4 Key Ways to Take Better Photographs

4 Key Ways to Take Better Photographs
Super Grandmother Photo Collection Goes Viral
Professional Shoe Photography: A Brief Look

Posted: 12 Nov 2012 04:52 PM PST

"I Share My Own Method" – Ben Evans

Did you know that you can benefit from the army’s way of doing things? Specifically by adopting their use of SOPs, or Standard Operating Procedures. These train the soldier to react automatically to certain situations to get the best results.

How do they apply to your photography? Well if you’ve ever been to a great location and come away a little disappointed with the photographs, you will find a standard approach a useful aid for getting consistently interesting photographs.

By reading on, you will learn my own standard approach for award-winning photography.

better photography

Control Your Perspective

As humans, we only see what we’re looking for; so by changing your focus, you can alter your perspective.

I have four different ways of photographing something to get the most out of it. This is the ‘Four Keys SOP' approach:

1. Start by using the camera to preserve your scene or subject. Imagine that you are creating a reference for someone to draw from. You want to get everything in the frame. Everything should be sharp, so use a small aperture like f16 for maximum depth of field. You might need to use a tripod if your shutter speed is below 1/80s. Include identifiable objects to give a sense of scale.

Consider photographing in the blue and golden hours for the best light. Postcard photos normally use this approach. Tourist photos are almost exclusively about preserving people at a location.

tips for great photography

Show The Scene

2. We want to take our photography further, so after we’ve preserved the ‘lay of the land’, we move closer and photograph the details that interest us most. I look for parts of the scene that can stand alone as a good photograph.

This may mean using a macro lens and getting really close, but usually you’ll just want to think a bit about which patterns, colours and details look best. Remember what we said in the book; what doesn’t add to your photograph detracts from it.

good photo tips

Focus On Details

3. Next you can move your attention to looking at your scene or subject as it appears in the moment. What does this mean? Well normally people will have a preconception of what they’re looking at, and this obscures the reality of it. For example, someone photographing the Eiffel Tower probably already has lots of images swimming about in their head. And that’s what they’ll try and take photos of.

But sometimes the Eiffel Tower is lit up with festive lights. Occasionally it’s shrouded in mist. And now and then there are demonstrations underneath. The point is that you can put aside any ideas that you might already have about a scene or subject and photographs what’s actually there in front of you at that moment.

If you can spare the time, it really helps to stay in one place for a few hours or come back a few months later and watch the world change.

better pictures

Photograph The Moment

4. Finally, and most difficultly, is to use our scene or subject symbolically so that the photograph transcends what’s in it. Your aim is to make a picture in which strangers can discover ideas and emotions. You can choose to make your message obvious or ambiguous. You might want to look for abstract photographs; have a look at Rothko’s paintings or Minor White’s photographs for inspiration.

Help your viewers to generalise and make use of their preconceptions. Changing your white balance to the incandescent/ tungsten preset can suggest a cold winter by making a daylit scene seem blue for example. Colour psychology is well documented, and even strong lines and patterns can tell a story or evoke an emotion.

ways to take photos

The World Is Beautiful: You Don't Need Photoshop

And that’s it! Experiment with the Four Keys SOP approach when you’re next out to find interesting new perspectives.

About the Author:
Ben teaches photography courses and workshops in Barcelona with 'Barcelona Photography Courses' and keeps a photoblog of 'fine art street' photos of Barcelona at iBarcelona. He is the author of a book called Photography: The Few Things You Need To Know.

He photographs internationally with English Photographer. Ben is working on two photography teaching projects, Better Than 90 Percent and Holistic Photography.

He shoots Nikon, Hasselblad, Apple (iPad 3) and those little throwaway waterproof film cameras with the plastic lenses.

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Article from: PictureCorrect Photography Tips

Super Grandmother Photo Collection Goes Viral

Posted: 12 Nov 2012 02:14 PM PST

While living with your grandmother as an adult may not be the ideal situation for most young men, one bright photographer has learned to embrace it. In an interesting series of photographs, Sacha Goldberger, takes portraits of his grandmother who is often wearing superhero outfits or is otherwise found to be in an amusing situation, such as washing windows with a Yorkshire Terrier. The now viral photos worked their way through the interwebs and onto the screens of millions of amused fans. Take a look below to see why (for those of you reading this by email, the photo collection can be seen here):

I think it’s safe to say Goldberger’s grandmother is a shoe in for this years Grandma of the Year Award.

Go to full article: Super Grandmother Photo Collection Goes Viral

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Article from: PictureCorrect Photography Tips

Professional Shoe Photography: A Brief Look

Posted: 12 Nov 2012 11:28 AM PST

With the new 007 Skyfall movie hitting the charts, it’s more than the right time to take a look at the following video from Frasershot Studios.

James Fox firstly introduces Crockett & Jones, one of the most classy, fanciest and posh shoe brands in the UK. As a matter of fact, the company’s shoes were chosen to feature in this iconic Hollywood film, staring Daniel Craig. Mr. Craig himself, a valued costumer of Crockett & Jones, personally selected a range of four shoes to wear in Skyfall, while playing James Bond character (for those of you reading this by email, the video can be seen here):

Photographer Craig Fraser performed this shooting session, as he described in the making-of video. It a was rather simple three light set-up (a big top light and two back lights), although meticulously positioned to enhance the beautiful shoe curves — lighting was a key element in this particular shooting, as Fraser aimed a dark, sort of discreet, yet graceful ambience. The set decoration was then finished with a delicate Martini, pretty much as Bond himself would do.

Show Photography Skyfall