Hi Steemians!
A picture is worth a thousand words and the online world gives us the opportunity to publish essays of captivation whether it be on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest or any other social media sites.
In today's digital world a great picture can make or break your brand, product or service so it's important that we know how best to compose and arrange that shot before you hit the snap button. Here are a few tips on how to get that mesmerizing shot:
1.) Lighting
Make sure your subject is lit accordingly from the front, side, and back. Use a reflector or LED lighting panels to compensate for the dynamic ranges of light. Play with the shadows in your environment or experiment with solar flares. Experiment with your shutter speeds, aperture, and focal length until you develop an intuition for your exposure settings in different lighting conditions.
2.) Fill the frame
The frame of your shot needs to uphold a delicate balance between your main subject and the background. Make sure there isn't too much blank space and that your entire photo embodies the essence of your subject matter.
3.) Choose a Theme
Like all art, photography can explore themes of the human condition - what it means to be human. Think around relationships, change, conflict, exploration, force, order, patterns or power. At some point in time as a photographer, you will experience a blip of a moment that won't happen again. The stars will align and this is your moment to capture something that can impact your viewer and potentially shift perspectives around the planet. So choose something you are passionate about and keep a sharp eye for these moments.
4.) Composing your Photo
The human eye is drawn to patterns both familiar and unpredictable, so keeping this in mind will allow you to keep a lookout for interesting shapes, patterns, textures and geometry. Apply the rule of thirds to your shots or experiment with Fibonacci composition.
5.) Avoid camera shake
Having your shutter speed below 1/100 will inevitably cause some form of a blur so instead, use a tripod or monopod with a time release if you're shooting a still subject. Remember to hold the camera with your elbows tucked in and to control your breathing. Shooting a camera is much like shooting a sniper.
6.) Play with colour
We live in a world with a spectrum of possible colors, so make use of them and apply it to your photos. Pick a colour scheme if you're arranging a product shoot. Use a site like colors.co to finds what you're looking for
7.) Master the Exposure Triangle
Have a deep understanding of ISO, Aperture and Shutter speed. Know that a high ISO will yield a grainy photo, aperture controls your depth of focus and shutter speed will determine the sharpness or blur of your image. The more comfortable you become with these factors the quicker you will be able to adjust so that you can capture the shot.
8.) Practice everyday
The more you conduct your shoots the quicker and easier your camera will speak to you. You will literally have developed muscle memory to adjust the settings to get the desired feel of your shot. Go out during the golden hours of sunsets, shoot your friend's portraits, explore the world and its landscapes. Good luck on your journey!
