You Call Yourself A Photographer?
We Think You’re Hashtag Wrong
It seems as though everyone these days is a photographer. From food to sunsets to selfies, with the right angle, enough filtering, and some sly cropping, any average photo can now look like a unique work of art. But along with the ease of being an iPhone photog comes the pressure to stand out from the growing crowd. If you can do it so easily, so can probably everyone else. There’s so much more to creating that perfect image than Instagram and iPhones allow. Los Angeles is a city where photography is part of everyday life- and with that, there are many opportunities to better your game. We’ve touched on a few ideas below.
Lighting and Posing
When you think of lighting and posing in our social media obsessed world, there’s a chance you might think of bathroom lights and contracting your abs. Yet you wouldn’t be wrong. The correct lighting combined with the appropriate pose can accentuate different parts that you may want to highlight. This is true across the board, from selfies to sets of professional photographers. In LA, headshots are quite common, and they’re not only for actors. Realtors, bartenders, and several other professions require professional pictures, especially in Los Angeles. You practically need a headshot in order to get an appointment to get headshots. And like all other photos, formal or informal, the appropriate lighting and pose are crucial to a professional shot. A lot of money can be spent on this important part of your portfolio- but with the right camera and just a few simple tips and tricks, a professional portrait can be taken at a fraction of the price. Lighting is one of the most important elements of a picture, and so learning the fundamentals of studio lighting, as well as familiarizing yourself with all of the equipment, will greatly increase the quality of your photos. Once you have the perfect lighting, you want to make sure your subject has a natural pose. Whether formal or informal, choosing the right pose is crucial to relay whatever message your photo is intending to send. A family portrait is much different from a fashion shoot, and so an appropriate pose is critical. Purposeful lighting technique plays a big part in posing, and key in sending the visual message you desire.
Capturing Seas and Sunsets
Let’s be real: any picture of the ocean is amazing because the ocean is amazing. Plain and simple. But pictures will never quite do the ocean justice. However, people can and will still try. So why not increase your odds of capturing this incredible mass with a few simple tweaks? Shooting outdoors, especially at the beach, has many factors which may effect your overall product. The tides, waves, or clouds, for instance, can severely affect the quality of your work. Understanding these conditions, as well as framing, reflections, and leading lines, will significantly increase the outcome of your shot. Your sunset pictures may never truly reflect the true beauty of the moment, but they’ll sure beat the other guy’s with his kelvin filter.
Photographic Composition
Have you ever taken the same picture as a friend, maybe of a palm tree on your Griffith Park hike, only yours looks like a tree on a hill and theirs looks like a beautiful lush palm frond on a majestic mountain? It’s okay. It’s not that big of a deal. You just probably won’t get many ‘likes’ on Facebook, and no one will want to go hiking with you again, since you choose not to hike magical mountainous regions with lush tropical plant life! All this can change, and your social media life can be saved with some modifications to your photography skills. Just a few compositional techniques can help make your photos more aesthetically pleasing, and are especially useful when shooting sights that have a lot of depth and dimension. So the next time you’re on a mountain, you can be the one with the impressive shot.
