An Easy Guide To Taking Awesome Pictures

I'm a true believer that you don't need to have a world of knowledge or the most expensive equipment behind you to take a great picture. There are a few key steps to follow when creating awesome imagery and here are the ones I think are the most important to practice.

PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE

Just like any creative skill it takes a lot of time and practice to get the hang of taking pictures. When I first really started getting into photography I took pictures of everything and anything. Every chance I got I would grab my camera and even just taking pictures of the most mundane things helped me figure out my style and process. You can set yourself great little challenges like this one from the awesome Siobhan over at Bless The Weather.

TAKE YOUR TIME

For the most part nothing good comes out rushing, especially when it comes to taking pictures. Whenever I'm shooting anything I always write myself a plan up before hand so things don't get chaotic which is a big help. By taking the time to play around with different angles and set-ups, it makes you push yourself creatively to embrace something you might not have thought of before. Photography is something that should be super fun and something we enjoy so why not take your time with it. I've always been a slow shooter as I love being able to take time my time so I can get the best image I possibly can.

GET TO KNOW YOUR EQUIPMENT

No matter what you're using it's important that you know what your equipment is and what it's capable of. Again, this comes down to just practicing or even sitting down with that really dull DSLR manual. There is a ton of helpful posts scattered around the internet about how to get the most out of your iPhone which completely debunks the idea that you need an expensive SLR to take a good picture.

COMPOSITION

It might be old and traditional, but the rule of thirds is a great way to compose any image. Most cameras and iPhones have a grid on the screen so that you can see how the image is split up. When it comes to good composition the key is to take your time whenever you're setting up your camera and whatever you might be shooting. Here are few things to look out for when composing an image:

Background, is there any distractions?
Is there too much foreground in the shot?
Does the angle compliment the image or take away from it?
Are you planning to crop the image? If so allow extra room for this.

ANGLES

Call me boring but I've never been a fan of really dramatic angles. Keeping things simple is always a good route to go down as there isn't much that can wrong. There is a reason why styles like flat-lay photography are incredibly popular, it's because it is still an interesting angle to take, but makes sense for the viewer and is aesthetically pleasing.

AND HAVE SOME FUN

Often when I read posts about photography they always make it sound terribly boring when it's something that should always be a fun thing to do. Play around with things, even if you just delete the picture afterwards it's still fun to try out something different. Even though sometimes when you're trying to take a picture of something and it's not turning out the way you want it can be frustrating it still should be something you can take joy from.

Do you have any photography tips?

R x

Check out: Freckles & Frocks, The What Now Blog, Love and Blossom, Nothin' Fancy Really and Loud Makeup, you can advertise with me here.