Photo Tips
ARE YOUR PHOTOS INSTA-WORTHY?
Everyone knows that feeling, when you are looking super cute and you want to document the moment, so you ask a nearby friend to snap a picture of you and your pal and they hand you the camera back….and the picture is terrible. But this is the only picture you’ve got and you don’t want to offend them by asking them to take another because that’s kind of awkward.
Well, I am here to save the day! Or at least hopefully help a little bit.
Pictures are about capturing the funniest, happiest, most memorable, and most beautiful of moments, so we should all be taking good ones! After all, when we are all old and grey, don’t we all just want to be able to brag to our grandchildren about how good lookin’ us and our friends were in college?
So, here are just a few tips and tricks on how to take the best pictures, whether it be on your smartphone or with your fancy super expensive camera:
1. Rule of Thirds!
Well, ain’t this puppy just the cutest thing you ever did see?
What about this one?:
These puppy pictures are the perfect example of how to use the rule of thirds when taking a picture. No one wants a picture that cuts them off at the waist, but captures a whole lot of the wall behind them. And, surprising to some, it is not always best to perfectly center the object you are taking a picture of. Instead, when using the rule of thirds, you want to pretend as if these lines (as shown in the images above) are on your image and use them as a guide to align your image. With this rule, you ensure that you are placing your points of interest nicely and frame your object in a way that nicely captures your attention.
2. Lighting
A big part of this is knowing when to use the flash and be that obnoxious person at the party who takes the same picture 37 times with the flash because they can’t decide on a good one. Obviously, if it’s dark, usually it is best to use the flash. Avoid taking pictures directly in front of sunlight, and instead have your object faced towards the sun light.
I know you’ve heard this before, but one trick I use when I am taking pictures of people who are facing the sun, is I tell them to shut their eyes. As I count down to taking the picture (like your mom on vacation, “SAY CHEESE ON THREE”), I tell them to open their eyes on three, as to avoid the whole squinty, watering eyes thing that happens to the best of us. This can sometimes work with obnoxious flashes too, but it’s a little harder to get the timing.
3. The more the merrier
Whenever I offer to snap a picture for someone, I always take more than one. If I am not using the flash, I take several in a row, so they can sift through them like a basic girl and her selfies and pick their favorite one the post. With the flash, I limit this number to only a few because the flash can become blinding. But always remember that true candids are the funniest so snapping a couple before or after they have posed for the picture may capture the best picture.
4. When in doubt, let them crop it out.
I always like to ask how they want the picture, but either horizontal or vertical and if it ought to be full body or waist up, etc. Also, I always like to take a few different zoom levels because it is always easy to crop something out of a picture, and impossible to insert more of something.
5. Go easy on the filters
While everyone appreciates a good filter, everyone also knows when you’ve gone too far. So, try to create an image that most accurately represents the moment by lowering the effect at times and maybe fiddling with the highlights and shadows a little in the settings. Cause everyone can tell when you airbrush the faces, red-eye the eyes, and whiten your teeth.
I hope these tips help you out in your future Instagram adventures! But also remember, no one expects you to be Kim Kardashian and have a professional photographer with you 24/7. So, if there is a beautiful moment that you want to share with the insta-world and the picture quality is a little lackluster, we’ll forgive you and probably give you a double-tap anyway.
Author: Alexandra Hristodoulou
