Name: Photography Tutorial - 5 tips for BETTER PHOTOS
Uploaded: 2025-08-06T18:43:39.000Z
Duration: 4 min 30 s
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I don't believe that learning rules is the best way to learn photography.

Adverbs of degree

That said, there are some guidelines that are almost always true.

Keeping your images simple and eliminating anything unnecessary is almost always true.

Ensuring good focus in the eyes of a portrait is almost always true.

But for the most part, the better way to learn photography is to develop an understanding of what makes a good photo work.

That said, if you're still new to photography, there are some simple things you can remember that will usually lead to stronger images.

These ideas are not a substitute for deeper photographic knowledge, but if, say, your manager at work has asked you to shoot a photo for a report, or you've become the de facto photographer for some volunteer organization, these tips should help you produce stronger work.

As I already mentioned, less is almost always more in a photo, and forcing yourself to think about cropping tighter will almost always lead to images with less extraneous clutter.

In a portrait, cropping tighter will create a more personal image and one that might have kind of a little more attitude about it.

For sure, a tighter portrait will look far less like a typical headshot.

Number two, shoot portraits in shade, not direct sunlight.

Bright light casts dark shadows, and on a face, dark shadows can result in heavy bags under people's eyes, more obvious wrinkles, and hard shadows under chins and next to noses.

The simple act of stepping from bright light into a shady area will almost always immediately improve the quality of your portrait shots.

Be aware, though, that the auto white balance mechanisms on most cameras won't do a great job with shade, so change the white balance setting on your camera from auto to shade or cloudy.

When you do, be certain to switch it back to auto when you're done, or the next thing you shoot outside of shade will look lousy.

When you're shooting portraits, a window can be a huge game changer.

A window on the north side of a building on a sunny day will produce a lovely, soft, even light.

Set your subject next to that window and you'll have a wonderful portrait light.

Try shooting profiles and three-quarter angles to see what all you can do with that light.

If you've got a window that's getting direct sunlight, play with putting your subject in front of it and trying some silhouettes.

When you want something different, a silhouette is an easy way to create a striking graphic image.

There's a lot you can do with windows, so pay attention to them.

Number four, effectively use a wide-angle lens.

Wide-angle lenses can produce extreme perspective with strong diagonal lines.

These images can be very eye-grabbing as long as you're careful.

With a wider field of view, you'll be more likely to get extra unwanted content, so pay attention to the whole frame and make certain there's nothing in it that you don't want.

Also, wide-angle lenses distort people's features, so for portraits, be careful that you're not making your subject look too weird.

As you move the camera around, you'll find your subject's proportions changing, so experiment with that until you find something flattering.

And finally, if your first wide-angle attempts go really well, then you're going to be tempted to shoot with that look more often.

And this is true for any type of lens or effect.

A good body of work is one that has variety.

Most of us shoot most of our images while we're standing up.

This means that most images in the world are shot from a vantage point that's like four to six feet off the ground.

Whether it's a portrait, a landscape, a product shot, an event shoot, or any other kind of photo, don't forget to experiment with other points of view.

Get up high, get down low, look behind you.

A good photographer moves constantly and shoots a lot of different images of any particular subject.

Often the best photo comes from the place that you least expect it to be, so it's critical to experiment and move.

Now I call this list five ways to look like a genius, and I chose that title mostly because it's eye-catching.

The fact is, as with any medium, true geniuses in photography are few and far between.

So this list isn't actually going to make you a genius, but remembering these things should help you get some images that stand out from the pack and that take you from the realm of casual shooter and deeper into the realm of photographer.

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Photography Tutorial - 5 tips for BETTER PHOTOS

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