Talking Pictures
How to take digital photographs that will get your message across
Basic Instincts
 The best way to improve your photography is to look at photographs in
magazines and journals, and think about what catches the eye. What
story do they tell?
 Improve your chances. Take lots of shots. If a picture tells a thousand
words, your best shots will have more to say for themselves.
 Your digital camera lets you experiment, and it also acts as an insurance
policy against closed eyes, intruders in the frame and mistakes. Use it. If
it takes “motor drive” shots, use that too.
 Learn to select the best, and destroy the rest.
Identify your subject and avoid the centre of the frame.
 When you look at something it subconsciously moves to the centre of
your vision. But putting the subject in the centre of a photograph almost
never works, unless you are filling the whole frame with a close-up. A
better photograph keeps the subject away from the centre, but not on
the edge.
Colour, brightness and contrast
 Try to think about colour and contrast. Differences in brightness and
colour create the boundaries between the objects in your picture.
Colour harmony can be a matter of trial and error, but opposite colours,
such as red and green, or blue and orange, usually complement each
other. Try to avoid colours that clash.
 In brightly lit interiors, you can disable the flash for a more natural
affect, though colours then appear warmer.
 On duller days outside, when taking photographs of closer subjects, turn
the flash on [if you can].
 Avoid photographing subjects that are in darkly lit areas outside without
flash.
 If you can, see what the photo looks like in black and white.
The Rule of Thirds
 Imagine two horizontal and two vertical lines drawn like the gridlines on
a noughts and crosses board on your camera viewfinder. Some cameras
allow you to turn a visible grid on. The best positions to place the main
points of interest in your picture lie somewhere along these four lines –
ideally on one of the four intersections. Keep a subject’s eyes in a
portrait on the upper horizontal line.
Use lines
 Lines running to a focal point in the picture create a powerful effect. Any
lines – fences, roads, corridors, walls – can be used to good effect.
Use Diagonals
 Anything, except the horizon, can be made more exciting by turning the
camera on a diagonal. Take some diagonal as well as straight shots, and
compare the results. Tilt your camera in both directions – one of them
will work better, as you will see!
Use Frames
 Don’t always ignore surroundings. Use them. Doorways, windows,
arches, etc., can be brought into play creatively to frame the subject and
heighten the visual impact.
Intrusive Backgrounds
 Look for the drainpipe emerging from the subject’s head. In everyday,
you wouldn’t notice, but the camera will.
 If the background is a problem, throw it out of focus. If you can change
the aperture [the amount of light entering the lens], increase it to let in
more light. Move your subject away from the backdrop and shoot on
this wider aperture. Focus manually on your subject which will come out
clear and sharply defined against a blurred background.
Change your angles
 Don’t shoot everything from a standing position. Try to find unusual
angles by changing your position, and the camera’s.
 Drop to one knee. You will take a more natural photograph of someone
if the camera as at the same level as their waist.
 Low Angle Shot - at ground level, looking up, you create an authority
figure. High Angle Shot – stand on a chair or ladder and look down, to
make them more vulnerable and appealing.
Every Photo Should Tell a Story with Action and Movement
 Something happening adds to the picture’s dynamic interest. For
example, a dog owner to posing with his dog looks better if they are
interacting.
Use the foreground
 The empty foreground between you and your subject could contain
something of interest that leads the eye into the picture. Think of the
person with the glass raised in a toast – get them to hold it towards the
camera.
Look in not out. Move in not out.
 Have a subject look into the frame, not out. The space in the picture
reserved for looking onto by the subject, is actually called “looking
space”. In an action shot, this becomes “active space” – it’s the area the
horse is about to gallop into, and if it’s in the photograph it helps create
the action.
Pan with Action
 If you can, set a lower shutter speed, and follow the moving object with
your camera. This will blur the background and create the illusion of
speed.
Move in
 If you don't have a zoom lens, get closer to your subject. You may see
the detail when looking at a person across a room. Your camera will just
see the room.
Digital Zooms do not lead to Better Crops
 Don’t use digital zooms. They lose resolution and lead to pixelly pictures.
You can usually crop a picture and create a better effect.
 And with the hi-res pictures today’s cameras take, you should always
look at cropping a picture to create a better story.
Populate your shots.
 Objects, buildings and Mountains are OK, but a person adds scale and
interest. Put them in the foreground if they’re part of the story.
Be a Picasa
 Get to know a photo editor – software on your PC that will help you
improve your shots. Picasa is one such, free from Google. It will help you
crop, brighten, and rotate your images, as well as a dozen other creative
things that will amaze you, but won’t get your shot into the media!
 Don’t be a Photoshop-lifter! Needless to say, though you need to be
creative, there’s no point in faking shots using elaborate editing.
Stay Hi-Res
 Jpgs must be at least 1mg to be usable, so do not shoot on any other
setting.
 If the native resolution is too high, you may have to resize it downwards
to send it. Picasa can help here too.
Group Photos
Group photo mistakes and problems include:
 one or more subjects always seem to be looking away or in different
directions (ie at different photographers)
 subjects blinking (there’s always one)
 someone being missing from the photo
 different moods in the group (some smiling, some serious, some playing
up to the camera etc)
 the group being too far away or not all fitting into the shot
Improve your chances
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Scout the location of your shot before hand
Think ahead about how you will pose people
Think about how to frame your shot
Find an unusual angle [often high angle works well, and gets lots in]
Look for hiding people in the group
Get them there early
Make sure the camera is charged and on
Location
 The place that you have your group stand can give the photo context
for example a shot of a sporting team on their playing field means more
than a shot of them in front of a brick wall.
 The other reason that choosing locations carefully is important is that it
can have distractions in it.
 Choose a position where your group will fit, where there is enough light
for the shot and where there are no distractions in the background.
Take Multiple Shots
 One of the best ways to avoid the problems of not everyone looking just
right in a shot is to take multiple photos quickly.
 Shoot some frames off before everyone is ready – sometimes the
organization of a group shot can be quite comical with people tell each
other where to go and jostling for position.
Get in Close
 Try to get as close as you can to the group you’re photographing
(without cutting some members of it out of course). The closer you can
get the more detail you’ll have in their faces – something that really lifts
a shot a lot.
 If your group is a smaller one get right in close to them and take some
head and shoulder shots.
o One effective technique for this is to get your small group to all
lean their heads in close to enable you to get in even closer.
o Another way to get in closer is to move people out of a one line
formation and stagger them but putting some people in front and
behind.
Pose the group
 In most cases your group will pose itself pretty naturally (we’ve all done
it before). Tall people will go to the back, short people to the front. But
there are other things you can do to add to the photo’s composition:
 If the event is centered around one or two people (like a wedding or a
birthday) make them the central focal point by putting them right in the
middle of the group
o You can add variation to your shots by taking some of everyone
looking at the camera and then everyone looking at the
person/couple.
o For formal group photos put taller members in the group not only
towards the back of the group but centered with shorter people
on the edges of the group.
o Tell everyone to raise their chins a little – they’ll thank you later
when they see the shot without any double chins!
Think about Light
 In order to get enough detail in your subjects you need to have sufficient
light. The way you get this varies from situation to situation but consider
using a flash if the group is small enough and you are close enough for it
to take effect – especially if the main source of light is coming from
behind the group.
 If it’s a bright sunny day and the sun is low in the sky try not to position
it directly behind you or you’ll end up with a collection of squinting faces
in your shot.
Take Control
 Don’t lose control – be quick, communicating well with your group.
 Keep talking - et them know what you want them to do, motivate them
to smile, tell them that they look great and communicate how much
longer you’ll need them for.
 Give them a reason to pose for the photograph. They are much more
willing to take a few minutes to pose for you.
 Another very useful line to use with group is – ‘If you can see the camera
it can see you’. This one is key if you want to be able to see each
person’s face in the shot.
 If there are more photographers than just you then wait until others
have finished their shots and then get the attention of the full group
otherwise you’ll have everyone looking in different directions.
For large groups
 Get up high – ladder, fire escape, bedroom window, church tower.
Use a Tripod
 A tripod makes you look and feel professional
 It gives you freedom to move around, pose people, and get back to the
right spot
Assistant
 If you have a very large group and assistant can be very handy to get the
group organized well.