1. Use a prime lensThis is probably a very common suggestion, and I have to agree. Using a prime lens will force you to move your position when you are shooting. Ansel Adams has once said, "A good photograph is knowing where to stand." I cannot agree more. You can actually do the same with a zoom. Next time when you are shooting, set your zoom to a particular focal length, say 50mm. If you need to zoom in, withhold your instinct to turn the zoom ring; move your self closer instead. I do this all the time.
2. Watch more moviesAnd when you do, pay more attention to the cinematography. I know this can be hard when you first watch a movie; especially when it is Megan Fox trying to fix a car engine under the hood, but if you find the camera angles in a movie intriguing, try watching it again. This time focus less on the plot but more on how the camera angle is chosen to tell the story. How does it complement the action, and how will you do it if you are in charge? Think about it and then watch it again.
3. Read moreI am sure many of you read magazines, websites or books about photography. But try to go beyond that. Our eyes are deceiving – we only see what we want to see, and in turn, we only shoot in a way we are most comfortable with. We all have a lot of visual templates in our brain when we shoot and there is no way we can get around that. What we can do, however, is to increase the number of templates in that library. Reading is one way to do that.
4. Explore
Unless you are shooting something that requires immediate action, resist the temptation to shoot until you have explored the environment.Watch how the light comes into the scene and how it is reflected. Pay attention to the surroundings and think how you can use ordinary objects to complement your subject. Notice how the colors work – or do not work – with your subject matter.
5. Shoot in Black and White
Discarding colors form your image will help your mind better focused on the tone, lines and shades of an image, and these are ultimately what compose an image. It may take a while to get used to seeing the world in black and white, but Live-view in some DSLRs may help. Nonetheless it is a useful skill to train yourself in.
There is one drawback, however, and it is that colors are actually part of the composition. But shooting in black and white let you concentrate on the other aspects first. Divide and conquer.
Unless you are shooting something that requires immediate action, resist the temptation to shoot until you have explored the environment.Watch how the light comes into the scene and how it is reflected. Pay attention to the surroundings and think how you can use ordinary objects to complement your subject. Notice how the colors work – or do not work – with your subject matter.
5. Shoot in Black and White
Discarding colors form your image will help your mind better focused on the tone, lines and shades of an image, and these are ultimately what compose an image. It may take a while to get used to seeing the world in black and white, but Live-view in some DSLRs may help. Nonetheless it is a useful skill to train yourself in.
There is one drawback, however, and it is that colors are actually part of the composition. But shooting in black and white let you concentrate on the other aspects first. Divide and conquer.
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