Learn to take photographs like a pro
Taking great photographs isn’t a skill you can get overnight. It is true that some have the gift of great composition, but even so, you still need to know about what to do with your camera to make a good photograph out of a well-composed frame. Ansel Adams, famous landscape photographer, always told his students ‘you don’t just take a good photograph, you make it’.
The difference between a pro and an amateur
So what is it that differentiates a professional from an amateur? To put it simply, a professional photographer is a person who makes money out of his craft, and an amateur doesn’t! This doesn’t imply that an amateur is less gifted in any way. Anyhow, what a professional learns over the years is to not compromise quality for anything. An eye for detail is something that you need to work towards. For example, a professional may reject in image on the basis of inadequate sharpness, while a layman would accept it as an ‘ok’ photograph. So it’s just the standards that we set for ourselves that define our identities as photographers. Don’t compromise on quality, period.
When you see a great photograph, and say out loud ‘that’s a beautiful image’; you don’t do this out of a well thought out thinking process, you just ‘knew’ the image was great the minute you laid eyes on the photograph. That’s because the subconscious mind has instantaneously decided in favor of the image. When, on the other hand you would like to make a similar image yourself, you will need to analyze consciously what is was that made that image so special? Was it the lighting, was it the sharpness, and were it the hues and colors? Once you are able to pinpoint the feature that made you appreciate an image, you are well on your way to becoming a good photographer.
Lighting and Composition
Remember there are two vital aspects without which no image can be called a good photograph – lighting and composition. Do try and analyze the lighting and composition before you shoot the image. Do try and think of composition before you even pick up the camera. As Ansel Adams said, you need to visualize the completed photograph, imagine it on paper – what would you like for it to look like? Then once you have this in mind, you need to put your technical skills to use to achieve this – it is needless to say, it’s a great feeling of accomplishment and satisfaction when you are able to bring to reality something that your mind had visualized – that’s creativity!
A few technical pointers – always use a tripod. Don’t use a wide angle to shoot a portrait. Crop the image to perfection (this can be done later as well, after the image has been photographed). Use a low ASA rating for fantastic quality. Lastly, don’t fool yourself – visualize, and bring what you visualized to reality – if you haven’t done this, you do not have control over your photography, even if you get great results sometimes, by ‘fluke’.