Photography Tip #1

Photography is one of my favorite hobbies and I'm really excited to share this hobby with you. Be sure to check out the photography forums at MGR for lots of fun and exciting things. Picture play is so much fun, you can post a picture that you like or don't like and see what everyone does to edit it. I've seen some really fun and funky edits to really nice general edits. Also, check out the critique corner, post some pics and people will give you constructive advice. There's also a place for general photography chat and a place for photo editing advice and questions. You can also find a section for photography tutorials and links to tutorials. Lastly, my most favorite section is "This Week's Photography Assignment". Every week there is a theme and you can take and post new pictures you took that week that go along with the theme. It's fun to see the many interpretations.

OK, on with the first tip...

I want you to get close to your subject... I mean really close and when you think you're close enough, get even closer. Fill the whole screen up with your subject and maybe even closer by just taking a picture of their face. Many times we just take a picture but there are things in the background that distract us away from what we want people to see. If you get closer those distractions disappear and the focus of what you're trying to communicate in your picture becomes more clear. Sometimes you want to take a picture of your subject's smile but if we don't get in close it's hard to see the smile. If we get in close to where we're only taking a picture of the face, you see that smile nice and big.  Remember this is only a tip, it's not a rule, sometimes a picture is better at a distance.

OK, you can do this two ways, one way is to physically get closer and the other is to use your zoom. Fill up your screen as much as possible with your subject. Practice this tip this week and post a link to your picture in the comments here. I look forward to seeing what you come up with.

First is an old example from before I learned to get in closer.  I should have zoomed in so that you only see all of her instead of the bouncer, coffee table, rocking chair, toy, etc... The second example is getting in closer so you see only his face and not the stroller.  You can see his expression without any distractions.