If I have to share one single most important tip on how to improve photography quickly, this is it.⠀7 years ago, I wrote a blog “Less Is More - 7 Approaches To Create Simple Yet Strong Composition”, it’s still by far the most valid tip I have for anyone who’s interested in improving photography
Pay attention to interesting lines. No matter seen from a piece of architecture, or a river path in the nature, straight or curvy, in the foreground or background, there are lines almost everywhere in our lives.
Did you find the relation between the above two photos? Are you the first photographer or the second? Many of you might have stopped taking photos or posting images during the pandemic - I get it. I felt the same frustration when we couldn’t travel. That doesn’t mean you can’t find the inspiration. In fact, beauty is everywhere!
A good composition is typically simple and balanced. This doesn’t mean your image has to be symmetrical. It’s the balance of your content, so you don’t feel one side of your image is too “heavy” and the other side is too “light”.
Most of us know blurring the background helps achieve the dream result in portrait. However, I’m talking about blurring your foreground today. Your camera is very close to something between you and your subject so that the foreground is blurry. There are at least 3 good reasons.
A big mistake many of us make is to include too many things in the background of a photo. They distract your audience’s attention from your main subject and story telling. An easy solution is to put your subject in front of a clean background.
It is totally OK to make the person out of focus in a travel photo when your main subject is something else than the person. You want the person to be in the same frame, to create an order of magnitude, a contrast of color, or simply be part of the story telling.
There are many ways to capture your travel story. It’s hard to say which is the best, but sure thing among the worst is to only capture the “cheese” facing the camera. Over and over again! I’m sure when you narrate your stories with family and friends, you have something far juicier than just the fake smiles.
