3 Tricks for Taking a Great Photo

I’ve spent just about my whole life being into photography. I like all kinds, but mostly I’m interested in portraiture. Along the way I’ve learned a lot about what makes a good photo and I thought I’d share some tips for getting a great shot (with people in it—I have no tips for nature photos :) ). These tips work with any camera, even your phone!

Lighting

The lighting makes the photos. Hands down. You can be posed perfectly, cute as can be, and if the lighting is bad, the picture is bad. I mean maybe not if you’re really all about just capturing the moment and it’s something sweet like your baby popping a bubble, but if you’re looking for a good photo, the first thing you need to do is find good lighting. The ideal time to shoot is golden hour—the last 2 hours before the sun sets (or the first 2 after the sun rises, but as I’m not a morning person, I never use that golden hour, personally). During golden hour, the sun is lower on the horizon and the light softer and just makes everyone look better. No harsh shadows, no squinting eyes, just beautiful skin tones and bright photos. Obviously we can’t always shoot at golden hour though, so when you can’t, look for open shade. Open shade is where there is shade, but you/your subject can look up and see the sky. So not underneath an awning, but maybe just out from under it where there is still shade, but you can look up to the sky. This will place you in even light head to toe which is ideal, no splotchy sun spots or shadows. When you really can’t avoid the sun, wear sunglasses so at least you won’t have shadows around your eyes.

Framing

Everyone wants the perfect shot in the most beautiful location, but I’ve actually found that sometimes my favorite photos are not in dreamy locations at all, but rather in parking lots or the side of the road, but there is just something cool about a small piece of the location (and great light) and in the end, the part that’s in the frame is all that matters to get the shot, so the whole area doesn’t have to be majestic to get an amazing looking photo.

Here’s a photo I took of Brendan when we were in Santa Barbara. Great bougainvillea right? Scroll down to see what it was next to!

Posing

I’ll break this part down into three key parts. Once you read this you’re never going to look at my photos the same way again and you’ll start to see I’m always following these ideas.

What to do with your hands.
1. So you’re in the outfit, you found a great location, you’re about to take the photo and all of a sudden you’re like, “wait what do I do with my hands?”. Sound familiar? It’s how I feel, um, maybe 90% of the time? I’ve spent a long time studying photography and posing, both from the perspective of the photographer and from being in front of the camera and the hands always feel like the hardest part! My basic rule of thumb is give your hands something to do—at least one of them. Here are a couple of my go-to’s:
  1. Touch your hair – push your hair behind your ear, run your hands through it or just touch the ends.
  2. Put a hand on something you’re wearing – maybe it’s your purse strap, the collar of your jacket, lightly touch the fabric of your dress.
  3. Hold something – your purse, a drink, sunglasses…
  4. Put your hand in your pocket.
  5. Reach for something.
  6. Hold your own fingertips – I’m sure this one sounds weird, but I started noticing other people doing this and if done correctly, it doesn’t look strange at all. I hold the tip of one thumb between the other thumb and pointer finger of the other hand and then gently rest the other pointer finger on top.
  7. If you’re taking the photo with someone, touch them—hold their arm, or hand etc.
Easier than what to do with your hands is what to do with your head. Smile, obviously, and rotate between looking at the camera, just away from the camera slightly, to the side and looking down in front of you.
Move around a little.
1. To keep from looking too stiff, move a little! I’m not saying pace around, but shift the weight from one foot to the other, move your feet a bit, sway side to side. It’ll give you something to focus on and keep you looking a little more natural.