Tips for good photography

Professional Photography: Pagepix

If  you are expected to provide social media images for you company, even with all the gimmicky filters you can apply, I bet you find it’s not as easy as they make out.

With 30 years’ experience under my belt as a snapper for newspapers, magazines and public relations, I’m still learning different techniques, so don’t despair when that presentation photo you took the other day looks a bit drab.

Here are a few simple tips to help you in practical ways:

Backgrounds:

Probably the most important part of a picture. You need to make them relevant or get rid of them. Trees make a good nondescript backdrop, as does anything uniform. Look to avoid things coming out of people’s heads etc. as you don’t want to detract from the subject.

Be patient and work to get the right picture:

Don’t be hurried by those posing for the picture. It’s in their best interests for you to get the right image. Just remember, people hate being photographed; it’s worse than the dentist for some.

Take photos as high a resolution as possible:

Make sure that the images are sharp and good enough quality.  Low file sizes won’t reproduce well and will blur when you try to increase their size. Bear in mind that it’s always easier to reduce the file size of the photo than increase it.

Be creative:

Try and use a bit of imagination to make the photo one that will stand out from the crowd and catch the interest of the audience you’re aiming at.

Look around you and learn to appreciate light:

Photographers are like moths; we’re always attracted to the best light source inside or out.

There are many other tips I could give you, but then you might start shooting images for the covers of these great magazines instead of me, so I’ll keep quiet for now.