My suggestion is to take a look at your last photograph and ask yourself, ‘What’s wrong with it’? Recognising what you don’t like, begins the process of critically analysing the image and potentially fixing the problem. For example: Is it too bright? Can I make it darker? Is it blurry? Maybe the shutter was open while the subject moved, or did I fail to achieve focus? The benefit of identifying the elements you don’t like, is to create your own style.
To take a great shot, these three tips are the best place to start:
- Planning – Make a list of everything you will need for the shoot.
- Lighting – The golden hour is real!
- Composition – Identify the subject and draw the viewer’s attention to it.
Planning is the easiest, because charging batteries and formatting an SD card can be done before the shoot. The fastest way to fail is to forget to pack your equipment. Next is time of day. Plan to shoot in the last hour of daylight There is less contrast between shadows and highlights to balance your tonal range. Also, the golden hour adds a lovely warm hue to the scenery. Finally, composition is what separates the rookies from the professionals. Begin with the ‘Rule of Thirds’. There is a screen overlay that you can switch on in your camera’s settings that will help you with composition. The idea is to line all of the interesting elements of your image on one of the lines – or even better is to line them up on the intersection of two lines.
This article was written by Canon Collective Ambassador Greg Sullavan. If you want to join Greg for a photographic experience with Canon Collective, follow the link: www.canon.com.au/collective and make sure you follow the community on Instagram @canoncollectiveofficial and the private Facebook page.
