Photography Tips: How To Take A Great Photo Easily (Updated)

Thanks to technological advancements, photography has got much more popular than before. Nowadays, not everyone can be a professional photographer, but many of us can become an amateur photographer if we have the equipment and knows basic things about photography. The equipment can range from a good smartphone to a high-quality DSLR camera. And in this post, we will provide you with useful photography tips to level-up your game in taking shots.

Important photography tips for beginners

Use your current camera

The gear is not the most important thing ever. Though there are new smartphones, new cameras released all the time, testing shows that they are not that much different from each other or from older models. You don’t always need the newest camera model to take great shots. So you can just stick to what you have got and make the most of it.

Use photo recovery software

If you have accidentally deleted photos or lost them due to other reasons such as formatting your memory card or a system crash, you may be able to recover them using a photo recovery tool like Remo Recover.

It is important to note that the chances of successfully recovering lost photos depend on various factors, such as the extent of data loss, the storage device's condition, and the time elapsed since the loss occurred. Therefore, it is best to use a photo recovery tool like Remo Recover as soon as possible after data loss occurs.

Learn which settings matter

There are many camera settings to choose from and you may need some time to master them, especially if you are a beginner. Even experienced photographers don’t get it right all the time. Regardless, it’s worth learning to set the camera properly and know which settings are the most important, which will help you get the most beautiful shots.

You need to practice with the camera modes, involving a certain understanding of the shutter speed, ISO, and aperture, among other factors. In addition, you need to practice with different autofocus modes. Manual focus is not recommended unless it’s too dark for autofocus to work.

Don’t overexpose highlights

When choosing camera settings, remember not to overexpose highlights in a shot. The reason is that you cannot recover the details in white areas. With that in mind, ISO, aperture, and shutter speed are very important in keeping your highlights intact as they are the only settings with direct effects on the brightness of the photo.

When capturing photos, you need to watch the camera screen to check for any overexposure. If there is, you need to lower ISO to the base value. Besides, do not set the aperture to a crazy value like f/45 or f/30.

Photography tips with phone

In this section, we will introduce a number of photography tricks for those using a smartphone. If you are looking for photography tips beginners, these can work for you too.

Gridlines help balance your picture

This is one of the best and easiest photography tips to improve your photos when you use a smartphone. By turning on gridlines, you will see a series of lines on the camera screen created based on the rule of thirds, which says a photo should be broken down into thirds, vertically and horizontally, resulting in a total of 9 parts.

This theory says that if points of interest are placed along the lines or in the intersections, you will have a more balanced photo that lets viewers interact with it more naturally.

Set the camera’s focus

While smartphones these days automatically focus on the foreground of the frame, you can adjust the focus for different pictures by simply tapping on the point you want to focus on. Make sure the camera has put the focus on the right point before you press on the snap button.

Focus on one subject

Sometimes, just one interesting subject is enough to make a good shot, so you should spend some time setting up your photo. According to professional photographers, the subject should fill only one-third of the frame while the other two-thirds should be negative space.

Take advantage of the negative space

When you put your subject in a large negative space, it will likely stand out much better, making the shot more impressive. Negative space can be different things such as an open sky, water, a large wall, an empty field, etc.

Take your photos from different perspectives

Find a unique angle for your shots to make them more impressive and memorable. An unexpected angle can result in an illusion of height or depth with the subject.

Use reflections

It’s mesmerizing to see the reflection of the sky on a peaceful water body, and you can create very beautiful photos using this effect. You can find reflections in puddles, sunglasses, mirrors, drinking glasses, or metallic surfaces, among many other options.

Leading lines

Some shots have a line drawing the eye of the viewer to a certain part of the frame, called the leading line, which creates a sense of depth. You can choose a circulinear or a straight leading line.

Find symmetry

A photo with symmetry is very satisfying to look at as it creates a sense of harmony and balance. You can either find symmetry in the wild like staircases or set up your own symmetry shots.

Photography tips for portraits

Portrait photos capture the inherent character of a subject in one shot. If you know the photography tips for portrait shots, you will be able to create really powerful photos.

Find a good location

The location can have a big impact on the resulting picture. The outdoors provide natural light that results in the best portraits but there are many challenges too such as the time of the day, the weather, the changing lighting condition, etc. You should shoot portraits in late afternoons or early mornings, avoid direct sunlight.

Get the pose right

You need to figure out the right pose for your subject so that it can portray them in the most flattering way. You also need to pay attention to the background, the camera angle, and the lighting. You can try different combinations of angles and poses to find the best option.

Take candid shots

Some people are not comfortable with posing, so you cannot get a good portrait by making them do different poses. It can result in unnatural shots. In this case, it’s best to get the subject comfortable, let them do their natural activities, and take your shot.

Capture emotions and expressions

Real facial expressions can make a great photo, like a faint smile, a genuine sparkle in the eye, etc. To achieve this, you need to work with the subject and patiently wait for them to get in the zone so that real emotions can come out.

Photography tips DSLR

And now, if you don’t want to stick to your smartphone but instead want to start using a real camera, here are photography tips for DSLR cameras.

Use the Shutter Priority and Aperture Priority modes

The Aperture Priority mode is also known as the semi-manual mode, which lets you control the aperture size while the camera handles the shutter speed. Using this mode will give you well-exposed shots.

On the other hand, the Shutter Priority mode is also known as the semi-auto mode, which gives you control over the shutter speed while the camera handles the aperture sizes. Its outcome is also a well-exposed picture.

Use a quality tripod

A good tripod helps you keep the camera still and in place for a long time. Therefore, you can take long exposure photos, fireworks shots, or other special effects.

Apply the right ISO

By controlling ISO, you can have a better exposure in your photos. A higher ISO number means the camera becomes more sensitive to light. Here are some general rules for setting ISO:

• ISO 100: very sunny conditions
• ISO 200-400: overcast outdoor shade, outdoor daylight, or indoors with a well-lit scene
• ISO 800: low-light conditions, indoors and outdoors, with or without a flash
• ISO 1600 or higher: low-light conditions, indoors and outdoors, without a flash.

In this post, we have covered the most basic, easy-to-apply photography tips for smartphones, DSLR cameras, and specifically for taking portraits. We hope that these tips and tricks will help you take stunning photos and improve your photography skills.

>>> 8 Best Photo Editing Apps To Make Your Old Photos Beautiful Again