Improve Your Photography Skills Instantly After Reading This!

Do you want to improve your photography skills instantly from this? 

To something like this? 

Or maybe you want to start taking pictures like these ones as well.

If so, let me tell you that there’s no better time to start honing your photography skills with these 7 clever tips that I’m going to share with you today! 

Photography doesn’t always have to be about taking high-quality photos using high-end cameras. Because for me, photography is an art form that allows self-expression which will allow you to find the beauty in the most unexpected things.

Improve your photography skills instantlyPhotography is about capturing the moment turning it into a timeless memory, that is why with that in mind it won’t hurt anyone for you to level up your shots and turn them into a form of art that you’ll be able to keep forever.

So without further ado, let’s get right into it, and let’s level up your memories together! 

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Improve Your Photography Skills Instantly With These 7 Awesome Tips!

1.) Get Inspo

“A picture is worth a thousand words”, Fred R. Barnard once said. And up to this day, this quote is still true to its claim. 

Photography has been an opportunity for people to show the world through a different lens—ergo a different perspective. 

But if you’re just starting out with photography and you’re still treading the water, it’s always a good idea to find inspiration to fire up your passion for photography.

A style isn’t mandatory because Linda Saccoccio, a well-known contemporary and abstract artist once said, “We don’t need to impose a style, we just have to show up and be present to catch it’s unfolding”.

And that’s the beauty of photography, it’s all about capturing the moment of what appeals to your eyes and sharing what you think is beautiful and is unique to the world from your perspective. 

Thanks to the internet, you’ll have unlimited access to inspirations and ideas, with just one click, you can easily scroll through amazing pictures from well-known photographers on social media, Pinterest, and even in movies. 

This will help stir up your creativity to help you be inspired when it’s time for you to take your shots. Take these amazing websites, for example, Pexels and Unsplash, You’ll find thousands of amazing pictures that will surely help you find your eye for photography. 

2.) The Trifecta

Now, this next tip is crucial. Learning about the triangle exposure⁠ is a must—Shutter Speed, Aperture, and ISO. Once you learn about how to use these three, you’ll be improving your photography skills in a snap. 

But let me emphasize that these three compliments each other, they’re on a take-all basis because you can’t use one without the other properly. They always go together and work together to make sure that the photo is properly exposed. 

If you’re a beginner in photography you must be wondering what these three are, well let me break them down for you. 

Exposure Triangle

Shutter Speed which is measured in seconds determines how long the shutter is left open to capture the shot. The most common shutter speed setting on cameras are 1/500, 1/200, 1/125, and 1/60, some cameras may have more than these. The higher the denominator is, the faster the shutter speed will work. 

Just think of it like this, the faster the shutter speed is, the less blurry your photo will become because it helps stops the action. So if you’re taking a photo of a moving subject it’s best to set your camera on a higher shutter speed. 

The slower the shutter speed is, the more light is let in. Slow shutter speeds are best used for still subjects, for example when you put up your camera on a tripod to capture landscapes making sure that the camera is stable and there are no movements whilst taking the shot. 

Aperture determines how wide the lenses open when your camera’s in use. They are measured in F-stops. (F.¼ up to F/22)

You can think of it kind of like the pupils of your eyes, it gets smaller to let in less light and wider to let in more light which affects the depth of field. 

Last but not least is ISO. ISO determines your camera’s sensitivity to light. This of this as a fake light that you can use as you can crank this up to brighten up your photos in low light, indoors, or at night. 

ISO units depend on your cameras, with ISO 100 being the lowest which can go up all the way to ISO 6400. You can try to explore different ISO settings and see what takes the cake for your taste. 

But keep in mind that the higher you crank up ISO the likelier your image will turn out noisier, grainier, and or pixelated. So it’s best to keep it low as possible to avoid noisy and grainy photos.

3.) Learn about basic lighting

Good lighting is key for great-looking photos. In fact, photography is about capturing light. 

If you’re just starting out with your photography journey and you’re not yet equipped with the right lighting equipment yet know that natural lighting is best! 

And one great natural light source that you can utilize is window light! Yes, something as simple as a window light can greatly level up your photo from boring to interesting. 

When shooting outdoors, it can be hard to deal with harsh lighting, especially during noontime or hazy weather resulting in gloomy days. There’s really nothing much we can do about these conditions that’s why you need to learn how to work with the lighting conditions that you are dealing with. 

During noontime when the sun is at its highest, you can try to place your subject under the shade to somehow naturally diffuse the harsh light from the sun. You can also opt to place them behind the sun to do the same technique as well. 

If you want and if you can go back to the shooting location to reshoot, try to go during sunrise or sunset because let me tell you, the lighting will be absolutely amazing. 

Cloudy days are also great for taking portraits or landscapes because the clouds shrouding the sun create a giant softbox illusion that will perfectly illuminate your photos. 

There are many light art techniques that you can try, and here are some examples. 

Flat Lighting is a form of lighting technique wherein the light source is directly facing your subject. Your subject is well lit and you will not see any form of shadow on your subject. 

Flat Lighting

Split Lighting is another lighting technique where your subject’s face is somewhat decided into equal halves. The light will hit your subject on the side of their face at a 90° angle. 

split lighting

Backlighting is a technique where the lighting will come directly from behind your subject. This will add the depth, contrast, and drama that your photo needs. 

Backlighting

Rim Lighting is a great technique that also falls under backlighting but has its own type of beauty. Rim lighting highlights the edges of your subject. This will create a sort of halo effect on your subject that will highlight hair details and hair lighting will be seen. 

Rim Lighting

Silhouette Lighting is also a form of backlighting where the light will also be placed behind your subject but will create little to no light in your subject forming like a shadow type of figure. 

Silhouette Lighting

Lights are not the only important factor in photography. Shadows also play a significant role as they add essence, depth, and dimension to your photos. Shadows help with balancing the entire mood of your frame. 

4.) Learn about basic photo compositions

In photography, there are many photo composition techniques. And here are 3 prominent photo composition techniques that you need to know:

Rule of Thirds

Are you familiar with the grid lines on your camera’s phone? If you are, then know that these grids are actually useful to improve your game in photography. 

The rule of thirds insinuates that you will place your subject on one of the intersections of the grid. You can do this whenever you want to place your subject off-center but still make the shot look and feel correct. 

Using the rule of thirds gives the photo enough space and a sense of naturalness even if they’re not in the center of the frame. 

Leading Lines

Leading lines is a great photo composition technique that is also quite fun to use. To execute this technique, all you need is to utilize lines that are already existing in your setting. This technique will help lead your viewer’s eyes to the main subject of your frame. 

You’ll be surprised as to how many leading lines there are around you, and it’s up to your imagination and perspective to find them and use them on your subject. 

Frame in Frame

Another great photo composition technique is the Frame in Frame method, this method is easy to do and you can use almost anything that comes into mind to frame your subject.

The frame in frame method help to create nice out-of-focus elements that will add more emphasis to your subject. You can shoot through anything and it will add an extra oomph to a plain frame. 

5.) Change your perspective

Anyone can take a photo, but for someone to have the skills to tell a story through a photo—now that’s art.

When you go to famous tourist spots, chances are a lot of people will take a picture of the view from the same angle and from the same perspective. 

And they will all end up with the same-looking photos which are obviously not your goal because you want something that stands out, something that tells a story and has emotions in it. 

To make sure that you do your photo differently, try to change your perspective. Change your angle, don’t be afraid to try out something new. Try to tell a different version of the story of that place. 

You can easily shoot landscapes or subjects head-on, but I’m sure the photo won’t be so special. Try to find unusual angles and find patterns. Switch up your elevation, your angle, and your distance as well. Until you find that sweet spot.

You’ll be surprised to find something unexpected and beautiful at the same time. 

6.) Post-Process Editing

If you’re a beginner in photography, you might be overwhelmed with word editing and might think of it as immensely changing the photo with filters and effects. But don’t fret because it actually isn’t. 

Some photographers think of this as somewhat like cheating, but it’s actually not the case. You just need some subtle editing to further enhance your shot. Subtle edits in your photo can go a long way. 

Also to note, there will be times when you might find distracting details in your photos that you think need to be eliminated from the frame. This can be done by simply cropping your photo, and trust me you’ll see a huge difference. 

Here are some great apps for photo-editing newbies! 

7.) Trust the process and have fun with it! 

In photography there are rules, but it’s important for you to know that rules are also meant to be broken as well. Don’t overthink it too much and just have fun with it, because after all photography is a form of art that is meant for self-expression. 

Having that creative freedom is what makes photography beautiful. You have the freedom to create what feels and looks good for you, and you’ll be surprised how many people will agree with you too! 

To wrap it up, 

You don’t have to be instantly well-versed in photography to improve your skills in photography. Knowing the basics and fundamentals will give you a solid path that will get you to where you want to be in photography.

Knowing the basics of the art of photography will make sure that your shots are fundamentally beautiful as well which will then help you explore the boundaries and even break the rules of photography in your own time. 

Trust the process, shoot often, and shoot more after that. As the saying goes practice makes perfect. Test out the theory and see where it takes you and your photos. 

Hope these tips shine a light on your photography journey! Do you have other tips to add? Let me know down in the comments below! 

Until our next one, say cheese!