Here's something you can do right now with any camera to make your photos better! I learned this in the first lesson of my course several years ago and will never forget. They've helped me a lot!!!
Using these simple 3 guidelines, you can see results immediately in your photos. The more you use them, the better you photos will be on a consistent basis.
Step 1. Know your subject.
Step 2. Focus attention on your subject.
Step 3. Simplify.
Let me expand a little on each.
1 - Know your subject. In other words, what is it that makes you want to take the picture of and what do you hope the people that view this photo will see? If you can't answer that, you may not even want to take the photo. Usually, you know the answer and the next two steps help you to make sure the viewer knows what the subject is. The subject may be a person or object, or it may be an entire scene.
2 - Focus attention on your subject. There are many ways to do this. Moving to a different angle and/or zooming in closer. Using things to frame your subject in, throwing the background out of focus, lines leading the viewers eyes to the subject. Many things that can be done here.
3 - Simplify. Just like it sounds. If the scene or background is too busy, the viewer gets distracted and may not fully enjoy the subject of your picture. You can simplify by moving distracting things out of the scene. You might have to physically move something, or you might need to move the camera angle or zoom in to eliminate distractions. Could be any number of things in the scene that can be dealt with in many different ways.
A quick example of how photographers apply all 3 steps every day would be a studio portrait. Think about it. A background is used to give a nice setting that does not distract from the person. Lighting is controlled so it is flattering or enhances the person's appearance in some way, and the viewers attention is on the person. Go back and read each step and you will see how they are all met. The trick is, to find creative ways to use these steps when you are not shooting studio type portraits.
I learned these tips from The New York Institute of Photography: Their website has a ton of good stuff you can find for free too: http://www.nyip.com
