Photography Simple considerations for taking better shots.

Essential Components  The quality of a photo depends on these essential elements:  Subject: The inherent qualities of what you shoot and how you compose it  Moment: The timing of your shot  Light: Exposure, shadows, etc.

SALP Supermodel: Greg King

Subject  Ask yourself these questions:  Is the subject interesting?  Have I composed the shot well?  Use “hotspots” on your camera’s composition grid to guide your shots.  Strategies:  Look in all directions, including up and down, to find interesting subjects.  Patterns are interesting to the eye.  Consider foreground/background. Depth of field is interesting to the eye.  Color can be used to draw attention to a shot or convey meaning.

Composition: Greg has a tree head!

Moment  Ask yourself these questions:  What the most interesting or relevant times for taking shots of the subject?  Can I set up in advance for the shot?  Are there special considerations such as fast movement by the subject?  Strategies:  Look for action and reaction shots.  Captured moments that convey interesting narratives.  Get up close. Get faces.

Distance: Medium

Distance: Moderately Close

Shutter Speed (Slow)

Shutter Speed (Fast, but should still be faster for even greater clarity)

Moment: Timing, Narrative

Light  Ask yourself these questions:  What camera settings should I use under the available lighting conditions?  Is there a way I can use light to my advantage?  Strategies  To reduce blur, use higher shutter speed and lower aperture.  It’s better to take slightly dark pictures than blurry pictures if you’re forced into a choice.  It’s also better to take slightly dark pictures than pictures that are overexposed. In the editing process, you can increase the exposure to add light.

Lighting: Greg is in the dark.

Lighting: Greg getting enlightened.

Aperture (Higher F-Stop)

Aperture (Medium F-Stop)

Aperture (Low F-Stop)

Photo Resources  Composition Composition  More CompositionComposition  If you want to get more advanced, the Digital Photography School site might be of interest.Digital Photography School