It’s good to buy a DSLR camera and learn how to use it, but there may be some who just can’t seem to get the hang of it. Don’t fret—here, we introduce 5 simple ways to take wonderful pictures, based on the basic aesthetics behind a good photo. As you get better, of course you can feel free to experiment and deviate from them, but if you’re just starting, these tips are a surefire way to get photos to look good. (Edited by studio9)
1. Place your subject smack in the middle!
Photos express a particular moment in time as well as your own thoughts. Therefore, it is important to place what you want others to see squarely in the middle of the photo.
I often come across photos with the main subject placed off-centre, which is a pity.
2. Adjust the focus on the entire picture to get a good shot
I often come across photos with a heavily blurred background, but such photos can be highly misleading, and look as if they are trying to cover up the flaws in the photo.
What is generally considered to be a good photo has always been sharp with all corners in focus. It was true in the past and is still true now.
3. No matter what, always take particular note of the vertical and horizontal axes in your photos
Think about what we encounter in our daily lives. We live in a world where the horizontal and vertical axes are generally balanced, don’t we?
A photo where the ground and buildings are tilted can potentially impart a sense of instability in the human brain, and thus will not convey the photo’s intention well. Somehow most of the photos that look mediocre do not have well-balanced vertical and horizontal axes.
4. Photos should generally have a bright finish
Dark photos are not appealing to a viewer. Therefore, in general, your photos should be taken brightly. This is a shortcut to improving in photography.
Typically, positive exposure compensation is used while negative compensation is hardly used at all.
5. Faithfully reproducing colours is more important than anything else
The White Balance setting is used to change the colours in photos, but sometimes there are people who fiddle with this function. As a result, the colours in the photos they capture appear to be totally different from what is actually seen, which is a real pity.
If possible, the white balance should be manually set on the spot, so that the actual colours of the scene are reproduced faithfully. However, this may be a tall order for beginners. In this case, they can use the camera’s Auto White Balance function.
Fiddling with the settings and causing the actual scene to lose colour will greatly diminish the photo’s appeal.
With that, I have introduced 5 simple points to taking amazing photos.
Of course, photos are meant to be taken freely and enjoyed as a hobby. However, the 5 points mentioned above are actually often forgotten by beginners who are still learning about photography. If you keep these seemingly simple points in mind, you will definitely be able to take photos that bring you a sense of satisfaction.
A photography website established in Japan in 2011. With the slogan “Bringing photography closer to you”, the site provides content that is useful for everyone who enjoys photography. Besides web content, studio9 also conducts seminars and workshops.
