Take your camera everywhere. When you have a camera with you, you will start to see the world differently; you will look for and find opportunities to take great photographs. Because of this, you will end taking more photographs; and the more you take, the better a photographer you will become. Furthermore, if you’re taking photographs of your friends and family, they will get used to you having your camera with you all the time. Thus, they will feel less awkward or intimidated when you get your camera out; this will lead to more natural-looking, less “posed” photographs. Also remember to have spare batteries with you or if using a phone have it charged.
Get outside. The best time to take photographs in natural light is in the morning and evening. They call these times the “magic hours”. Once you start taking photographs during this time you will never take a photo again at 12:00 noon.
Put the sun at your back. This is a general rule, that can certainly be broken, but until you know how to shoot into the sun your photographs will be much better if you are between the subject and the sun. Vary the angle to the sun,especially for people, and you will be amazed at the results. Remember experiment and try different angles. This is digital.
Be vicious with what you save. If you’re going to be taking a lot of photographs your computer can fill up very fast with images. Take the time now to keep only the very best. You will be so thankful for the time spent now rather then having to plow through hundreds of images in the future. Next lession we will talk about organizing you photos. Boring, maybe, but absolutely necessary to keep from being really bored in the future.
