Why Do My Photos Suck?

This is a common complaint and one I make myself somedays LOL.

There are a lot of reasons but let’s keep this simple and do a pointform:

• RTFM is essential if you want to improve. You have to understand the tools of your craft and that means sitting down with your camera and using the manual (or YouTube) to learn every menu and control. This should take a day or more but you really only need to do this once if you do it right.
• Learn the exposure triangle. This is the relationship between the film’s ASA speed (or your digital sensor’s ISO) and the aperture (which controls depth of field….what’s in focus and what’s not) and the shutter (which controls the ability of the camera to stop action or allow for artistic blur).
• With manual focus cameras practice your focusing and on auto-focus cameras understand how and where the camera is focusing (This will be found in your manual. Some pro-level cameras offer many ways to focus correctly.).
• The exposure triangle while doing all of the above also needs to be set to create the proper exposure. When it comes to the “proper” exposure there isn’t just one “proper” exposure a range of exposures which again varies depth of field and the ability to stop action.
• Once you understand your camera (and it can be a cellphone or an old manual film camera or a fully automatic point-and-shoot or top-of-the-line digital pro-level camera) and the exposure triangle the next step up is understanding the rules of composure.
• The medium you are working with is called light. Photography is basically drawing with light. You will want to experiment with light during the day (often harsh and often avoided as images come out flat and washed out) and during the “golden hours” at dawn and dusk (much softer and more flattering light). Rainy days are great for photography as are foggy and misty days.
• Once you start experimenting with shooting in better light it’s now time to work on your composition.
• Here’s the basics: fill the frame; get closer (most newcomers shoot from too far back); watch for junk in the background (a fellow teacher once said “there’s a garbage can in every photo”); shoot kids and animals down at eye level; stop shooting everything while standing up…try different angles and climb up on stuff.
• As for the rules of composition (rule of thirds, near-far, layering, and more) go to YouTube.
• After you learn the basic rules of photographic composition start breaking away from them. There’s nothing so boring as a properly exposed image that’s precisely composed that’s basically so boring as to be vacuous> There are a ton of shots like that on FaceBook.
• When it comes to FaceBook get off it. Most of the comments you’ll read will come from new photographers eager to tell you how you should shoot your art. The comments will be confusing, conflicting and often just dead wrong.
• Open your own online gallery (StreetShooters) and share images with friends who will support your art and not offer unwanted unsolicited critiques.
• Take lessons. I’ve said this before but most clubs and some retailers offer inexpensive to free lessons. Taking lessons will make you a better photographer faster. When I retired I took lessons from shooting professionals whose work I admired and I ended up a much better photographer thanks to them.
• Shoot daily if you can or shoot weekly if you want to get good.