Photofocus

Copyright Scott Bourne 2011 - All Rights Reserved

1. Learn to use your flash – Read the flash manual. Read the camera manual pages that talk about using flash. Practice making a photo of a person, place and a thing with the flash. Then get (or make) a 3′x3′ white bounce card and practice making those same images by pointing the flash at the bounce card and the bounce card at the subject. Note the difference.

2. Get small! Well not small in size – small in details. Make pictures of your usual favorite subjects but instead of your usual approach, drill down on to details. If you usually shoot pictures of horses, try just making some shots of their faces, or their eyes, or their tails or someone’s foot in the stirrup.

3. Practice photographing birds – gulls to be exact. Now hold on – I’ll explain. This isn’t advice I am giving because I am a bird photographer. It’s advice related to the fact that it’s just good practice. Photographing fast moving objects improves your aim if you will. And most people reading this live somewhere the common “sea gull” can be found. Try it – you might just have fun and it works.

4. Practice the big three – if you follow me regularly you’ve heard this advice but I share it over and over for a reason. It helps. EVERY DAY you should read a page of your manual, make at LEAST one photograph and look at as many published, professional photographs as you can. This will improve your photography every day you do it.

5. Think background/foreground. Try making pictures that START with an interesting background. Reverse the typical process. THEN find something interesting in the foreground to complete the picture. This vision exercise will help you “see” better right away.

Improving your photography almost always just starts with a camera in your hand, so stop reading this post and go shoot. And have fun too!

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