The easiest way to get better pictures and move away from the "snapshot" look, is to take time to compose your shot well. It's easy to hold up your camera and snap away, but those quick shots without much thought behind them usually won't capture the story or emotion quite as effectively.
Four concepts to consider to improve your compositions are:
- Fill the Frame
- Try a new Angle
- Apply the Rule of Thirds
- Be Aware of the Background
Fill the Frame
Most people have a difficult time getting really close to their subject or remembering to zoom in on what they really want to highlight in their picture. Many pictures of people include much of their surroundings that is not important in a picture. Get closer to your subject or zoom in to make sure the subject of the photograph fills the frame of your picture.
In these pictures, the field of grass is not important in the picture and by filling the frame with the subjects, a more dramatic portrait is created.
Particularly, in full-body shots like this one below, by making the family fill the frame, more attention is drawn to the family and the interaction they are sharing.
And even when you think you're close enough and filling the frame, get even closer to show even more detail. Don't be worried about "cutting off" part of the subject.
One note about filling the frame... It is always better to fill the frame with the subject while you are taking the picture rather than cropping the picture later using computer software to make the subject fill the frame. By cropping a picture afterwards, you are removing lots of pixel information and detail from the picture. For the clearest, most crisp pictures, avoid major cropping of a picture on your computer. Just compose your shot the right way when you snap that shutter!
**A note on zooming: Most point-and-shoot digital cameras have two kinds of zoom, an optical zoom and a digital zoom. When zooming in on a point-and-shoot camera, there will usually be a bar on the LCD screen that is divided into two parts, this tells you at what point your camera is moving from an optical zoom (a zoom created by the lens), into the digital zoom (a zoom created by digital components in your camera). When you cross into the digital zoom range, all you are doing is telling the camera to crop in the picture automatically for you, as if you were cropping a picture on your computer. Thus, taking a picture using digital zoom creates a loss of pixel information and a loss of resolution and detail just as cropping on your computer would. So take care to avoid zooming into the digital zoom range.
Try a New Angle
Most people, when taking pictures, tend to stand as they are and snap their camera. One of the easiest ways to create more interesting photographs is to move your own body! Get into a new position to take the picture from a better angle.
In these pictures below, my daughter had just fallen asleep in the middle of the floor. The first picture was the one I took quickly to make sure I captured this unique event. But then for the second picture, I laid completely flat on my stomach with the camera sitting directly on the floor. The second picture shows that she's actually sucking on her fingers and gets a better view of her sleepy little face. Notice that the second picture also fills the frame.
It's always fun to take pictures of flowers, but why not try a new angle to get a more unique photograph? For this picture I laid on my back on the grass in my front yard and aimed my camera towards the sky.
For a photography challenge a couple years ago, we were asked to photograph one object seven different ways. Here's how I came up with seven unique compositions for just one single object. This is a fun challenge if you're struggling to get creative with new angles.
Rule of Thirds
The rule of thirds says that if you divide your image into thirds, both horizontally and vertically, the focus of your image should be at one of the four intersections where the lines meet.
In this picture, the eye is near the upper right intersection of thirds.
In this image, the boy is on the right side of the frame which is more visually appealing than if he were centered in the middle. His eyes are also close to the upper third vertical line which is more appealing than if his eyes were centered vertically.
In these pictures below, the first is taken such that the child's face is centered in the frame. You can see that the second picture follows the rule of thirds and is much more appealing.
The rule of thirds is also helpful when photographing landscapes. The horizon where the land meets the sky should either be at the top third vertical line or the bottom third vertical line depending on what the focus of the picture is--either the sky or the land. Placing the horizon centered vertically in the frame is much less visually appealing.
Be Aware of the Background
And finally, make sure to take notice of what is in the background of your photograph. We've all taken pictures we thought would be amazing, only to look at them later and realize there's someone or something terribly silly or ugly in the background. It's not hard to adjust your position slightly before snapping the picture to avoid unsightly elements in the background of your picture.
