For the last few weeks, the Facebook group has been getting a lot of spam. It’s the same website every time so I listed the domain as spam so Facebook could block it. But it only blocked about one in ten so I have to take drastic action.
I’m changing the group from public to private. If you are already a member of the group nothing will happen, but new members will have to apply to join so I can vet them before allowing them in.
It will also stop non-members from seeing who is a member and from seeing the posts. This must be a really big deal because Facebook said it will take 3-days to change it over. I guess they want all the groups to be public, ah well.
Anyway, let's get on with this week’s episode, which is …
Common Mistakes 5
The difference between a good photo and a great photo is what you don’t see.
You must leave out distracting rocks, fences, trees, people, in fact, anything that takes the viewer's attention away from the rest of the photo.
They are easy to spot. Take a look at some of your own photos and think about what it is in the image you are looking at. The chances are that it is distracting you.
So when you are taking a photo think about this. Is there something that is distracting, if there is recompose the photo.
When you look at a great portrait I can guarantee that there isn’t a piece of fluff on the person's shoulder or a hair out of place.
Great images are great because the photographer made sure there were no distractions before taking the photo.
At some point, we have all been guilty of this. We go out and take a bunch of photos of our children, or our dog. Then we post it on social media and ask for feedback.
Now there is nothing wrong with that, but if you want to improve and start your side hustle you need to shoot for someone else.
Taking photos that someone else is going to judge is a major step in starting a business.
Your whole approach changes. You worry about everything and that is the way you need to think as a professional.
So offer to photograph a friend’s children or pet for free. Even though they won’t be paying you the pressure is there.
You’ll be amazed how your photography improves when there is a little judgment involved.
I hear this constantly online, “Wow I could never take a photo like that”.
Looking at other photographers' portfolios can lead to negative thoughts about your own work.
You have to remember that a portfolio is the best work that a photographer has produced. They don’t show the below-average photos or the complete screw-ups, just the very best.
If it’s a strong portfolio, they have probably been shooting for many years and have made lots of mistakes to get to this point.
You need to make a mistake so it becomes a lesson. If you are just starting out you need to make as many mistakes as possible. The faster you make them, the faster you’ll learn and your photos will improve because of it.
As far as your equipment goes you need to shoot in manual mode. You have full control of all the settings and the camera does what you want it to do.
Using Auto or Program mode lets the camera make all the decisions. It’s hard to be creative when you aren’t in control, you’re just pointing the camera and pushing a button.
To use Aperture Priority you need to understand how a camera works, so why not use Manual Mode?
Another way photographers don’t take full control is with customers or subjects.
When you are taking photos and you see something wrong, stop, and correct it. It might be a lady's hair out of place or someone not looking at the camera. You are in control of the session so say something and your results will improve.
Someone told me they would learn how to shoot in manual mode once they had a portfolio. I explained to them that the portfolio would be way more impressive if they set the camera manually.
You need to embrace learning everything you can about photography and how to set up your camera.
Using Manual mode isn’t difficult if I can do it anyone can.
For the quality of your photos, you need to be your worst critic. I don’t mean beat yourself down and develop imposter syndrome. Just look at every image and critique it. Are there any distractions, was that the best angle to take that shot, or is the photo sharp enough?
Quality control takes place before the customer sees the photos.
When you’re starting out you need to learn the rules of composition. When you’ve been taking photos for a few years you can start experimenting. But as a new photographer, it will help you to use some of these rules.
There is the …
Rule of Thirds - which I mention quite a lot.
The Golden Ratio - I’ve never really got my head around this one.
Leading Lines - these are lines that draw you into the image, like a fence line, a road, or a river.
A Frame within a Frame - Like a photo through a window frame.
Separating the Subject - Separating your subject from the background using a shallow depth of field and contrast.
Fill the Frame - Fill the frame with your subject, and avoid empty space.
Symmetry - Perfectly symmetrical photos are a thing of beauty.
Center Eye Dominant - Placing the eye you focused on in the center of the frame.
Now you don’t need to try and apply all these rules to every photo you take, in fact, you couldn’t because they are all different. The trick is to learn them and apply one to each photo you take. Before long you will do it automatically.
I guarantee your photos will improve quickly using these rules.
This is something I see every day. I can’t tell you how many photos I see where if the photographer had taken just one step to the side the photo would have been great. But they took the photo with a bad background. That one step would have changed the angle and the background would have been perfect.
Before you start a session take a walk around and look what will be in the background.
If you are relying on presets to make your photos interesting you need to stop and look for something interesting to shoot.
When I was shooting weddings I would add sepia and b&w versions of group shots. Why? Because they were boring. The portraits of the bride and groom got a full edit, and never a preset.
The things you can do in Lightroom make it so you really don’t need to use presets, although Lightroom comes with a pile of presets.
All I ask is if you feel you have to use them, use them responsibly.
Ok, that was Common Mistakes 5.
Next weekend I’ll be releasing my Photoshop for Photographers course, it’s been a long time coming.
The course covers …
How to set up and use PS
How to edit a RAW file
How to edit a JPEG file like a RAW file
Layered Photoshop PSD files and all the other types of files you will use.
Adding Text to images
Filters & Actions
Sizing photos for web use
Sizing photos for printing
Removing Objects & Backgrounds
Focus Stacking
Panoramic Images
DeNoise AI (Noise reduction)
Layer Masks
Creating a Logo
Creating Magazine Covers & Posters
And last but definitely not least the new
Generative Fill AI - PS Beta soon to be released
More on that next week.
If you need help with anything you can find me in the Facebook group or on Messenger.
Right, that’s it for this episode, I’ll talk to you next week, bye.