Improve Our Photographic Skills

The ability to be patient

No matter how hard you try to control the variables, sometimes things won’t work out for you. There will be days when the lighting won’t cooperate, your subjects will be difficult, or when the camera doesn’t give you the results you’re looking for.

You will have moments where you have to take a billion photos just to get a perfect shot.

Whatever field of photography you work in, patience (a lot) is always an essential quality. You have to be patient enough to wait for the perfect lighting, to deal with crying babies, hyperactive animals, difficult customers, and a hundred other things.

I have managed to photograph the same thing hundreds of times before obtaining the right image, I had to wait a year to be able to repeat the photo I was looking for at the same time. If you lose your cool and can’t stay patient those great images will never be captured by you.

Focus on the task at hand, forget about everything and be patient.

Image elements

Selecting what you are going to photograph is important but reviewing the rest of the elements of the frame before shooting is as important or more.

Consider the image as a whole that way you can eliminate distractions. At the same time, think about how the rest of the elements interact with the main theme.

“Do not fix your eyes on the subject or the center of the image. Think before shooting, move your eyes across the edges of the rectangle and move the camera” ( Caio Guatelli )

Learn to use compositional elements such as symmetry, movement, color, lines, etc. This will take your images to the next level and make them more attractive to the viewer.

It is also good that you study the masters of painting. Take note of how they use the elements of the painting to create striking images.

Develop your style

If your photos look like others, there is nothing wrong with that.

I believe that developing your own style is something fundamental and that it is done little by little. If you want your personality to shine through in your images, experiment and find a style that suits your artistic vision.

Be consistent with your style, but also keep in mind that sometimes you will have to break it to get what you want, you don’t have to force it.

My style could be defined as being classic, minimalist, with great care in details and light. And yours?

Study the work of others

If you want to be a good mathematician, you must study mathematics, knowledge rarely develops in isolation. Work done by other photographers can be key in helping you develop your style, hone your skills, and increase your knowledge.

Spend some time every day looking at other people’s work, I’ve been doing it for years at  1x , thinking about how they created that specific image or effect. I’m trying to figure out how I could replicate it. I invite you to do it, it is a great exercise that opens the mind.

An important tool for today’s photographers is being able to share experiences with other photographers, social networks help you get closer to the people with whom you want to go out to take photos.

Try to participate in collaborative projects that will substantially increase your skills and experience. Practice with other photographers. Analyze many photographs, no matter the subject.

Practice

You can read all the photography books, visit the Internet on this subject, take many courses or read magazine articles, but none of this is a substitute for taking the camera and using it.

The passion for photography comes from the feeling of having created something unique, with your team, be it a single image, a thematic series or an entire gallery.

There is nothing that teaches you as much as raising the camera and photographing, making mistakes, retesting, etc.

Having the ability to show something you love in a new or visually exciting way comes down to practicing. Therefore, practice is what will make your photographs stand out from the multitude of images that flood us.