Photography for me is an art form, I love to teach photography and help people improving their skills, so often I get the question of how can I improve my photography? While the answer differs from person to person if you are just starting photography and struggle to find what is the best way of improving I will leave you a few tips below.
Composition is key for a good a photo if you new to photography you mind tend to just grab your camera and snapshot the subject in front of you without giving much though, I advise you to study the scene before you take a photo and ask yourself what you like in the photo and what you don’t like, what you want to include in the frame and what story you might want to tell, I like that my photos will tell a story in a way or another, take the time to look around, try different perspectives and try to use the Rule of Thirds, by using this rule you won’t put your main subject straight in the middle of the frame you will put it more to the sides, if you use the grid option on your camera/phone you can use the lines to guide you, if you will put a subject where the lines met you should have a good compositional image, while this does not apply to all types of photos if you are just starting this will be a big help.
Often my students are in front of amazing landscapes but still struggle to produce excellent images, I usually tell them to close their eyes wait a second and open them again, I then tell them to see what their eyes look at first, more often then not that is what you like the most in the scene and what calls you more, also try to ask what you don’t like what is in front of your rather then what you like, like that you can exclude (if possible) things you don’t like. Keep in mind you can always crop things out of frame or remove them in post after.
Look for leading lines that will help your eyes go from one side of the frame to the main subject you are trying to show, this technique is very interesting and you can see many places with lines like this, sometimes we don’t pay attention and we might miss it altogether, but if we are in a photographers mindset these things will come sooner or later, just try to pay more attention to your surroundings.
Bokod
I try to use reflections when I can; sometimes you don’t need a lake to make a beautiful reflection, go shooting after it rains and you will have many puddles to use as your subject. Also if you do city photography try the same city during the day and night.
Budapest
Just because you can’t afford a good camera doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy photography and have good work, there are amazing mobile photos around so don’t be discouraged by not being able to buy a better camera or a new camera, the art of photography comes from within you and you alone, yes there are certain limitations you might have with cellphones or specific cameras but don’t let stop you from producing good artwork.