Friday 24 May 2013

Six things to improve your photography (that won't break the bank)

1. Use a genuine dedicated lens hood all the time (about $50)
This will reduce flare, improve contrast and colour saturation and make the image look sharper

2. Stand somewhere different ($0)
Stand on the same spot as everyone else while on holidays or on tour and guess what? Your photographs are bound to look more or less the same as everyone else's.

3. Shoot in the 'sweet spot' ($1.95)
Boring photographers tend to shoot between 10am and 3pm. Keen photographers like to shoot sunsets and sunrises along with the other 20 million keen photographers. Creative photographers will shoot in the 'sweet spots' between first light and sunrise or sunset and last light. There's a little app for your phone called Sunset and Sunrise by Peter Smith that works it all out for you.


4. Separate subject from background ($0)
Whether its a portrait, macro or wildlife shot there are three things you can do to make your subjects stand out from your background:
  • focus separation - use aperture wide open and a longer focal length lens
  • colour separation - example: pink subject and green background
  • tonal separation - example: light subject and dark background or vice versa
5. Treat your shutter button like a butterfly's wing ($0)
Too many people 'stab' at the shutter button resulting in camera shake.  As you shoot, STOP talking, STOP breathing and gently push the button like you were touching the wing of a  butterfly

6. The colour and the white ($0)
In portraiture the eyes have to be sharp. Don't just focus on the face or the eyes generally, focus on the line between the colour and the white of the eyes!


And if you would like a chance to win AU$5000 cash,a  new Nikon D800 camera, an Apple mini iPad or a GoPro Black Edition camera submit your best portrait to the Fremantle International Portrait Prize. Entries close 8 July 2013.




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