10 Cool Photography Tips and Tricks

Almost everyone takes photos of just about anything nowadays, but photography is more than a selfie or a cute picture of your dog; if you really want to develop your skills and start taking some really beautiful shots then this article is the one for you. We have produced 10 of the best photography tips and tricks that will help hone your skills so that you can start taking more beautiful and artistic photos.

1. Fill The Frame

Filling the frame with your subject or rather cropping around your subject can cut out the unnecessary background noise that could draw away from the subject of the photo. This is especially useful when you’re taking portrait photos and shooting in busier areas, as this keeps the focus honed in on your subject, and creates a much more eye-catching photo.

Filling the frame with a portrait does not mean that it has to just be a headshot; you could take a picture from the hips and up, the shoulders, or the waist, in order to create a beautiful and focused portrait.

2. Keep all Body Parts

Accidently cutting off the odd elbow or the top of someone’s head can really pull the attention away from the main focus of the photograph, and should be avoided at all costs. Make sure to keep an eye on the edges of the photograph so that you get the entire subject, as this will make a much more effective and inclusive picture, and eliminate the chance of the eye being drawn to the half limb on the edge of the image.

3. Symmetry Is Key

Symmetry can create some really beautiful photos, as it adds a bigger impact and gives more of an effect than other types of image. Reflections, rows of lamps, and roads can create a beautiful photograph and guide the eye to a certain focal point at the end of the symmetry. This is also useful when looking at patterned images, as breaking the pattern can create a dramatic and eye-catching event within the image.

4. The Sacred Rule Of Thirds

Most photographers swear by the rule of thirds, and the rule is very simple. Imagine that your image is split into 9 equal parts, with 3 horizontal rows and 3 vertical columns. Once you can picture your sections, you should aim to place the most important focus of your image along these lines, or on a place where two lines meet. This technique is especially useful for landscape and horizontal images, as it can help you to frame the image properly.

5. Framing

You don’t need a frame around the photo in order to create a beautiful and focused image. You can find many different images with things that are naturally in the picture. Trees, arches, and hands can all act as a frame within the image in order to bring attention to a particular element and create a greater depth to the image than before. Play around with different frames in order to find something that best fits the design and theme of the image. I would suggest you go for the frames that are natural and easy to come by such as a beautiful landscape or simple the trees in your yard.

6. Depth

There are three main areas to focus on within an image, and these are the foreground, the middle ground, and the background. If you get it right, elements in each ground can complement each other and create a deeper and more inclusive image; but if you get it wrong, then elements in the foreground can very much distract from elements in the back- or middle ground. For example in a natural beach scene, a rock or boulder in the foreground will take away from the island in the background, yet a few shells will add to the beauty and subtlety of the image.

7. Background

The background of an image can be your best friend, or it can be your worst enemy. Simple backgrounds can enhance an image by enhancing the focus onto the main subject, making for a simple and beautiful photo. However, if there are unsightly objects or bright spots in the background, this can detract from the subject and cause the eye to be distracted when looking at the image. To combat this, always check your backgrounds before you being shooting, and when shooting close up images use a piece of fabric or card as the background so that the focus is pulled towards the subject.

8. Know The Focus

One of the key aspects of a good photograph is a point of focus, something that viewers will instantly find and focus on when they look at your image. If your image is too busy then viewers will get frustrated and bored when they can’t find a point of focus. This doesn’t mean to say that you can’t have more than one point of focus, but just make sure that you don’t have huge numbers of them.

9. Avoid the Shakes at All Costs

Blurry images are almost never good. Blur can ruin a photo, which could otherwise be a beautiful and well-focused image. Learn how to hold your camera properly, using both hands and holding it close to your body for extra stabilization. Invest in a tripod or monopod, and try to get a camera that has a shutter lens that matches the focal length of your focal image. This will help you to avoid the blur of a shaky photograph and make many more of your photos usable.

10. Invest In A Polarizer

The first lens that you should ever invest in is a polarizing lens. These lenses reduce glare and reflections and enhance the colors within the image so that you can get a fuller image, and they also help to protect your camera lens to make it last longer.

Now get out and take some photos!

These rules are the traditional rules that professional photographers swear by, but that doesn’t mean that you can’t break them from time to time in order to make your images much more unique. For the learner photographer, however, try sticking to the basics and develop your skills before you begin varying your photography style.