The 2 E’s To Take A Beautiful Photograph

Your audience are people who, much like yourself, see what they choose to see. So, they might not necessarily see what you’re seeing, unless you show them. Let me tell you secret, ‘what’ you show them and ‘how’ you put it sparks a feeling. This is where the magic happens and this is what its all about.

Saad
Saad
Jul 27, 2017 · 5 min read

The ESSENTIALS of a Beautiful Photograph

Traditionally, there are two methods of taking a photograph. The first one’s where you take a lot of pictures and then use the process of elimination to figure out the best photograph from the captured pool. And then there’s one where you look at your elements, carefully observing them and imagining how it would look like after snapping the photograph and take one, two or a maximum of three perfectly timed shots. I believe the latter to be the best practice simply because I personally find it most efficient but really it comes down to personal preference.

Remember that you’re looking at THE WORLD through that lens. Every time you look through with the intent of taking a picture, you feel something. Its a photograph the brain shows you, telling you how beautiful its going to look after you snap it. Always go back and try to grasp that feeling because that feeling is what’ll help you pour life into the photograph.

What did your audience feel when they saw the photograph? Verify if that is what you felt before you took it. What emotion did the photograph spark in them and what was the first thing they noticed? Verify if that is what sparked you to take the photograph in the first place. Don’t be shy and ask for honest feed backs. The closer their feelings and emotions are to your’s, the faster you’re going to get a hang of it or should I say, the thrill of it. Having said that, the further their feelings and emotions are, its still absolutely nothing to worry about. Its just a small learning curve that you’ll soon overcome or sometimes its just a different perspective. To get a very quick understanding what the elements of a photography should be and how to portray them, play with them and spark specific emotions and feelings in your audience check out my article 10 Tips To Take A Beautiful Photograph.

The ELEMENTS of a Beautiful Photograph

The importance of understanding what the elements in your photograph, the manner in which they’re organized and most importantly what they’re conveying can’t be stressed enough.

There are three main elements of a photograph — the borders, the subject and the background. The borders are one of the most important elements of the photograph but are often underrated. When you are looking down that lens, you are capturing a part of the world into a photograph and believe me when I say it, your borders make a humongous difference. Typically, the subject of your picture is centralized but what you choose to put in the corners of your picture frame can really help bring out the magic. Let me be more clear — there’s no need to add more complex subjects, all you need to do is hold still, look and observe all the four corners of the shot before you snap it and think of ways as to how you can re-position yourself or maybe just change the camera angle, adding simple borders in the photograph that would make it more presentable. So, instead of just letting the pale blue sky take up the background as well as all four corners of your photograph, next time throw in a little something colorful or symmetrical there and see what it looks and feels like. For example, barks of two trees on both the horizontal ends of the picture could be used to create a sense of symmetry or some sort of a pattern. This could really make all the difference and make your photograph shine.

Coming to the second element, while activating a grid from your camera settings can help you better portray your subject in terms of its positioning in the frame, it is more of a traditional approach. Glancing at the latest trends, your imagination is your limit. So, I strongly suggest you use the grid only as a stepping stone and nothing more.

The final element your photograph’s background. Backgrounds are what secretly bring the joy or emotion in a photograph. This is because even though it is in the back, it usually covers a huge part of the photograph. Much like adding borders, you can re-positioning yourself, slide in a tree on the right or a statue on the left. Move around to see if there is anything interesting you can include in the background to make your photograph more appealing and more importantly convey the emotion that you want your audience to feel. Backgrounds can be tricky to understand or at times even frustrating.

If there’s absolutely nothing to work with, here’s a simple trick that’ll do the job — Take the photograph with the sky and if possible, some clouds as the only thing in the background. Now open an easy image editing software like the Adobe Lightroom and bump up the shadows of the photograph and watch the background shine! Choosing an interesting and an appealing background really comes down to your creativity.

The perfect mix of all the three elements in a photograph is what makes it beautiful in its own way and aligning them in the most artistic manner possible is truly an art. Don’t rush into taking a picture. Be patient, observant and take your time before you snap. And once you snap it, take some time to look at the photograph on your camera’s screen. Take a moment to think of what you feel looking at it and most importantly try to relate this feeling to the one you had before snapping it. Examine the extent to which the photograph you took satisfies that feeling. The more satisfying it is, the closer you are on making your audience feel the same.

Saad

Written by

Saad

Digital Marketer, Tech Enthusiast, Gamer and Photographer.

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