Did you know that the difference between the two photographs below is only a tiny bit of knowledge? After all these photographs were taken on the same camera.
It's inevitable, children, human or otherwise grow up so fast. Life moves on quickly and today I no longer have a puppy called Bailey - but I do have his puppy pictures to bring all those memories flooding back. Bailey the puppy will never be lost to me, and I'm so grateful that we live in an age where amazing memories can be created at the click of a button.
A Cherished Photograph
A Shap-shot (taken on the same camera on the same day as the photograph to the left
What if the photographs above were of your child while they are growing up, or of that dream holiday you've saved up for for years? Photographs are all you have left of those treasured experiences after the event. They enable you to re-live those precious moments with a clarity which might otherwise fade.
When you are re-living those cherished moments you do not want to be tainted by thoughts like "I wish I could have got a good photograph of that - it was so much better than that in real life" - that's a disappointment you don't want to flow out at those moments.
Someone who knows what they are doing can take a better photograph with a mobile/cell 'phone than someone else with an expensive DSLR.
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All it takes is that little bit of knowledge. That's right - the road to an amazing holiday or family album, is just a little knowledge - and then you have something that you'll cherish forever, and may even become a talking point on your wall. It doesn't take much.
Here are 5 tips to help you start that transformation from snapshot's you never want to look at, to treasured memories:
- If you are taking a picture of a child, consider taking it from their height, rather than your eye view - let the picture enter the child's world.
- Try to choose a background which isn't too cluttered. A cluttered background will take people's eyes away from what you want them to focus on.
- If you are photographing a landscape are there any interesting features which may lead the eye into the picture?
- Imagine a grid like this above superimposed on your view finder. Place objects of interest along the thirds - especially at the intersections of the thirds - see where the bird's eye is placed - almost on the intersection - the bird itself being lined up on the left third. He's looking into the photograph.
- Never place a horizon in the center of a photograph - always use the thirds grid (above) to place it on one of the horizontal thirds lines.
So why not go out an experiment with these tips - none of which require a fancy camera! Above all remember to enjoy yourself - that's what photography is for after all.