Ships 5-7 business daysWe came across an awesome article by Olivier Duong, a Haitian-French-Vietnamese graphic designer turned photographer, about ways to bring your photography to the next level.
Always have a camera in your pocket
One of the best things I did as a photographer was to get myself a pocket camera (The Ricoh GRD III, now I have the Ricoh GRD IV) and take it everywhere with me. It freed me photographically, and it made me stop thinking in terms of “photo shoots” and start thinking in terms of “life photography”.
He even mentions using your phone as a camera, which is a great idea! Some say the best camera you have is the one you always have with you. =)
The background is as important as the subject
There’s only two things a background can do for your subject: it can either bring attention to it, or detract from it. Say you are having a conversation with a friend, you wouldn’t want someone else’s voice distracting from your own, would you? So why let your subject be distracted by the background?
It’s important to always look at your background and ask whether it adds to or detracts from the photo.
Light is basically, like, everything
Did you ever notice how the face lights up when someone is watching TV? Did you notice that you feel differently when a landscape is shot at twilight versus dawn? Do you notice how there’s ugly shadows in the eye area when there’s harsh light?
Pay attention to light. The shapes and shadows, the emphasis on different parts of the shot, reflections and more… Light is everything.
Sometimes you don’t know what you’ve got…
You might have something that you wouldn’t know the value of until you look at it with more mature eyes. I have shots from 10 years ago, (I never dreamed of becoming a photographer back then) that are stellar.
Some of the best things in life happen accidentally. Look back at your work. You never know…
6 more tips, here.
