Tips for taking better photos – Composition

 

In this post, I will share some of my experiences with tips for taking better photos.

Nowadays, everything is about image. Having a cellphone with a camera is something usual.

Daily, many people take photos and add them to their Instagram.

But if you want to make something different to call attention to your pictures, there are some tips you should follow.

Now, let’s talk about most of the tactics I explore with tips for taking better photos wherever I am.

 

Become one with your camera and the landscape to better use of lights and shadows

 

To be an excellent photographer, you should become one with your camera. Moreover, it would help to become one with the landscape and feel it. Photography is always about lights and shadows. Explore the lights and the shadows of the scene.

 

 

The following photo I took in the Archipelago Fernando de Noronha.

 

 

If you get interested, go to the post “Top things to do and shoot at Fernando de Noronha.”

 

Explore reflections

 

Reflections always give a plus to the photos. Look for buildings, lakes, and wet sand on the beach that work like a mirror of the sky.

It would be best to position the camera as close as possible to the ground to better explore the reflections.

 

 

Sunsets on beaches are an excellent opportunity to get better photos with gorgeous reflections.

 

 

The same thing is applied if you take a picture of a lake. The closer you are to the ground, the better reflections you achieve. The following photo I took at Yosemite National Park, California. If you want to see more shots I took there, go to the post “One day trip to Yosemite National Park.”

 

 

For the picture below, I used the reflections of a building in New York to create the composition.

 

 

Don’t bother if it is raining. Take good care of your equipment so it doesn’t get wet. Then, watch out and look for the beautiful reflections of the lights on the ground. Umbrellas and colorful coats are always so stunning in this kind of scene.

 

 

The reflections are all there with the rain on the streets, even in daylight, like in the picture below.

 

 

Look for a different perspective

 

Be creative and find a different perspective to compose your photos. Sometimes, you have to look up!

 

 

 

Add depth and dimension to your photos

 

Abuse perspective, use leading lines, and shoot through a foreground object, such as plants. I will give you some examples with the following pictures.

Explore street lines and objects that create lines through the photo, like in the picture below.

 

 

 

The lines give a great dimension and depth to your work.

 

 

See how the vertical lines of those trees give a tremendous sense of height to the photo.

 

 

The following picture is from Archipelago Fernando de Noronha, Brazil. Notice that the line of rocks lids to the sea and the sunset view. That technic creates an excellent perspective that makes your eyes go through the scene until the main object of the photo.

 

 

If you liked that picture, you should look at the post “Top things to do and shoot at Fernando de Noronha.” There, you can find beautiful images and information about this Island.

 

Shoot through a foreground object, and create foreground and background

 

 

In this post, I talked about tips for taking better photos related to the image’s composition. As you can see, you can always explore plenty of things in the scene.

Of course, there are some rules in photography you should know and follow. For example, it is lovely to follow the rule of thirds or the golden ratio, but that can’t be a prison for a photographer. We can’t limit the mind and creativity of an artist with rules. However, it is worth learning about it.