Summer’s here and that means shooting season for many people.
But how are you ever going to get good pictures if you don’t have exotic vacation plans to shoot the Great Wall of China or the Slot Canyons of Arizona or Iceland’s stunning waterfalls?!
In this month’s Exposed! photo newsletter we offer tips and ideas to shoot magnificence closer to home.
… Captured 10 metres from home with an iPhone!
It’s true – many people leave their camera’s packed away until they go somewhere special! But there’s always something special to capture if you train yourself to see it.
Your Homework!
Wherever you go this summer try some of these assignments to spice up your shooting:
• Beauty Exists in the Mundane.
Go outside and photograph something within 10 metres of your door.
Yes, there’s beauty under your feet and in front of your nose! It may take some crawling and micro-exploring but there is beauty there for those that look!
• Less is More!
Often people take way too many photos (that are not very good.) Limit yourself to only three photos on a day’s photo adventure.
ONLY THREE! And make them count. It’s amazing how your success rate skyrockets if you spend 30-60 minutes with the intent of creating just ONE beautiful photo.
• Same Scene Variations
Shoot the same thing from the same place with the same camera/lens 20 times on different days, in different weather at different times of the day. Phew. And fun!
Same scene variations
• Access
Get a press pass to shoot local events in your community. Organizers of small events love to get exposure and will often give privileged access to someone they know will promote their event through photos. The pass can get you closer to the action… better photos.
• Storytelling
Tell a story about your neigbourhood – take the summer to document your local creek, soccer team or garden throughout the summer – make a slide show or book at the end. Ahem, storytelling is this month’s challenge on our Online Photo Program.
Storytelling – Watershed Art Exhibition
Photo Tips
And when you are shooting close to home remember these photo tips:
1. Make something pop out as the main subject.
2. Get CLOSER!!! (This will help with point 1, above)
3. Keep the main focal point out of the middle of the picture!
For more photo tips, like our Facebook Photo Page. It’s dedicated to photo tips, photo news and photo links. We have a new site that will be hosting the tips – it’s in beta test mode: PrimePhotoTips.com.
CLOSER!!!
Pro Perspective
When shooting stock for a global audience I always remember what is normal (boring!?) for me can be amazing to someone from the other side of the world. Years ago I was traveling with Australians in Berlin in January and they all started running excitedly. I followed looking for the excitement…
Ice… I rolled my eyes – ‘boring!’ But they’d never seen a frozen pond.
It made me realize what a wondrous thing ice is. That makes me excited about shooting ‘boring’ subjects.
Anything can be made to look amazing if you have the vision, creativity and time to work it.
Final Frame
Summer’s here!
Take photos.
Have fun!