How to Take Good Photos

Taking good pictures is honestly something we all low-key wish we could do but unfortunately some of us aren’t so good at ‘nailing it’. I’m no professional but I have learnt a lot from practicing and whenever I look back at the kind of pictures I used to take and compare them to ones I take today, I’m pretty impressed and I am only getting better. So today, we are here to learn about how I take my pictures and hopefully this will be helpful to you too…

1. Wipe your camera

No jokes, wipe your camera! This is definitely something many people do not do and it’s so obvious and distracting. In most cases, to get a perfect shot all you have to do is just wipe your camera! Not only does this make your picture clearer but is also sort of gives your picture a sense of ‘realness’ and some sort of illusion that we are in the picture rather than looking at it through the screen.

2. Do not zoom in

Ever! Zooming in messes up the quality of the photo and also makes your photo look sketchy – it’s almost as if you weren’t supposed to take the picture, just think of those paparazzi photos. If you are too far from the subject, get closer to it instead of zooming in or just forget about the shot overall.

3. Capture the moment

Now what this simply means is that your timing needs to be right. Don’t just rush to take a picture, especially when taking pictures of people, the best pictures come from candid moments – when the subject is either completely oblivious to the fact that they are being photographed or when they respond/react to something you say to them or if something happens in the area. If you are photographing a bird, the best moment would be when it takes off.

4. Find purpose

You can tell a million stories from just one picture so it is important to know why you are taking that particular photo. Make it obvious what you are trying to capture and why. Taking a photo just for the aesthetics is a valid reason, move around the subject because some angles might work and some might not. Also, try taking flat-lays (which are photos taken from the top of a flat surface) move the objects around until you are satisfied with what you see on the frame. 

5. Check your background

Never underestimate the power of the background to ruin your photo, even a piece of trash in the background can determine whether your photo is good or not. Our eyes are easily distracted so we can see something that is ‘not supposed to be there’ or not supposed to happen – if your background is a crowd of people, make sure no one is giving you funny looks or pulling down their pants because the eye is going to forget about you and go straight to what’s happening behind you.

6. Avoid using the flashlight

I personally cannot think of a good reason to use a flashlight whether you are taking pictures or taking a video, there is absolutely no need for you to turn it on. In most cases, using a flashlight to take a photo reflects the light on the object and it becomes visible on the photo and when taking a photo of someone with the flashlight on, they tend to have red eyes so all in all, refrain from using the flashlight.

These tips aren’t supposed to make you a professional photographer because they don’t come from a professional photographer neither but this is what I have learnt over the years and if you practise this more often, your photography skills could just get better.

That’s it for now,