The Top 10 Questions I Always Get Asked As A Photographer

And my answers to each one

Jack Cohen
Sep 5, 2018 · 4 min read
“black box surround by three cameras” by Luca Bravo on Unsplash

1. How do I make myself look better in photos?

Turn your body slightly so that you’re not facing the camera directly.

Use the A4 filter in VSCO.

Use flash from ≥ 10 feet indoors at night.

Those are a few tips!

2. What camera should I get?

For point-and-shoot: The Sony RX VI.

For a budget DSLR: The Nikon D3400.

For a bells-and-whistles DSLR: The Nikon D850. (What I use.)

For aerial shots: The Mavic 2 Pro.

3. Why don’t my phone photos look good?

The most common problem I see in phone photos is no depth. Try to get some objects in your foreground–like leaves or other people–then focus on the background and the photo will feel much more dynamic vs. flat.

4. What’s the best time of day to take photos?

Golden hour, which falls an hour after sunrise and an hour before sunset. You can also shoot during blue hour which is an hour before sunrise and an hour after sunrise.

5. What kind of lens should I get?

Always buy prime lenses (not zoom). The quality of glass is much better. I’d start with a 50mm lens with an aperture as close to 1.4 or 1.8 as you can get.

6. How do I get the blurred background in my photos?

This is related to how deep or shallow your depth of field is and that’s determined by your f-stop (the number you normally see after an “f/”). A higher number, e.g. f/22, means a narrow aperture & wide depth of field (and no blur). Whereas a low number means a wide aperture & short depth of field.

tl;dr: To get the blurred background, you want a wide aperture = a low f-stop number.

7. Who do you follow for inspiration?

My main inspiration these days has come from Joe Greer (ioegreer on IG), Dan Tom (dantom on IG), and Forrest Mankins (forrestmankins on IG).

ioegreer (left), dantom (center), forrestmankins (right)

8. What are your top Instagram tips?

Crop to 4:5 (tall) to use up all the screen space you can. Add extra sharpness on VSCO and the native Instagram app. You can read more of my Insta tips here. 👇🏼

9. Where’s the coolest place you’ve shot?

Iceland, for sure. Not even close. If you go and you can, take a helicopter ride.

10. What’s the best piece of photo equipment you have?

A good tripod unlocks a world of possibilities. Get this one if you want a small one that’s stable but fits in your bag. Oh, and it’s only $20.

Have another question? Ask me on Twitter @JackCohenPhoto.

Jack Cohen

Written by

Working at FirstMark | Side hustle at www.jackcohen.com | Insatiably curious. 🌱 I (used to) write here daily. 👋🏽

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