Think Before You Shoot
The easiest way to take better pictures is to just play with it and take pictures of whatever comes into your path. However, there are many common mistakes people make while taking photos, and it's these mistakes that often make the greatest difference between a snapshot and a great photo.
To be honest, it's taking me a while to learn to think before I click the button. I waste a lot of shots that way, but hey it's digital so who cares? But every so often I have a shot come along that I can only get once, and if I miss getting it how I want it because I haven't thought before I took the shot, I really kick myself.
A good way to start is to have a good look at your shots after you take them. I'm going to write more about analysing photos along the way I am sure, but I'll give some basics here at least.
Before I do though, take a peek through this site on common mistakes that people make while taking shots. It shows pictures that depict common mistakes people make when taking photos. Each pic has a "What's wrong" link beside it, so you can have a go at trying to spot the mistake that has been made before you click the link to find out, and also to find out how the mistake could have been avoided.
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Comments
While I get your point I am not sure I completely agree with thinking before each shoot, maybe thinking when you grab your camera but often thinking can make you miss the shot completely.
You raise a really good point. I agree with you - it's more important to get a shot than to miss it altogether because you have been thinking too much.
However, with a lot of shots, you do have time to think - even if you are only thinking about one thing, such as - "Ooops, that tree is really going to look like it is growing out of her head, and if I move two feet to the right, then it doesn't look that way anymore" or "wow, that orange chair in the background is totally going to distract from this purple flower I am photographing, I'll just go and move it first."
Thinking becomes habit. Eventually you don't have to think about these things anymore - you learn to look for them automatically, and adjust automatically. By practising thinking about what you could have done better with a photo (even when you get home and have downloaded them, which is where I do most of my thinking still) - you learn habits of taking better photos.
Thanks for your comment!
Agreed, which is why I say you need to think when you get your camera, I guess though I don't really think about thinking anymore since I got my first SLR when I was 10, with a many a point and shoot before that.
thinking though should not be over owning a shot, if you move too much stuff around you can make the image look stiff, change angles or reloacing the orange chair so it can still be in the shot is always a consideration you should make.
Yeah, I am guessing you don't need to think very much before you shoot if you have been taking pics that long. But I see this as probably the biggest thing needed to be learned by most people I know who haven't taken many pics before.
That is an excellent point you made at the end there - to see if the background can be used rather than just automatically cutting out something that doesn't fit right where it is. Ty.