock the focus and when ready, take the photo, remembering to follow them as they move. Use a tripod or monopod if possible to avoid camera shake and get clear movement lines.
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9) Pan to Create Motion
29 The pan-motion technique adds drama and movement to photos and is commonly used in sports and even news photography. The idea is that if you slow down your shutter speed and follow your subject with the lens as you are taking the photo, the subject will be clear and the background will be a spectacular blur.
If you want to capture a subject in motion, then use the panning technique. To do this, choose a shutter speed around two steps lower than necessary – so for 1/250, we’d choose 1/60. Keep your camera on the subject with your fin-
ger half way down on the shutter to lock the focus and when ready, take the photo, remembering to follow them as they move. Use a tripod or monopod if possible to avoid camera shake and get clear movement lines.
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10) Experiment with Shutter Speed
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Don’t be afraid to play with the shutter speed to create some interesting effects. When taking a night time shot, use a tripod and try shooting with the shutter speed set at 4 seconds. You will see that the movement of the object is captured along with some light trails. If you choose a faster shutter speed of say 1/250th of a second, the trails will not be as long or bright; instead, you will freeze the action. Try shooting other compositions with moving objects or backgrounds such as waves on a beach, crowds of people walk-
ing, cars commuting, with different shutter speeds to either capture blurred movement or snapshots that freeze everything sharply in time. Whenever using slow shutter speeds to blur movement, it is critical that the camera is stabilized to eliminate camera shake. We recommend the AmazonBasics 60-inch Portable Tripod as an excellent entry-level option for taking photographs with slow shutter speeds.
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Photography is more than a documentation process it is more, it is an art form and should be treated with the same respect as painting, sculpture, and the other well known art forms. Photographs, like paintings, are artificially constructed portrayals: they have to be carefully composed, lit and produced.
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