Your Television Could Be Ruining Your Photograph’s Composition (The Rule Of Thirds)

A guest article by Jeff Colburn

Yes, you heard right, your television could be ruining your photographs. It has nothing to do with electromagnetic radiation emissions or the “Couch Potato Syndrome” and everything to do with the composition you are exposed to whenever you watch television.

More often than not, the main subject of a scene is in the center of the screen. This is a very static form of composition. “If it’s so static,” you ask, “Then why do I watch hours of it every day?” Simple. It’s a moving medium and the average image is on the screen for just a few seconds. You don’t have enough time to get bored, or even analyze, a given scene before it’s replaced with another one.

If you want to test this out, rent an old classic black and white movie. Each scene was on the screen longer. Composition was vital because there was no color to distract the viewer. Look at how Alfred Hitchcock, Cecil B. DeMille or Orson Welles constructed a scene. Freeze some of the frames and see what they’ve done. The composition and lighting are amazing. In contrast, watch your favorite television show in black and white, with the sound turned off. See if it still holds your interest for the entire program. You may be surprised.

The Quality Of Light Will Increase Your Sales

by Virtual Photography

When an amateur photographer heads out to take a picture, they take the photograph quickly without much thought as to the composition of the image itself. If life is happening, they take the picture.

A professional photographer is more focused on taking a great photograph by concentrating on the details that will impact the image.

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Yes, you still want to take life as it happens. But instead of snapping the shutter quickly, take the few extra seconds needed to think about the final outcome and adjust from there. Are you standing in the optimal position to take the image? What if you moved two feet to the right? Or had your subject move forward two feet? Or what if you dropped to the ground and shot up at your subject? And in many cases, you can anticipate what is going to happen, put yourself in the correct position, and wait for the magic to happen.

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Filed Under: Blog, Taking Better Photographs Tagged With: take better pictures, the quality of light

It’s Not About Looking, It’s About Seeing

by Virtual Photography

What makes a great photographer? It isn’t the camera or the lens (although that can help). It isn’t the subject. It isn’t the paper the final image is processed on.

It’s the eye.

A great photographer knows how to look past what is right in front of him, and look into the message he wants to convey. He sees the story in what is being told, and looks for the best way to tell it.

1. Focus on the action, not the facial expression.
Have you ever facial expressions been in the room with the parents saying, “smile” or “look at the camera”? And you are really supposed to get a creative expression with that happening? Great photos show the emotion of the subject, not a smile towards the camera.

2. Don’t stop with one.
Sometimes you have to be patient to capture the perfect image. Don’t take just one, take a series of images. You never know when the perfect one is about to happen. And with digital, its easy to keep the great one’s and delete the okay one’s.

3. Plan first, be spontaneous second
Pick out your background before you concentrate on the image. If your subject is standing still, you can photograph them from any angle. Walk around them in a circle, and choose the best background situation and then start shooting.

7 Photography Tips for Better Children’s Portraits

by Virtual Photography

How do you approach portraiture for children so that you get great images AND make a ton of money doing it?

1. Treat the child as your client. Your first task is to create a great rapport with the child. They won’t work with you if you don’t talk to them in their mannerism. Find what they like and share in their excitement. Get down to their level. You don’t want them to see you as an adult. You want them to see you as a friend.

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image source Tina Keller

2. Treat the mom (dad, grandparent, or whoever is there and paying for the portrait) as your client. Yes, this is the person paying for the portrait session, and any packages and prints they purchase in the future. But remember, they will be happy if their child stays happy, and if the child has a smile on his or her face as they are leaving your studio.

Is Your Photography Business Really A Business?

by Virtual Photography

It’s late Friday afternoon, and I’m sitting at my desk catching up on a few last minute tasks before the weekend. photography business really a business

Every week I start out with my list of tasks. Then one by one I check them off as I accomplish them.

This week I had quite a list. But I had a lot of extra things on my list as well. Tuesday was my birthday, so I took the afternoon off, had lunch with my Mom and went shopping, picked my daughter up and had a fun evening with my family. Today I ran a few errands, and spent time shopping for the perfect Mother’s day gifts for my Mom and Mother in law.

But now late Friday afternoon, its time to pick up the slack and finish up two tasks that are still unchecked.

Why do I make sure everything is complete? Because my business depends on it.

When you work for yourself, and more importantly when you work out of your home, its easy to let daily life get in the way. It would be very easy to just put those two tasks off until next week. But if I continually did that over time, my list would become an endless to-do list that would never be completed. And I wouldn’t be running my six figure business with all the freedom I enjoy.

I’ve been running my home business for years, so for me its second nature. But if you’re new to the home based business, or solo-preneur venture, its easy to get off task. Let me share my list of the top 3 things that make my business everything I’ve always dreamed of.

How To Take Better Pictures

by Virtual Photography

Have you ever wished you could take better pictures?

As a photographer, I know you love taking photographs. You probably bring your camera everywhere, ready to snap the candids every chance you have. But what about posing people for a more professional portrait. Can you easily jump in and set up groups easily? Or does it put a touch of fear into your heart?

Andrew and I have been busy creating a wonderful new program for everyone that nodded their heads when they read that last question.

We both understand that feeling well. When we first started out, posing was hard. When you have a group of people looking to you for guidance, where do you start? And before you ever get started, where do you meet them? Can you really find places right around your studio that will create great backgrounds?

That’s the idea behind 9to5PhotoTips.com Head over and watch our first few videos. We take the complex and break it down into very simple steps. We want you to be able to take one idea, learn a little about it, head out into the field and apply it immediately.

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