Everyone is an expert nowadays and everyone has a digital camera — ergo, ipso facto, everyone thinks they are an expert photographer.
However, the Internet has proven otherwise — not everyone is an expert — by a long shot.
So Olympus, through one of its professional photographers Jay Kinghorn, offers up three easy to follow tips on taking better pictures.
Tip No. 1: Move closer.
Kinghorn quotes war photographer Robert Capa, “If your pictures aren’t good enough. You aren’t close enough.”
Indeed, moving closer will give you a better image. Take a look at these examples from our own travels.
Here's a boring shot we took at the Floating Market in Amsterdam.
Here's a much more interesting picture of one thing for sale at the market.
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Just zooming in and taking another step closer help transform a boring goods shot into something that is simply more interesting.
Rule No. 2:
The Rule of Three: Move the subject out of the center of the frame. Kinghorn suggests dividing your frame into thirds and move the subject off to one side. This creates a new tension in the picture and makes it more interesting. The composition then becomes inspiring and fun. It’s also just a better picture.
You can say beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but a good picture just feels right and using the rule of three makes things more balanced.
Check out this example from Olympus:
The final rule is pretty easy to remember too:
No. 3: Tell a Story.
A close up of your friend at a bar may be something personal and interesting to you, but really, no one else cares as much about it unless there’s a story to go along with it. Sometimes this story may include scale or other interesting details.
Here are two examples we’re offering from a recent 4×4 trip:
This picture says nothing. The Jeep is crossing some rocks that may or may not be difficult. Yawn.
This picture is a little more interesting, there's depth and a sense of of how hard it might be to cross these rocks.
Now we have a story. This is some hard work. Additionally, there's a sense of a story, the tire in focus is at the 1/3 in the frame and despite it being a still, there's a sense of action.
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It doesn’t take much to get a good photo, other than thinking about it before you shoot.
Ask yourself – what story do I want to tell? What are the elements that need to be in the frame, what doesn’t need to be in the photo.
Finding the best picture is more than a matter of shooting a lot of photos, it’s about thinking about it before you shoot and seeing what you want to capture.
Yes, there are great photos that break all of these rules and professionals like Kinghorn know how to capture all of those images. But travelers like us, people who hope to grab a great pic while half drunk sitting on a bar stool need to think a little more about it.
