Posts Tagged ‘simplify photography’
© Tim Pannell Photography
So you got a new DSLR for Christmas and you’re super excited, but when you’ve used it so far there hasn’t been as much magic in your pictures as you hoped.
It’s not so surprising. Many people think that all you need to take great pictures is a great camera.
They save up their money and buy that great camera with a jillion megapixels, start snapping pictures and experience great disappointment.
Their pictures with the great camera look the same as the pictures they took with their crappy camera………only a little sharper and perhaps with better color.
There are so many variables involved in creating a great photograph….where do you start?
When learning photography………..simplify.
Pick a subject……pick one subject.
Many times people have a hard time deciding what their subject is. Is it your child, is it what your child is wearing, is it the location you’re shooting your child, is it somebody else in the picture with your child, is it their relationship with your child?
My point is this…..great photographs have one subject.
© Tim Pannell Photography
For starters, separate your subject from the background, either with depth of field, color, lens choice or composition.
Simplify your image. Don’t try and do too much with it or put too much information in it.
Take your child to a spot with pretty light, either in your house or outside, it doesn’t matter.
Avoid direct sunlight – it’s too harsh and unless you really know how to use it to your advantage, more often than not it will bite you in the butt.
Don’t be afraid to open up your lens and shoot at F2 or F2.8 even F4 if that’s as open as your lens goes.
See what limits you come up against when shooting at those F-stops.
Do you struggle keeping your subject sharp?
© Tim Pannell Photography
Many people will insist on shooting at F8 or F11 because it’s much easier to keep your subject in focus.
What most of them don’t realize is that they are settling for a less than great image because of that Fstop choice.
At F11 the background of your image will be pretty sharp and will compete with your subject for attention – yielding a very hum drum, boring image.
There are always tradeoffs wherever you set your aperture and shutter speeds.
You have to learn what your individual comfort zone is.
This will also help you discover your weaknesses and strengths.
If you have camera shake when you’re shooting at 1/125th of a second you know you will have to work on that.
If you can’t keep your subject sharp when you’re shooting at F2.8 then you know you need to work on setting the focus sensor a little more precisely.
As with any learned skill, be it musical, sports related or artistic in nature - it takes lots and lots of practice to get good at something, expecially something new.
It takes even more effort and consistent practice to master something.
The wonderful thing about photography is that you’ll get some amazing photographs before you actually master the craft or even before you’re really good at it.
The first time you get an amazing image is an incredible event that you’ll never forget.
Have fun with the learning process. Embrace the mistakes that you’ll make along the way. Learn from them.
Sometimes the best shots you’ll get will be the result of happy little accidents.
Shoot like crazy – it’s digital for crying out loud – it doesn’t cost you a penny to try new techniques.
It’s all about discovery – discovery of your subject as well as discovery of your self.
Enjoy the ride!
© Tim Pannell Photography
One of the biggest problems I see with amateur photography ( Wow, am I Andy Rooney all of the sudden?) is no clear subject.
The background is as sharp as the foreground. Colors are all over the place. Lighting isn’t thought out.
Am I supposed to be looking at the kid in the shot or the amazing park like setting behind the kid?
I’ve been guilty of this too, we’ve all done it at one point or another. We’re in a beautiful spot and we want to take a beautiful picture of our child and instead of making it about the child we pull back and include as much of the background as possible and create an image with all the punch of a 90 pound pacifist.
Milk toast, vanilla, bland………eeeeew. Instead, be bold! Take a stand. Highlight that subject, make it stand out. Give it some separation from your background and anything else that might confuse people.
There are several lessons in the upcoming Photo Mommies Workshop that go over this very important photographic principle.
The temptation to make a photograph that says a lot about a lot of things is very strong. In my career I’ve had numerous clients (usually home builders) that want a single image to be both a beautiful architectural shot and a classic “warm and fuzzy” lifestyle shot. It drives me crazy. It’s never been done. It’s been attempted nothing shy of a billion times, but it’s never really worked.
If you try to do both, you wind up with a lousy shot that isn’t strong in either of those two areas. The solution for the home builder is to have a better designed ad. Do a great architectural shot and then do a great lifestyle shot. Two strong, separate images instead of one wimpy, straddling the fence, I don’t know what type of picture I am kind of image.
The same principle applies to family pictures and shots of your kids. Whether they’re set up formal portraits or candids. Simplify!
Just remember, less is more. Pick one thing and make that what the picture is about. Everything else should be secondary.
