Taking Better Photos

Holidays – Secrets to success!

1. With photos for family and friends include an instant reminder of where the photo was taken. Capture a famous landmark or street or shop sign in your photo.
2. Beware the trap of distracting backgrounds. Yes, include the Eiffel Tower behind your friends, but make sure it's not growing straight out of their head.
3. Try different and unusual angles. Shoot a famous building from a low angle to accentuate its height.
4. Your camera is no use when left in the hotel room. Take it everywhere you go. You never know what might pop up and an opportunity might be lost forever.
5. Capture images of people in situations that reflect their culture and differences.
6. A small tripod is invaluable… for breathtaking sunsets and low light scenic photos or to use the self timer and get yourself into the photo.
7. On your return, process your photos promptly and while the memories are still fresh, mark your prints so you will not forget where they were taken.

Weddings – Tips for better pictures!

1. Be prepared! Before you go, check the condition of your camera and batteries.
2. Make sure you shoot the full story. Include these key shots: the bride and groom toasting each other, the bridal waltz and the couple leaving the reception.
3. The bridal couple will be busy, so plan your pictures and work quickly.
4. A couple of full length photos showing the attire of the bride and groom are great.
5. Weddings are a great opportunity to photograph two or three generations together. Get in close for these shots.
6. Close-up photos of young bridesmaids and pageboys having a kiss and cuddle can be a lot of fun.
7. When working outdoors, it can be a good idea to turn on the flash when you are within three meters to help lift facial shadows.
8. Capture the wedding atmosphere with photos of the crowd outside the church and during the greetings at the reception.
9. If you’re going to take photos during the service, its better to make sure the flash is switched off.
10. Don’t leave your camera or film in the car glove box. The heat will ruin your photos.

Portraits – Tips to have your subject smiling!

1. The difference between a portrait and a casual snap is that you, the photographer, have control… so choose your setting with care
2. Avoid busy backgrounds, as these can be distracting. Plain and simple is the rule.
3. The lighting is vital. Outdoors on an overcast day is ideal as the fierce Australian sun throws heavy shadows on bright, clear days.
4. If photographing indoors, try to avoid using flash as this gives a harsh flat light.
5. Without a doubt, the best portraits result from candid shots is when the subject is relaxed or just being themselves.
6. Give your subject some props… seated at the piano, holding a book, practising their hobby. All these tell you more about the person and make the subject feel more comfortable.
7. Remove any onlookers so the subject is less self-conscious and can concentrate on your suggestions.
8. Use the longest length of your zoom lens as this avoids foreshortening of the subject’s features.
9. Don’t have your subject pose straight into the camera. Have them swing their shoulders away and then turn their head towards the camera.

Your Family – Hints for better pictures!

1. Be prepared at all times! The best family photos are usually impromptu affairs when someone simply produces a camera and takes a few snaps. Keep your camera handy.
2. With family groups, make sure you can clearly see all the faces. Ask them to make sure they have a clear unobstructed view of your camera.
3. Don’t position all the heads of the group in the middle of your photo. Make sure that the heads are right at the top of the frame.
4. Avoid positioning people standing side by side as their faces will appear too small. Tier the group. A flight of steps is particularly useful here, or a row of chairs that allow one row squatting, one sitting and another row standing behind.
5. Work quickly. Family patience runs out quicker than anything else!
6. Getting in close result in more personal images. Distant images “set the scene” for follow-up closer images.
7. Take some photos of family members doing their individual favourite sports or hobbies. They will love these pictures too.
8. Take some pictures of your family members at their job. These are really great for the family album.
9. Try and get your entire family photographed together on the same day every year. Christmas lunch is a great occasion and creating a file of photos of each year can make for a fascinating family archive.
10. Watch the backgrounds. Plain simple ones set the subject off so much better that the wall of a house or a cluttered street scene.

Scenic landscapes – Tips for the best view!

1. Shooting early in the morning and late in the evening gives wonderful long shadows and warm colours. This is an effect the professionals use very successfully.
2. Hold your camera steady when taking landscapes. A small inexpensive tripod would be invaluable here. The most common cause of poor definition is camera shake. With landscapes there is no hurry. So take a breath, hold and squeeze that shutter gently
3. Beware the horizon line in the middle of the frame as its cuts your photo in two. For a more balanced photo move it a third of the way up or a third of the way down the frame.
4. Check that the horizon is level in your viewfinder.
5. If the sky has interesting cloud patterns use this as a feature of your framing.
6. To avoid flat looking photos, it is best not to shoot straight into the light. If you have to shoot against the light, do not include any sky in your picture. This is so your camera’s automatic metering system can adjust for the scene.
7. Include something of interesting the first two meters. This can be flowers, a tree stump or even a fence. This will give perspective to your picture.
8. Don’t forget. You can hold your camera both horizontally and vertically. Some vertical photos will give your shots variety.

The Beach – Tips to make a Splash!

1. Protect your camera! Sand and water are the natural enemy of conventional cameras. Keep your camera in a sealable plastic bag and brush the sand off your hands before use.
2. When putting your camera back in the bag, don’t leave it lying in direct sunlight.
3. When photographing people within three meters, put the flash on. This will help fill in the deep shadows caused by bright sunlight.
4. When photographing sandcastles, get down low and put the sandcastles in the foreground with the proud builder working busily away behind. You will get some great shots.
5. At the water’s edge a low camera angle makes the waves look much bigger.
6. Watch for scattered reflections from the sea surface flashing into the lens. Wear a broad brimmed hat, without the brim obscuring the lens, to help shade the front of the camera.
7. Get some great sand dune pictures in the early morning or late evening when long shadows are thrown by the low sun.
8. Watch out your own shadow doesn’t intrude into your photo or across the subject’s face. Your camera flash will not be strong enough to obscure your shadow unless you are very close to your subject.
9. Wipe the camera lens with a soft cloth when you get home to remove any traces of salt air.

Children – Simple Rules for Success!

1. Keep your camera handy at all times. You just don’t know what these little stars are going to do next! Don’t crowd the child, use a zoom if you have one, but be sure to fill the frame.
2. Get down to their eye level so you’re not just photographing the top of their heads!
3. If they’re playing outdoors, don’t hesitate to turn the flash on. Don’t worry if the sun is behind them, the flash will fill out the sun’s shadow’s.
4. Work quickly and quietly without interrupting them. Take plenty of shots to get that good one. To avoid any distraction, tell others to keep back and quiet.
5. If you initiate a special session, look for a good setting with a plain background. Outdoors on an overcast day provides good, even lighting.
6. Give the child something to play with to focus their attention.
7. Babies will look wide-eyed and smiling at their mother’s face. Place her behind you and to the side for a pleasing angle.
8. If you hold a glove puppet or soft toy you can get kiddies to look wherever you want.
9. Avoid flash red-eye. Just attract the child’s eyes away from looking straight at the camera.

Sports – Action steps for better photos!

1. Zoom in to fill the frame and to get close for dramatic, interesting photos.
2. Get in amongst the action. For football shots, stand behind the goal and wait for the action to come to you.
3. Fast moving cars can be ‘stopped’ easily when the action is coming straight towards the camera. Stand on a bend or a bridge.
4. When the subject is running straight across your camera, pan the camera with the moving subject. The background will blur, but your subject will be sharp.
5. Shoot as many shots as fast as you can to ensure you capture that key moment.
6. Aim your camera where the action is most likely to occur. Wait for the subject to arrive in the frame and then press the shutter.
7. Shoot some shots from a low angle. It will give added drama to your photos with the advantage of a less busy background.
8. Don’t forget to get some shots during the build up to the event and afterwards. You’ll find plenty of interesting subjects to build the atmosphere of your final photo selection.