The Basics of Photography

Let me set one thing straight before I get into everything. A fancy and expensive DSLR camera does not guarantee good photographs. Nowadays, everyone carries around perfectly good cameras in their smartphones and are absolutely capable of taking lovely photographs, but there are just a few key photographic principles that will improve your "eye" and up the quality of your photos.

1. Rule of Thirds

I cannot emphasize enough that this will improve the quality of your photos if you manage to remember it (sometimes I forget and I've been doing photography for 5 years!). The general idea is to put the horizon line of your photo or your subject in one or two thirds of the image. This creates balance in your photos and makes them more pleasing to the eye.

In this photo I took in Quito, Ecuador, the horizon line is in the bottom third of the picture, aligning with the rule of thirds.

For capturing this Israeli sunset, I made sure to put the sun itself in the left third of the image instead of the center.

2. Sometimes Less is More!

Don't feel pressured to fill every corner of an image! Sometimes this makes photos look busy. Instead, use negative space to make your subjects pop.

I wanted all focus to be on the latte in this image, so the background is plain and does not draw away from the subject.

3. Opt for Natural Light!

Now, this tip may come with limitations because of weather and other outside circumstances, but if you have the option to shoot in natural light, do it. Especially as a beginner, good natural light will bring the quality of your images way up. I don't recommend shooting in direct sunlight, unless very harsh shadows are the look you are going for, or in rooms with artificial light. Your images will look either orange or blue-tinged from florescent bulbs. The best times of day to shoot with natural light are sunrise and sunset, also known as golden hour. Outside of golden hour, you can achieve soft natural light by either shooting in a shaded spot outside or using a window, a sheet, or something else to diffuse the harsh light.

I specifically wanted harsh shadows in this image, so I shot right in front of huge windows with no diffusion of light.

This image was shot in the same location as the one above, but at a time of day when the light is much softer.

4. "Less is More" Applies to Editing Too

Kind of backtracking on a previous point, but now I'm discussing it in the context of editing your images. When I was a beginner, I often put lots of pre-made filters over my images. For uploading quick shots to social media, the filters are more than enough for quick editing, but do not get carried away. If you want more creative freedom in your images, I recommend giving each of them individual attention because you will want to change different aspects of each one. Now, I never use pre-made filters or presets because I have figured out my own editing style. I prefer clear images with bright colors, so I will usually mess a little with the lighting settings (exposure, contrast, highlights, shadows, etc) and bring back color if it's needed.

For this image, I edited for the most clarity possible in the cinnamon on top and brightened up the red in the background and the green on the mug.

5. Learn About the Exposure Triangle

Smartphone cameras tend to be completely automatic, so you rarely have to worry about your aperture, ISO, or shutter speed. If you think you're ready to delve into using a DSLR, a film camera, or any other camera that has a manual function, learning the ins and out's of the exposure triangle will be invaluable. Here's a crash course:

Aperture- this is measured in f-stops and affects how much light is let into your camera. A small f-stop such as f1.4 means your lens is wide open, letting lots of light in and blurring your background. A large f-stop such as f16 means everything in your image will be in focus and there is less light being let in.

ISO- ISO is how sensitive to light your camera is. A low ISO such as 100 means that the camera is not as sensitive to light, so this would be the setting to use for bright sunlight. If you have less light, you will want a high ISO such as 400 or 600 because that makes your camera more sensitive to light. Be careful though, setting your ISO too high will cause grain in your images.

Shutter Speed- the shutter speed determines the length of your exposure. A longer exposure lets in more light and blurs action. For shooting at night, you'll want a low shutter speed to let in as much light as possible and a tripod to prevent your image being shaky. A high shutter speed will be the case most of the time, it lets in less light and freezes movement in your photos.

The three of these work together to produce every single photograph that you see, and with manual settings you can change them to adjust to different circumstances.

These are five tips that I do my best to keep in mind, do you have any photography tips you swear by? Drop them below!

Thanks for reading!

xx, Hannah