It’s been quite an exciting year so far full of new adventures and experiences. This past weekend, I attended Girlboss Rally for the first time and led a workshop on how to master photography for Instagram. In the days leading to the conference and immediately after my workshop, I was overwhelmed by the positive feedback and response from the community. I got DMs and comments (both IRL and online) about how they wished they could have attended my workshop and if there were slides I could share or a makeup session.
Sharing the actual slides is a bit cumbersome (the file size was over 100MB due to a large number of embedded media) and only slightly useful since I didn’t have ALL my speaking points written down. So I decided to write up a blog series instead to include the major highlights from my session and other photography-related tips I couldn’t include due to time restraints. Here’s part one!
Tip #1: Rule of Thirds
Divide your photo into 3 sections (horizontally + vertically) and place your subject matter off-center at one of the 9 intersections. While the subject doesn’t have to be exactly at one of the intersections, using this ‘rule of thumb’ will create a more interesting composition than just having your subject in the center of the photo.
Pro Tip: Turn on the “Grid” feature in your phone camera settings for easier visualization. It’ll also help with making sure your horizon is straight.
Tip #2: Leading Lines
Look for lines (literal or figurative) that will provide a sense of movement and help draw your viewer’s attention to your main subject matter. Leading lines also help to bring depth to your photo.
Roads, pathways, spiral staircases, and even your hand pointing at the main subject matter can become a leading line.
Tip #3: Create Scale
Create a sense of scale by including a recognizable object or element such as a car or person within a surrounding landscape. You can’t quite tell how massive the landscape is until you have a point of reference. Alternatively, play around with the perception of scale by making a smaller object bigger than it appears.
Pro Tip: Wear eye catching clothing like a red jacket to create contrast in a grand landscape scene.
Tip #4: Depth of Field
Use a wider aperture (or portrait mode) to help your subject stand out from the background. Throwing your background (or even your foreground) out of focus can help create a sense of depth in your photos.
Pro Tip: Use camera apps with manual focusing capabilities like VSCO that allow you to more accurately select your focus area.
Tip #5: Find Perfect Light
There’s a reason why people call sunset and sunrise the Golden Hours. Unless you’re shooting on a cloudy day, the sunlight will be too harsh and blow out the colors in your photo.
Look for shade outside of the golden hours for softer light. Go indoors or find something to block the direct sunlight. Make sure you’re not too far away from the windows.
Tip #6: Underexpose
Make sure you’re properly exposing your photo, especially when dealing with dynamic ranges of light. While there are often debates on the merits of overexposing versus underexposing, I feel that slightly underexposing your photo is better. You’re able to save the highlights while still keeping enough detail in the darker areas of the photo. It also deepens the color saturation of your photo, which is particularly nice for colorful sunsets and sunrises.
Pro Tip: Tap at the intersection between the bright and dark sections of the scene on your phone. Especially when taking portraits, phones tend to adjust brightness for better exposure of the human subject while sacrificing the details of the background.
Tip #7: Framing
Frame your subject matter in another object or your surroundings to create a sense of depth. When it’s an iconic subject, your unique framing will help your photo stand out from the crowd.
Tip #8: Details
Switch up your expansive landscape photos by getting closer and capturing the details of your surroundings whether it’s the raindrops on a spider’s web or intricate patterns on the walls.
Tip #9: Movement
Add movement to your photo by capturing your subject mid-action or slowing your shutter speed so that there’s motion blur. When modeling or taking pictures of models, make sure they’re moving around. There’s nothing more static than holding a specific pose for what seems to be an eternity (ok, a few seconds). Don’t be afraid to use the Burst mode on your device.
Pro Tip: You don’t need a tripod or professional DSLR to take a long exposure photo. Live Photos on iPhone can be converted into Long Exposure photos too! Go to the Photos app, open up one of your Live Photos, swipe up and then select the “Long Exposure” option under the “Effects” header.
Tip #10: Find Angles
Switch up the perspective of your subject matter by looking at it from different angles. Go low. Go high. Move back. Get closer. Some of the best compositions come from changing your vantage point.
Pro Tip: Use a combination of angles and clever framing to hide unwanted items in your photo like a tourist photobombing your photo.
Bonus Tip: Be Patient
Patience makes perfect. Wait for that perfect moment when the light is just right, a stranger walks into your frame, or the tourists all leave on their buses. Sometimes things don’t work out but when all the elements align, it’s usually because you were patient.
Finally, remember to enjoy the moment!
Hopefully, these photo tips have been useful and you were able to walk away with at least one new trick. Let me know in the comments if there’s anything else you would like to learn in the next photography-focused blog post.
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