Move your camera to take better pictures
Photography ·
“You don’t take a photograph, you make it.” - Ansel Adams
We are often taught on what makes a good photograph but rarely taught on how to make a good photograph. Photograhy ultimately is an art form and there are no strict rules per se on how to get better. Just like how an artist uses his brush to paint his artwork, a photographer uses his camera to ‘take’ good photos.
It’s often easy to see what makes a good photo once you see it. However the hard part comes to spotting it in the first place. There are many tutorials and lessons that teaches us what makes a good photo, rule of thirds, leading lines, interesting subject, etc… But rarely do we see how to make good photos.
One of the simplest ways to get better at photography is to simply ‘move your camera’. As dumb as it might seem, moving the camera is like an artist learning how to use a paint brush. Just like how a novice artist primarily learns with one type of art tool(i.e. Brush), a newbie photographer should stick to a prime lens(a lens that cannot zoom). This teaches the photographer on how to use the tool effectively without overwhelming the photographer with too many options. Moving the camera enables the photographer to move their subjects, make them bigger or smaller, as well as changing horizontal lines to diagonal lines, etc… These come intuitively as you practice more with a single focal length.
Below are some examples of how moving the camera can enable us to take a better photo.
1
This is a boring subject and lack visual interest.
2
More interesting but still abit messy. The subjects: umbrella, swing and bridge are not clearly separated and it is not clear what to look at. Note that no amount of ‘zooming’ from this position can turn this image into a good photo.
3
Trying to place the word ‘Gwangalli’ right between the bridges. Clear subject but the beach, the umbrellas and the bridge are competing with each other and also overlap each other in distracting ways.
4
A much simpler picture but still needs work as umbrella and the bridge are not well placed.
5
Finally a nice subject happens to stand in the middle. Placing the camera a bit lower such that the umbrellas are above the bridge creates an interesting perspective.
6
Kind of interesting sea view, with gloomy clouds. However it’s not clear what the eye should look at.
7
Adding some foreground interest, though too much of the sea is seen. However using diagonals of the railings seem to add to the picture. Also on the right side the building is slightly cut off by the wall from the cruise.
8
Moving the camera lower to see less of the sea and more of the clouds creates a nice balance. Perfectly aligning the wall of the cruise to the buildings in the background creates a clean image.
Some other examples
Using ralings as diagonal leading lines by placing the camera at just the right angle and perspective.
Similar idea using railings once again as leading lines.
The camera was elevated to ensure that human subjects were positioned fully in the sea. Adjusted position until the pair of islands was perfectly aligned between the pair of people.
Placing the two dragons to right beside each other by moving the camera to the right angle.
Placing the statue right infront of the picture in the background gives a sense of depth and persepective. Note one must move to just the right angle to place the background picture in the frame.
Conclusion
Moving the camera is an essential skill of the photographer and subtle movements of the camera can make or break an image. Believe it or not all the images above are shot with a 35mm (full frame equivalent) lens. While there are strictly no hard rules to get better at photography I strongly believe that 35mm forces the photographer to train in the fundamentals. This is because 35mm is very flat perspective, there is no wide angle view or telephoto compression or ‘bokeh’ to assist the photographer. This forces the photographer to really ‘grind’ the fundamentals by moving the camera or one will generate really boring, flat images.