10 things that will make you take better photographs
1. Surf around the Web. Look at images at magazines, papers, on-line galleries and you’ll find a wealth of ideas. Try the Gallery at shotaddict.com. Want more - go to flickr.com and look through tones of creative shots. Another useful source is VFXY, it displays recent posts from various photo blogs.
2. Learn the ‘visual language’. Visit Art Museums, Galleries and Exhibitions that have photography shows. Learn art history from Antiquity to the Present and discover how highly creative people developed methods for expressing light and color.
3. Plan a trip to your local botanical garden. Plants are great for experimenting with light and tone. If you can’t find a botanical garden, go to a garden shop and snap away. There are some really beautiful flowers to take photos of.
4. Look at things through the eyes of creativity. Pick anything and shoot it just to see what it looks like: things around your house, in the refrigerator, etc. The subject doesn’t really matter all that much, what matters is how you shoot it. Shoot, shoot and still shoot even more. Digital is cheap.
5. Composition is king. Take time to consider the layout of your image. Imagine the photo in your head. Try and discover new angles and lighting- see things like you’ve never even thought of seeing before.
6. Watch movies. Movies can be extremely innovative in experimenting with lighting and concepts. So learn from them. After all, movies are just lots of photographs shown in quick succession.
7. Shoot boring things. Take a look around you in a whole new way. Make an effort to shoot things that you would never consider shooting. A bottle. A phone. A lamp. Anything, just shoot it in lots of different ways and see what comes out.
8. Explore the web. The internet is an amazing resource for visual inspiration. Type anything you can think of into the search engine and see what comes up. The internet gives you access to lots of amateur photographer’s work, among them some hidden gems, which will surprise you.
9. Join a photo community and interest groups. It is cheap, informative, and fun. You can post your photos, participate in critique and discussions at forums. Some very good and interesting stuff to be found there!
10. Take a photo a day and see your life in a whole new way. Remember that a camera that you don’t have with you is a camera that’s not going to take any pictures. So try to have your camera on you as often as possible.
