How to Take Better Pictures-Part one
ByGet Closer-Get Lower-Get Higher
Most people I observe stand too far away from the subject they are photographing. I am sure that is because they do not want to call attention to themselves; they want to snap a fast picture and not be noticed or be in the way. But I say, “Get closer to your subject!”
Taking a moment to get closer and not have so much distracting background improves an image greatly. Cropping in post production later is okay to a point, but I am for doing it right the first time in the camera. Over cropping degrades the image quality by only using a small part of the file.
Speaking of getting right in there, I was in Las Vegas and found a crowd of people watching and taking pictures of three living statues. These beautiful girls were clothed and painted in one color and looked like real statues only they moved just a little bit just once in a while. Similar to the English guard, they will not even move to accept a tip or compliment. I carefully worked myself into the center of the crowd and took a photograph…well, okay, lots of photographs. After a few minutes I realized that the crowd had opened up for me, and I had all the elbow room I wanted.
Try not shooting everything at your standing level. Add interest to your images by getting lower and shoot at kid level. I squat, kneel, and lay on my stomach (all of which is getting harder at 40 something!). As shown in the example on the left, I often get on a ladder and shoot down on someone by two feet or more. Lay someone on the ground and shoot almost straight down on them. That is fun, too!
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This is part one of an eight part series from an article called “Everyday Images Made Extraordinary” that I wrote for www.BarbGordonPhotoCoach.com a division of Gordon Photography & Gallery dedicated to mentoring other professional photographers who wish to learn more about the business of photography.
