How to take better photographs
So today I am going to talk about something else entirely. Instead of why you should book a photographer for a wedding or portrait session. I am going to talk about how to get stellar photographs on your own.
Let's face it. sometimes you can't take your own photos. Like at a wedding that you are the Bride/Groom. But other times you can. With the way smartphone cameras are these days. You can get close to the real thing. Just go to YouTube and type inany one of the Iphones over the last 5-10 years and usually one of the first things that pop up is something about portrait settings or video settings. Will it look like a $5,000 camera body and $3,000 lens. More than likely no but thats not the point.
First, What kind of camera do you have? If you have a DSLR or Mirrorless great. If not the afore mentioned Iphone or Android will work too. Second pick your subject. This is completely up to you. You may find you don't like workiong with people and want to shoot landscapes only. Or you might find you don't like the outdoors. Either way it is up to you.
I will start with landscape. Since that is where I started my photography journey. For me I have found when I shoot landscape. It is easier in my opinion to learn camera settings while shooting landscape. Because you usually don't have to rush anything. The mountain don't move in and out of focus. For landscape photography I find that for most compositions. Shooting with a wider f Stop gets me the best results. That way most of the photograph is in focus. As far as Iso, I shoot mainly at 400 or below. Now this can change based off of shooting conditions. That is just what I do. Shutter speed is a bit different. This greatly depends on the subject and the time of day. For example, If I am shooting a mountain range I just set the shutter speed to match the light. However, If I am getting a photograph of a creek or a river. I might want to show some motion. I set the iso as low as I could as well as the aperture. That way would be able to get that shutter speed nice and slow. The slower the shutter speed the more motion you are going to be able to see in the image. In this instance, You may want to use a tripod though. Or maybe I just drink too much coffee. Either way a tripod helps me greatly.
Now for subjects such as people or animals. I usually shoot almost wide open on the aperture and with a faster shutter speed. That way I can freeze time. My ISO will be set to the lighting in this case. Now all of this is not hard rules to follow. We will call this suggestions to start with. After you know what each setting does. Play around with it and create your own style. That is what it is all about. Find your own path on this creative journey. Talk to you next week.