4 Steps to a Better Photograph

Getting the right photo is incredibly hard. It can take some people years before they feel they’ve really captured something great. I personally struggle with this. If you follow us on Instagram, you’ll see that most of my photos aren’t great. I’m learning as I go, and trying to improve my craft every day.

With that experience and a fair amount of reading I have reached a few conclusions that I figured I would share with you guys, to hopefully improve your photography. Here are some steps to a better photograph that I have learned over the past few months.

1. Take Your Time

Taking a great photo takes a long time. Over the last two weeks I have been taking long bike rides and challenging myself to get great photos. Something I learned during this time is, if you try to force a photograph, it won’t work and will never work. Take a look around you and be patient, the right perspective, view, or angle will come.

2. Try Multiple Perspectives

In photography, perspective is everything. One way to really get a better photograph is by taking multiple shots all from a different perspective. Take a shot from the top down, bottom up, left to right, right to left. Approach an object from far away, get a close up. Try to think outside the box with this one. You’ll often find that the most random perspective can totally change the way a photo looks.

3. Take Less Photos

Ironic right? I just told you to take multiple perspectives of every photo and now I’m telling you to take less photos? Consider it a general statement. The goal here is to avoid taking photos of anything and everything you see.

Develop a selective eye to the world around you and you’re photography will improve immensely.

4. Inspire Yourself

Getting inspired is probably the most challenging part, but when inspiration hits, there is nothing quite like it. Photography has a way of helping you see the world around you a little bit differently. The change that most drastically improved my photography was probably this. I started following some new photographers on Instagram and checked out some of these amazing photography websites. After doing so I was inspired beyond belief. Here are some tips for really getting inspired by photography sites and the best photographers.

• Look for different angles and approaches to a photograph, every photographer has their own unique approach.
• Understand why this photo was taken a certain way.
• Look for the minute details that are often missed by the untrained eye.
• Learn the most basic rules of photography and learn how to break them.

These are just a few suggestions to help you take better pictures. For some more helpful information, learn these basic photography composition tips.

What method do you use to take better photos? Comment below.