How to Create the Best Photographs No Matter Where You Are

All around us are many different perspectives and images that we wish we could capture for our friends and family. Professional photographers capture these images for a living and show the world what we’re all missing. We’ve all heard the phrase, “you have an eye for photography,” but professionals aren’t so much born with a heightened sense of sight, they only practice and build on that sense more quickly and more consistently than the rest of us. To take pictures like a professional photographer, no matter where you are:

Embrace the shade. Photography is all about light and how it affects certain subjects in certain settings. One nice side effect of light is shadow. Shadows and shade can help to add depth to a subject and avoid creating an image that is flat and uninteresting. Don’t run from shadow, embrace it as another element of your image.

Have patience. The perfect shot doesn’t just come together on its own. You have to carefully set up most of your shots to get that perfect perspective that viewers haven’t seen. As a photographer, it’s your job to find the image that makes people find wonder in their reality. This doesn’t come in one second.

Learn the rules, then break them. As with any art form, there are basic rules that most instructors teach their students on the first day of class. Learn these rules and practice them. Once you have mastered the basics, you can challenge the rules.

Spencer Niles is a professional photographer based near New York City.

Working to Improve Your Photography

All photographers, whether they are amateurs or professionals, constantly work on their skills so that they can capture that perfect shot when it comes to them. Here are some tricks the professionals use to improve their skills and get those shots we all admire:

• Frame your subject. If the subject of your shot can be lost in a sea of detail or is simply crowded, one way to draw the viewer’s eye to your subject is to frame it. Use an archway, doorway, or window to frame your subject and draw attention to it naturally.
• Shape your shot with light. For standard pictures you might find on Facebook or on someone’s business page, you always want your light source behind you. For more artistic and interesting shots, try to put the light source behind the subject, or off to the side. This will allow you to shape the subject and the shot with the lighting.
• Use watermarks. This will keep other photographers from stealing your photos. If you can avoid using watermarks, do it, but you should be aware that plagiarism does happen, and adding a small watermark to your shots will avoid people taking credit for your work. You could also avoid publishing your photos on the Internet.

Spencer Niles is a freelance photojournalist with twenty years of experience taking pictures for a living. Niles started as a wedding photographer and now travels the world getting his unique shots. Niles hopes he can continue taking picture professionally for another twenty years.