What makes photographers click

These are some great photography tips to keep in mind that I sometimes forget. Love the photos. Well said. I can appreciate visually when a photograph captures an atmosphere but could never pinpoint with words what makes it so. Thank you for this article! It inspired me today to take my camera for a walk — even if the weather and the light were rather blah. But taking pictures anyway made me step out of my comfort zone photographing ugly buildings and some of them turned out quite well!

Especially thanks to the reminder of watching the clouds. A great post! You have captured those gentle, rolling mountains so exquisitely. I will be going back to your website again and again. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Jennifer Carr - Guest Post. Jennifer Carr. For over a year I tried to seek out a new base, a new story and group of people that had meaning to me, for something I felt connected to, without success.

By November I was asking myself that very question — why am I still trying to do this? I arrived in Iraq in November , looking for stories having nothing to do with Mosul, yet I felt with so many other journalists around, I needed to find meaning elsewhere.

Living with this tight knit group, I began photographing our surroundings, the Iraqi medics whose job was so morbid, but who were so jovial in our downtime. By working side by side with them and photographing what we went through together, I was useful, needed, and passionate about something again: I felt the desire to photograph for the first time in over a year. A favorite childhood memory is of my father driving us to a hobby store, purchasing a few packs of trading cards and me excitedly ripping them open to see what was inside.

That same rush is what propels my belief in picture editing. In a time when our global awareness is under siege by an increasingly insular perspective, the responsibility of empowering photographers whose mission is to not just capture but to investigate, to enlighten, to excite, is one of the great privileges of our time.

Today there are more photographers producing more photographs and populating more platforms than have existed at any other point in our history. With that ubiquity has come an evolution in our audiences, which are more sophisticated and demanding than ever. What a thrilling time then to be tasked with looking through the mainstream releases in the hope of unearthing something unique, something beautiful, something rare.

Why is it important? Look at where we are right now. Everyday Africa recently had a big exhibition opening in Nairobi. It was wild, a full house. A lot of the contributing photographers came in from across the continent, and we all met for the first time.

You should have seen how the African photographers were treated — like celebrities! Is it odd to be a white American man saying all this? We all have to care about this. Even if it can be difficult, at times, to work with photographers, I love to reveal them, to help them edit, to build, with them, a story. They are our eyes. They astonish us.

They move us. They make us smile, sometimes. Cry, as well. Evidently, ecommerce advertisers need to get on Instagram. It is always helpful to look to others for inspiration. You likely already have some brands in mind that you love. Take a look at their product photography and ask yourself how a similar shot or technique could work for your products. Perhaps you love the post from JCrew below. The monochromatic color scheme and simple background really highlight the product — can you create something similar with your own products?

Most introductory photo classes, as well as many art classes, teach the rule of thirds, because it is a powerful tool. This rule teaches you to visualize your canvas as nine equal segments, like the example below. The rule of thirds was designed to help artists create a well-balanced composition in each piece.

Your goal is to have your product positioned along the lines, optimally at the point where two lines intersect. When it comes to product photography props, do not get overly ambitious! Remember, the main focus of each product photograph should be the product. With that said, props can be welcome and help brighten the photograph for your viewers. So how do you decide what props to use?

I always recommend erring on the side of light when it comes to props: keep them simple, aligned with the color scheme, and relevant to the scene or your product. Take the example below from Erin Clarkson, a baker I follow on Instagram. To show off her new cake recipe, she used a plain white cake stand, a container of caramel which is relevant as it is a component of the recipe , and beautiful fresh flowers for a subtle pop of natural color. Even without the flowers, this photograph could stand on its own with the caramel sauce as a prop, but I love her use of these items to enhance the beauty of her finished product.

If you have a fairly large line of products you need to shoot, it might be tempting to just take one or two of each product, then move along. However, this is not going to help with shooting for the edit as discussed in tip 3! Taking multiple shots from a variety of angles will show your customers exactly what your product looks like.

The beauty of product photography is that you have the ability to take several shots and then strategically chose the best one. Read our article on The Rule of Thirds to learn more. Camera shake or blur is something that can plague any photographer and here are some ways to avoid it. First, you need to learn how to hold your camera correctly; use both hands, one around the body and one around the lens and hold the camera close to your body for support.

If your shutter speed is too slow, any unintentional movement of the camera will result in your entire photograph coming out blurry. The rule of thumb is not to shoot at a shutter speed that is slower than your focal length to minimize this problem:.

Are you confused by any of the terminology? Do you want to easily control your camera and finally get rid of the confusion about focal length, aperture, shutter speed, and other settings? If so, check out our most recommended course: Photography for Beginners Course by Photography Expert.

You also need to understand the relationships between these three controls. When you adjust one of them, you would usually have to consider at least one of the others, to get the desired results. Using Auto Mode takes care of these controls, but you pay the price of not getting your photos to look the way you wanted them, and often disappointing.

To easily learn how to do it, we recommend the Photography for Beginners Course by Photography Expert. The recommended type of polarizer is circular because these allow your camera to use TTL through the lens metering such as auto exposure.