How to Improve Your Photography

I’ve wanted to write this post for quite some time but I’m not a professional photographer, and don’t pretend to be; however, I have learned so much since starting the blog. I often get asked for tips, and also what camera I use for the blog. So, I thought today is the day to share it.

When I started writing the blog, the photos were pretty pathetic.

I know.

I just didn’t have a proper camera, and didn’t really know how to compose a good photograph. I’d use my phone, or a point and shoot, and put a fun filter on and call it done. If you don’t believe me check out this post here.

Bad, right?!? This was back in August, 2011, the month I started the blog. So now you know where I was three years ago. So if you are currently better than that then you can get better too!

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1. Invest in a good camera and lens.

I have a Canon Rebel T3i (it has since been superseded by the T5i) The boys gave it to me two years ago for Christmas. At first, it seemed SO BIG and I was scared I was going to break it. I soon become accustomed to the size and love how it feels when I’m taking photos. It is now very comfy in my hands now. Luke got me a kit set, and then, for my birthday the following year, I got a prime lens so I could blur the background. The kit set came with a super zoom lens (that I don’t really use) and an 18-55mm (which I use a lot) and then prime is great for food photography or other room photography where I want the background to blur. This was taken with the prime lens:

2. Now, that you have that nice camera, LEARN to use it.

I know this sounds obvious. I know you’re sitting there with your coffee, shaking your head, saying, “Um, Danielle, I’m hear to learn tips and, of course, I’ll learn how to use it”, BUT I have some friends who have received a DSLR for Christmas and it sits in the box for a YEAR (or more) because they are scared to use it. I’m just saying. You will only learn by taking the camera out of the box, charging the battery and trying it out. If you don’t like to read manuals (like me) then you might want to try a class. I really enjoyed this course by Shoot Fly Shoot and my friend Kjeld Mahoney teaches beginner DSLR classes (and others related to editing) at his gallery.

3. So now you’ve experimented then you need to get out of automatic and into Manual Mode.

Shoot Fly Shoot will teach you how to use your camera in manual. It was like a light bulb went off for me. They describe it all – ISO, aperture, focal length and shutter speed. These are important components to understand, but once you have your camera set up for a shot you don’t really need to worry after.

4. Shut your lights OFF.

I know real estate agents turn lights on when they do listing photos but really you want to use natural light in your photos. Light bulbs can give a weird color to photography and you will get a better photo with natural light.

5. Use a tripod.

This one was hard for me to grasp. I’m always in a rush. If you’ve read the blog for a while you know I can be inpatient. I like to paint a piece, position it, get in photographed and cross it off my list. BUT it is well worth the time to set up a tripod. If, like me, your living room is dark, then having a tripod allows you to open the shutter for longer periods, to get sun-filled photos. If I tried doing this with my unsteady hands then it would just be a blurred mess.

6. Think of composition and background.

This could be a whole blog post in itself. But here are a few thing I’ve learned about photo composition. Vertical pictures are more pleasing and interesting to the eye. Your eye also finds odd numbers more pleasing than even. My friend Lucy who has the most gorgeous photography on her blog said, “Think of your picture as you’re telling a story. Who is the main character? Your project.” So use props to help support your story, but not draw away from it. Backgrounds are also important in helping set the mood. For example, when I made apple crumble in the fall, I could have taken the picture in our kitchen with all our appliances and mess in the background. Instead I thought a dark background (distressed black cupboard doors) would set a more cozy mood:

I’m still practicing composition and experimenting with staging.

7. Take the same photo with different ISO.

I just learned this from Matthew when he was here photographing our home. He took the same photo with a few different ISO setting. Why would you do this? Sometimes it looks great on the little screen on your camera, but get it onto your laptop or a larger screen and that same photo might NOT look as good as you thought having different exposures give you options for editing.

8. Focus.

It is fun to play with the focus. Sometimes you can get a different look with what you decide to have in focus. I usually have my camera set on auto focus (when I first started I thought I had to have everything on manual), but there are times when I want a certain thing in focus so will switch to manual.

For example, for my styling a shelf post, I wanted the shelf to be in focus:

Here is almost the same shot with the flowers in focus. I wanted you to see that you could focus on my room and not have the bookshelf distract you with its new neutral styling:

7. Shoot in RAW.

I know those three little letters are scary. I was scared of them up until my friend Kjeld said I really should see if I like it better. Yes, the files are large, but you can do so much with the photos in post production. I have an external drive and save unedited and edited RAW files to it.

8. Editing.

Most of the photos you see every day on all blogs, in magazines, your family portraits have been been edited. I’m not saying everyone does teeth whitening or “tummy tucks” like fashion magazines allegedly do, but it is nice to have a way to enhance your image. Maybe to add a little light, blur a blemish etc.

Pic Monkey is great for this, it’s free or you can add features for an annual subscription. I used this for image editing, and then at Haven I took Beth’s (Unskinny Boppy) Lightroom class. I had never heard of it before and it has really helped with my photography. In Lightroom you can batch edit, which saves time and also helps give a consistent look to photos, you can change the color temperature, you can change the lens angle, you can crop, you can straighten an image, you can edit out imperfections, you can add light to an image. There is actually so much this little program can do. For $9.99 a month I have the Lightroom and Photoshop bundle and it is so worth it. I use Lightroom most days.

My friend Beth just launched a new eCourse on all she know about Lightroom! You can learn all about it here!

I still need to get better with Photoshop and am going to take a course next month down at Kjeld’s.

The lighting in our living room is tough.

Here’s an example of editing in Lightroom of this space:

Did I answer your questions with my tips? I hope so!

Other great ways to get inspired is by your peers. I thought I’d share a few blogs and sites here as resources for great photography to inspire you (in no particular order):

Kjeld Mahoney Photography

Egle Ruth Photography

Dreamy Whites

Katina Bentley Photography

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