Basics

One Way to Become a Better Photographer

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Go out and take pictures!  That's right, the more you pick up your camera and go take pictures, the better a photographer you will become.  Like so many things in life, the art of photography requires practice.  There are many advantages to shooting more often.  Not only will you learn your camera better, you will also further develop your 'eye' for photographs.  Before you know it you will be 'seeing' photographs even when you don't have your camera with you.  Then again we all usually have our phones with us, so why not take the photograph you just saw with your phone?  Even on a rainy day like it was yesterday here in New Jersey, there's always something interesting to take pictures of.  Here is one of the shots I took today:  

Canon 60D  1/160th at F8.0, ISO 800, 135mm

Here are a few things that you can look for and think about in your daily travels to help develop your photographic eye:

  • Patterns
  • Textures
  • Lines
  • Diagonals
  • Shadows
  • Highlights
  • Filling the Frame
  • Framing the Subject
  • Forms
  • Shapes
  • Reflections
  • Colors or Lack of Color
  • Rule of Thirds
  • Leading Lines
  • Zoom in
  • Zoom in some more!
  • Go Wide Angle
  • Shallow Depth of Field

The best way to learn is to get out there any practice.  Play around with settings, angles, motion and depth of field.  You never know what you might create!