Photography is fantastic as a career, a pastime, or simply as a way to capture those special occasions, events, and the lives of those that you love and hold dearest. Whatever your motivation, the following paragraphs will provide you with some pointers on how you can take much better photos, and get the kind of results you are looking for.
Try to incorporate shapes into your photography. Whether it's triangles, circles, squares or lines, these can add structure and dynamism to your work, and can help lead the eye around the frame of your image.
The "S" on your camera settings stands for shutter speed. Use faster shutter speeds to get razor-sharp looking pictures when taking moving things. Set the shutter speed to slower speeds when you're looking to get a more experimental effect that incorporates blur. This is a great characteristic to make use of when getting photos of fireworks or even tail lights on a car.
Try to understand and master all of the basic rules of composition before deciding to break them. Once you have mastered them, you will be able to more effectively know when to break them! There are many excellent books available on the subject of composition, and I recommend that you really devour them!
Keep your photos relatively simple. A good picture ought to be simple and easy to understand. Whilst it's important to take meaningful photos, in most cases your photos will express much more if you concentrate on simple subjects rather than attempting to pull together a composition that's too intricate.
If you can afford it by an external flash gun and use that rather than the one that comes with your camera. This is because the on camera flash can create very harsh and flat lighting. With an external flash you can bounce the light off a wall or ceiling and get a much more natural and flattering effect.
A great photography hint is to always be conscious of your environment. Even when you don't have a camera with you, you should still maintain your photographic 'vision' and keep an eye open for interesting subjects and shapes. Keep looking at the quality and nature of light in different situations too. This will enable you to really develop your photographic 'eye'.
It can be a great idea to play around with shadows in your pictures. In fact, sometimes the shadows cast by objects can be more visually interesting than the subject itself, especially when they are cast across an uneven surface or when the subject is side-lit.
If you really want to get creative, and have some fun in the process, try shooting with some black and white film. Film is still widely available and traditional black and white prints have a beautiful timeless quality to them.
It's important to remember that with a bit of practise and some determination you really can improve the quality of your work. You really don't have to be a professional to become a good photographer!
Matt Foden is a wedding photographer based in Croydon in London. He regularly covers weddings across the whole of the United Kingdom. You can see more of his work here:
http://www.mattfoden.co.uk/
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