We have taken ourselves past the 1/2 way point in our top 50 all time best tips for photographers. For those of you who might have tuned in late, we have had a great run at this and you should really read the other articles and catch up. Before we go way into the next series of tips, it might be best to describe how we got here. After searching online for photo tips during our research, we found there really wasn't a comprehensive list of tips that we could give to folks. There were a lot of similarities between lists, even some contradictions but the one thing we noticed with all of the lists is that they were just too short. So we compiled their lists, some of our own favorites and put together this list for the people. Now we are inside the top 20, we hope you enjoy reading these tips as much as we enjoy bringing them to you.

#19 The Image Killing Disease, Centeritis
This horrible disease is pervasive in photography. It is generally caused by beginning photographers, people who think those small center dots in their cameras are a target that must MUST go on top of the main subject. Knock it off! The center of your camera is just the CENTER that’s it! There is a whole frame above, below and side to side that is just way, way going unused here. Place your subject for the best composition, not because you have a dot on their forehead!

#18 Leading Lines
A great compositional tool is to use leading lines. They can be as simple as a pattern in an object or as obvious as train tracks. Either way if you have them in your scene use em. They are a great way to direct your viewer around your image. Force them to look in a specific direction. If you do use leading lines be sure there is a payoff for the viewer. There needs to be a place they are going to if you are directing them there. Don’t just have your lines converge into nothing.

#17 Enter Competitions
As an amateur photographer and even as a professional, you can enter competitions. Win prizes and accolades for your work if you pass the muster.  These competitions aren’t taken lightly, you will have to bring your “A“ game.  Where ever possible, if your image isn’t selected, review those that were, try to discover why they were “more” than what you had submitted. If your image was selected quiz the jurors if possible, and above all be honest with yourself enough to listen to what they say. Your work will improve simply by the virtue of competition with others. Best of Luck!

#16 What does it look like from up there?
Perspective is a wonderful thing. Everyone has a different one and the use of different angles will totally say different things about even the same image. There is never a time that changing your perspective on a project will hurt it. Look a things from different angles, not just physical ones either. Put on your child glasses, your middle age glasses, your parent glasses, even those goofy glasses with the big nose, every project deserves a different perspective. You maybe be surprised by the results give it a try.

 

#15 Zoom Zoom
Ok so you basically have a couple of choices, you can purchase a large number of “fixed focal length” lenses and spend your time not only changing endless lenses during a shoot, not to mention trying to make more money to support your multi lens habit.  OR,  you can through each others’ minimum and maximum focal lengths and spend more time shooting with a paid off Visa card.  Yes, you do sacrifice a little, higher minimum aperture speeds, shifting minimum apertures with focal length and some distortion however, these are minor compared to the ease of use, speed in which you can shoot not to mention the number of times you DON’T have to change your lens and introduce things like dust and foreign objects into your camera body cavity.

#14 You can’t have the Zoom without the VR (or IS)
What?  Most digital cameras today have some sort of image stabilizer in them or in their lenses. In this case we are talking about the stabilization that is contained in your camera lens. This nifty little gizmo will actually assist you in shooting at low light levels by reducing camera shake. You will find this on most upper end Zoom lenses and it is FANTASTIC, to a point.  In those lower shutter speed areas below 1/30th of a second and 1 full second this feature is a Godsend. It will stabilize your camera without… the need for a tripod. Woo hoo. Give it a whirl the next time you go out shooting and find yourself in low light. Keep in mind though that the camera lens is actually creating a mini vibration to offset your movements, these can be seen as actual camera shake in exposures longer than 1 second. So you might wanna turn it off when you get down that low.

#13 I had a 3 legged dog…
You have likely heard of a 3 legged dog named tripod at one point or another in your life, this isn’t about him. It is about getting great exposures  in low light though. When you go out to look for a tripod, don’t be cheap. Remember this thing will be responsible for replacing YOU as the thing that holds your very expensive camera! The latest X-mart special should not be trusted to do that. Companies like Bogen, Manfrotto (same company), Slik, Gitzo. These are tried-and-true tripod makers that have “stood” the test of time even when my dog tripod ran into them.

#12 Spare in the corner pocket
If you are a pro with one camera… I am sorry but you aren’t a pro. Every single photographer that is worth their weight will tell you a horror story about the camera that became a door stop at the wrong moment during a shoot. Redundancy, backups and spare parts are a necessary part of any shoot, pro or not! Would you go out with just one battery? Media card? Lens? If you do, you’re asking for a disaster and hopefully you aren’t charging someone for your time when it happens. Even if you have to bring along an “inferior” camera model as your backup, do it. Save your shoot.

#11 Glass Is God
Ok, anyone that knows me knows that I am a very spiritual person. They also know that I don’t really believe that Glass is God, unless of course you are talking about the world of photography. There are always time tested truths about every profession. In photography this is one of them. I am a way back Nikon User, I am not militant about it but I do know the reason I have used Nikon for so long. It is unquestionably their lenses. When I started this journey into the world of imagery some 30 years ago I was looking long term. Nikon lenses offered what others couldn’t, not only were they incredibly sharp, but they could be used on any Nikon camera body. Doesn’t matter if I am shooting with a Nikon F from 1972 or a D3X from 2009, I can use the same set of lenses. Long and short, spend your money on your lenses, Nikon, Canon or other. You WILL have the lenses a lot longer than you will your camera body. With today’s camera’s you will likely be changing and upgrading about every 3-4 years. The lenses you buy will last 5 or 6 times that length of time.  Glass is God.

 

Well Gang we are almost there... Next month we will be hitting our number one tip of all time. Do you think you might know what it is? Any ideas? If you have 'em email us at jerry@hawaiianpix.com or check out our Facebook page, become a friend make a guess... All will be revealed next month. - aloha

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