Artists and professional photographers use the power of Instagram to showcase their work. And many of us take inspiration from their accounts to take and post our own photos.
We usually only have our phone camera as a tool. But it’s not just about your equipment, photography has some basic rules that you can apply when taking your photos. Following them will help make your images just as good and, best of all, worth posting on your Instagram page.
Here are a few basics you should remember:
The Right Time for Photos
It’s no coincidence you find a lot of low sunlight or sunset shots. The late afternoon until dusk is when the light is perfect for taking photos. Early morning light is also nice, there’s a fresh glow that you get during the early hours, and they show in your image.
Shooting at midday, meanwhile, will benefit from blue skies and brilliant colors. Just be careful not to shoot against the light. Direct sunlight can be harsh and hard to control in photos, but great when shooting landscapes. Using flash can help control shadows and give better focus on the subject.
Use Lots of Natural Light
Speaking of the sun, natural light is your best friend when taking good photos. Even professionals prefer it over artificial lighting. You can take really nice photos, especially if you have a good phone camera.
When shooting indoors, do it near a window with enough natural light. And avoid using flash, that will ruin the effects of the light and give your photo a flat and washed-out look.
The only time this might not work is when you’re doing product shoot for a brochure or an online store. In this case, you need to zoom in on every curve and feature of the product, which natural lighting may not provide. You’ll need to hire an e-commerce product photo-editing service for this.
Better Under than Overexposed
The problem with phone cameras is it has the tendency to produce over-exposed images. Underexposure is easy to fix with minimal editing, but overexposure is mostly not salvageable.
You can control this by adjusting the light on your screen. Simply tap the overly bright area of your frame to reduce the light. You can do it several times at different points of the frame until you get the right balance of light and then take your shot.
Frame Your Shot from Your Viewpoint
Pros and hobbyists can easily identify a good shot, they trust their viewpoint. When you see a nice view, or when arranging your food or curating objects, trust your eyes on how you can frame your subject. Then point your camera with that view in mind. That’s called framing.
Sure, it’s easy to just crop your image afterward, but it will save you a lot of time if you can frame your shots right the first time. It’s also good practice if you want to improve as a photographer.
The Rule of Thirds Composition
This is related to framing. Good composition is another key to memorable photographs. Composition is how all elements, subject, colors, textures, and others make up your image.
Here, the golden rule is the Rule of Thirds. To best follow this, use the grid on your camera phone (iPhones have this). The squares divide the image into a 3×3 grid, horizontally and vertically, creating nine equal parts. This will align the subject and create balance with the other elements in your perfect frame.
These tips apply if you like taking photos of scenery and objects. There are different rules for taking selfies. Use these tips next time you take your IG-worthy posts.