Welcome to Easy Photo Tips

Welcome to Easy Photo Tips. All tips are quick to read, easy to follow and can be used to improve your photography immediately.

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Photo Tip 1 - Shoot During the 'Golden Hours'

As a general rule, you'll always get more beautiful photos during the 'golden hours', that is the time just after sunrise, and just before sunset. At these times, the light is less harsh, longer shadows give your subjects a more 3D feel and the light is sometimes a warmer colour.

The photos below were taken only an hour apart, one at about 4pm and the other at about 5pm (40 minutes before sunset).  The photo on the left, shot at 4pm is quite dull with flat colours. The photo taken at 5pm, during the 'golden hour' before sunset, has much better colour saturation and is a more interesting image.

Try taking photos of the same subject at different times of the day to see when you get your best images.

Point Cartwright, Sunshine Coast Australia at 4pm and 5pm

Photo Tip 2 - Keep Your Horizon Straight

A sloping horizon can spoil an otherwise beautiful photo. You can always correct the horizon using your photo editing software (eg Photoshop), but you'll have to crop some of your image in order to fix the problem.

It's better to make sure you get it right when you're taking the image.  An easy way of doing this is to make sure your horizon is parallel to the border of your camera's viewfinder or LCD screen.

Noosa Coastal Track - check that your horizon is straight.

Photo Tip 3 - Freeze the Action

If you want your subject to be frozen in action, rather than blurred, you can easily change your camera's settings to achieve this. 

Automatic Setting

Use the 'action' or 'sports' setting on your camera. This might be on a dial on the camera, or you may have to choose it from one the the menus. The symbol for this setting will often look like a person running. An action or sports option will change the settings in your camera so it can capture fast action without blurring. You'll achieve best results when there is plenty of light.

Sports Setting on Camera Dial

Manual Settings

If you have a camera which will allow you to change your shutter speed settings, select a fast shutter speed to freeze the action. You could try starting at 1/800th of a second, but depending on how fast your subject is moving, a speed of 1/500th might be enough, or you may need to go up to 1/2000th of a second or faster to stop blurring. The photo of the aerobatic plane below was taken using a shutter speed of 1/1600th of a second. Again, you'll get better results if there is plenty of light.

Redcliffe Kite Festival aerobatics display May 2011
f5.6  1/1600th

Photo Tip 4 - Use Flash During the Day

We usually think of turning our camera's flash on when it's dark, but using your flash during the day can vastly improve your photos.

Have you ever taken a photo of people on a bright sunny day and found everything looked great in the picture except for your subjects' faces which were very dark?  The trouble is, if you chose the correct exposure for your subjects' faces, the rest of the photo would be too light.

The easy solution is to turn your camera's flash on. This is sometimes called using 'fill-in flash' or 'forcing the flash'. The symbol for this setting on a camera often looks like a little bolt of lightning.

The photo on the left has no flash and the faces are too dark. The photo on the right has been taken using the fill-in or flash-on setting so the faces aren't in shadow.

Use fill-in flash during the day

Photo Tip 5 - Put Your Subject Off Centre

It's very easy to snap a photo and put the subject right in the centre. However, you can often get a more pleasing photo if you put the main subject off-centre.

Rule of Thirds

Artists often use the rule of thirds to help them with the arrangement of elements in a painting, and you can use this same rule for your photos.

Divide the image with two vertical and two horizontal lines so there are nine sections. Try putting your subject at an intersection of the lines. Be sure that your camera focuses on the subject, rather than the background.

You could also choose more radical framing and put your subject right at the edge of the photo.

However, don't feel that you should always have your subject off-centre, because sometimes the best place IS right in the middle.

Ferris Wheel