In this day and age of digital cameras, you’ve probably heard or thought that all you have to do is push the button and great pictures magically appear.Hold on, don’t go so fast.The honest truth is, you may have a great digital camera, but if you are clueless in what to do, you will take ugly shots.
Well, I would like to share with you some great tips on improving your digital photography skills. These tips are coming from years of experience as a San Diego wedding photographer. These tips all involve lighting and they are going to be some of the biggest keys to your success in taking your photos.
First tip you will use in regards to lighting. Now if you are taking shots outdoors during the day, natural sunlight provides some of the best lighting possible. Now you are probably thinking, “that’s easy, when you are a San Diego photographer since it is always shiny there”, when in actuality really bright sunlight can cast harsh shadows.Or it will wash out the face details while the sun is overhead.
Overall, you are going to want to take most of the shots with the sun behind you. This prevents the harsh shadows that can be caused by the sun.There will be some times when you want to take shots from different angles when you do try to get some shadows into the shots.
Now that we know what to do during the day shots, what if you have to take some night shots?
The trick to taking night shots is to turn off your flash.Of course if it is absolutely dark with no light you wil need it, but for times when there is some lighting, use the lighting around you, but make sure the shutter speeds are slow enough to let light in.Also, stay steady when you are taking your photograph or you will cause the picture to blur.Doing these tricks should make a significantly dramatic difference when you take night shots.
The final tips to using lighting for great shots is using the golden hour. There is something photographers call the “golden hour” or magic hour, and that time is sunrise and sunset.
These times of day you wll be able to capture great shots because you will get the more warmer and inviting colors.You’ll be able to get that golden lighting that isn’t available during any other time of day.
There you have it.Probably the biggest secret in taking great photographs is taking advantage of the natural lighting. Knowing what techniques to use for different parts of the day, or just scheduling a photo shoots to capture those times of day will help you become an excellent photographer.
