photo editing, tutorials
Why you aren’t taking better photos
Have you ever found yourself feeling frustrated with the quality of your photos? Despite having a decent camera or smartphone at your disposal, you just can’t seem to capture that perfect shot. Perhaps you feel overwhelmed by all the technical terms and settings, or maybe you’re struggling to find inspiration for your shots. Whatever the reason may be, it’s common for many of us to experience a lack of motivation or confidence when it comes to photography. In this blog, we’ll explore some of the common reasons why you aren’t taking better photos, and offer practical tips and advice to help you improve your skills and capture stunning images.
Why You Aren’t Taking Better Photos
I can almost 100% bet, but is she good at landscape photography or urban street photography, yeah probably because she’s a great photographer, that bleeds across everything she’s going to do, but she’s… …am I out of memory card space? Oh my God, I think I am, fuck! ♫ I don’t think there’s more that we can do ♫ How come you think that I still owe you ♫ Anything more than pain ♫ More than the pouring rain ♫ How can there be more to explain ♫ I won’t go down the drain ♫ Cause I was there too ♫ Oh it’s so true ♫ Oh it’s so blind What’s up everybody, Peter McKinnon here and today we’re talking about why you’re not taking better photos. Interesting title: why you’re not taking better photos. You might be saying to yourself I take better photos than you, I take better photos than everybody, My photos are fine, I’m happy with my photos. And that’s all well and good; you may be taking better photos than me, you might not be. That’s not the issue, that’s nor here nor there. The purpose of this video is to kind of bring some issue, some things, to light That could be preventing you from taking even better photos. That’s the goal here is to shed some light on some topics that could ultimately help improve your photo quality. It might start making you think on a different level. It might bring some awareness to some things that You’re doing that you had no idea that you’re doing, or it might just enlighten you to some topics or some issues that make you think on a whole new level. So the first thing I wanna talk about is social media. Social media can be an incredibly powerful tool To build relationships, to bring awareness to things that you believe in, to share your work, to make friends, to create a community and be a part of a community, it’s amazing for that. But it can also be detrimental to the creative process. If you follow a lot of these incredible photographers, And there’s tons that I follow that I look up to, and if you see them traveling to Dubai and they’re in all these exotic places all over the world and their photos are incredible because they’re seeing these incredible landscapes. But you might be thinking to yourself I’m just stuck in this small town, It’s just good sometimes to just take a break, just stop. Stop scrolling through the photos, stop looking at the photos, stop refreshing that feed. The grass is always greener on the other side. People might look at your feed and think wow, so clever, so creative with Just the stuff that’s around him or her. So I think the main point of this is taking a break from social media so you don’t feel inadequate in the photos you’re posting versus the people that you’re following.
The Digital Medium
Next up is digital; the medium itself. And this kind of stems from something that I used to do when I was younger. I used to play a lot of paintball and we’d play this thing called civil war. We would take the hoppers off of our paintball guns that would house the 500 paintballs, you’re gun shoots 16 balls a second, and we’d take the hoppers off, Tone down the guns so it was just bare bones, we would all take about five paintballs and just hold them in your hand. And we called it civil war because we’d drop in one paintball, fire, drop in one paintball, fire, and we only had five. So the matches were way more interesting And way more fun because everyone was a lot more tactical. Everyone was a lot more strategic and not just running out into the field and blasting off 200 paintballs, busting a tube off of your back, filling up that hopper, and still going. Everyone was a lot more methodical. It was more fun, it was like the thought process to everyone’s actions was way heightened and amplified because you’ve only got five shots. That’s where digital comes in and can influence bad habits. Now this is a fine line because, where I agree and think digital is amazing And it’s so nice to be able to fire off a thousand shots of whatever it is that you’re shooting and pick the best one, but…
Limitations can Improve Creativity
…if you go back to when we were shooting film, We used to shoot on a Contax 645, we used to shoot weddings on Contax 645 with Fujifilm, and I would have my film sent away to be processed and scanned with a Frontier scanner and sent back to me and I would edit my shots that way. But what I found, what I learned doing that was that I thought so much harder about every shot before I pressed that shutter button because it meant so much more. I’ve only got so many picture that I can use on this roll of film. I only have this one opportunity to capture this moment. I can’t shoot 16 frames a second, I can shoot one. So that frame has to count, it has to matter. And that helped my creativity slow down. It slowed me down into this methodical, creative, almost zen like state where I could Really focus in on what mattered and what I wanted out of my photos. And that helped me become a better photographer. That’s what I mean when I say digital can sometimes be a hindrance, it can actually be a little bit of a hangup in your creative process Because you’re just not thinking as clearly. You’re not thinking as meticulously as you would if you were limited to the amount of shots as you can take, if you were limited to the amount of gear that you had, which is my next point. So my recommendation is shot less. Take that time to really compose you shot and think about what it is that you want. Maybe use a…
…smaller memory card that only has X amount of shots, that’s just an option. I’m not saying to do that definitively, I’m just saying it might actually help you Open up your creative process and come up with some new ideas that you didn’t think about before because you’re taking more time. You’re taking more time to get those good photos.
Expand Your Photography Comfort Zone
Over the last few months I’ve had a lot of friends and viewers contact me asking me to look at their photos And if I can recommend anything to make them better. I’m not the be all and end all to photography. I don’t have all the answers, I’m still learning myself. And I kind of classify it like I will always be learning. I don’t think I’ll ever be satisfied with my skill level. I always want to be pushing for that next height. I don’t think anyone should be like boom, nailed it, super happy, I don’t need to improve. Because we all want to take better photos. We all learn how to take different types of photos and that’s where comfort zones comes in. Maybe you’re just a portrait photographer, maybe you only shoot landscapes this weekend. But you’re gonna expand your creative process. You’re gonna expand your techniques. You’re gonna learn new ways of thinking, new ways of shooting if you leave that comfort zone. Maybe it’s not even a shooting style That you need to change, maybe it’s just your comfort zone in editing. Maybe try new ways of editing. Maybe go rent a tilt shift lens for the weekend and just shoot with that and see what you…
FAQ: Why aren’t you taking better photos?
Q: I have a good camera, so why aren’t my photos turning out better?
A: Having a good camera is just one part of the equation. You also need to understand composition, lighting, and other elements that go into creating a great photo.
Q: How can I improve my photography skills?
A: Practice makes perfect. Try experimenting with different techniques and settings, take a photography class, or follow online tutorials to enhance your skills.
Q: Why do my photos look bland and uninteresting?
A: This could be due to lack of creativity or not paying attention to details. Try to think outside the box, focus on capturing interesting subjects, and pay attention to lighting and composition.
Q: How can I take better photos with my smartphone?
A: Although smartphones may have limitations compared to professional cameras, you can still take great photos by utilizing editing apps, practicing good composition, and making use of natural light.
I hope you find useful my article Why you aren’t taking better photos, I also recommend you to read my other posts in my blog at this link.
If you need help with anything join the community or do not hesitate to contact me.
Best of luck! and follow your passion.
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