Turn Holiday Snaps Into Amazing Photography

It seems obvious, doesn’t it? But this simple tip can completely transform a snap into a great photograph! If you’re taking a full-length picture of someone, make sure you’re including their head and feet! Cutting a person’s head or feet off can spoil a great photograph. Try alternative heights taking the photograph too!

Taking a photograph at the height of your head will have a different effect on moving your camera down to your waist to take it; the perspective changes making different body parts wider or narrower. Bear in mind that the angle you take your snap at can really change how a person looks and different angles flatter different people.

If you want to take a photograph closer up to a person and you’re missing off parts of their body, make sure you cut them off at the right points. You don’t want to cut people off at their joints as this looks very strange. Try and frame the image so the person is cut off in the middle of joints. For example, if you’re just getting the top half of someone in an image, cut them off mid-thigh, rather than at the knee.

This is a great rule for stunning composition every time! If you imagine there is a 3x3 grid on your camera or phone screen (sometimes there is!), you can frame the main point of an image on any of those lines and immediately turn a snap into a creative image!

If you’re taking a picture of your husband or children in front of a beautiful landscape like a beach for example, put that person on one of the vertical lines, rather than in the middle and line the horizon up with one of the horizontal lines and a quick snap will turn into a beautiful photograph that you can print and have framed!

This is one for those bright sunny summer days or for when you’re on holiday and the sun is beaming down. Flash is your friend! Don’t only turn flash on at night – in fact, using flash at night will just give you a really harsh light. You need to use flash along with ambient or natural lighting.

When the sun is shining in the sky and you’re taking a cute photograph of your children or grandchildren eating that massive ice cream you just bought at the seaside, you’re not going to need flash right? Wrong. You’re going to want your subject to be facing away from the sun because otherwise, they’re going to screw their eyes up and squint, this means that the background is lit beautifully by the sun but your subject is in shadow.

That’s where your flash comes in! The flash will reach out and bounce off your subject meaning they’re eyes are fully open (if they don’t blink!) and they’re lit well. The sun will take care of lighting the background for you meaning you have one well-lit and balanced photograph!

It’s so easy to take a photograph these days and super quick! In fact – it takes professionals longer to set up the photograph and prepare for it than it does to actually take the photograph. Just put a little bit of thought into a photograph before you take it. Take your time! Look at what’s around you – is there any litter?

Move it out the way. Is there anything around that might make the image extra special – pose someone against it or around it. Talk to your subject; ask them to stand in a certain way. Ask them to put down the ugly carrier bag they’re carrying or to move their hand into a slightly better position. Has your little girl got lots of stray hairs?

Ask her to tuck them behind her ear so they don’t fly across her face. A little bit of thought, care and communication will take an extra minute, but it will make that summer snap a perfect photograph that will be treasured by you, and your family for years to come.

Enjoy taking your photographs and enjoy being in photographs! Photographs are captured memories that you’ll re-live again and again so even if you don’t really enjoy having your photograph taken, put on your best smile or pull a characteristic funny face because people looking at the photograph in the future will want to see you looking happy and loving life!