We look to simplify a few concepts and share a few helpful tips that will let you create visually appealing pictures with good contrast, better composition and rich colours.
Rule of third
The rule of third is the most essential concept meant to enhance composition and bring balance to the photographs you shoot. The basic idea behind this rule is to mentally divide an image into two horizontal and two vertical lines and break it into nine parts. Keeping the grid line either on the viewfinder or the LCD panel helps identifying the important parts of an image. When framing a photo, always try to keep position elements of that image near the lines and intersection to form a better composition.The rule of third can be applied to any kind of photography, be it while taking portraits or photographing landscapes. But you need to understand the subject of your image. For instance, while taking pictures in landscape orientation; keeping the subject off the centre and placing the point of interest along one of the horizontal lines can create a more balanced and visually appealing image. When capturing faces, try positioning the subject off to one side of the frame and keep point of interest (eye or eye brow) at one of the intersections of the grid lines. It is not necessary to use the rule of third in every situation; sometimes you can break the rule and compose a frame to create a striking image. But it is wise to learn the concept first, adapt to it and then try to break and experiment in composing a picture.
Exposure triangle
The aperture affects the depth of field, meanwhile shutter speed helps in sharpening the image or adds blur effect, and ISO measures the sensitivity of the image sensor to light.
To get the best out of your photo, try to learn using exposure triangle rather than picking the Auto mode. The exposure triangle helps in capturing a photo with balanced exposure by using three important variables- ISO, aperture and shutter speed. But for this, you need to understand when to use these variables, whether to adjust one or all the three to maintain exposure. The aperture affects the depth of field, meanwhile shutter speed helps in sharpening the image or adds blur effect, and ISO measures the sensitivity of the image sensor to light. We have elaborated about these three key variables in our article Common DSLR jargon simplified to help you with better photography that will help you better understand how ISO, aperture and shutter speed strongly impacts on the look of a photo.
Use ISO settings
As we mentioned, the ISO determines the sensitivity of the image sensor to light. Choosing the best ISO settings in certain scenarios is important to save the picture from getting ruined because of over-exposure or under-exposure. In bright day try to keep the ISO to its minimum level (ISO- 100 or 200) to avoid over-saturation but adjust the aperture and shutter speed simultaneously to get the desired output. While taking shots on a cloudy day or indoors when there is less light, you need to increase the ISO level to fill in more light to a frame. The higher the ISO number, the more the sensor gets exposed to light. While this helps in adding vibrancy to the image, the only trade off is that you get the shot gets noisier (grainy).Polarised filters
The polarized filters come in handy mostly while capturing landscape photographs. These filters add vividness and improve contrast on the image that you capture. Further they help to reduce reflection in a scene and enhance the shot by improving colour saturation and contrast. It also helps in reducing haze while capturing subject from a distance. It adds a rich colour tone while photographing waterfall, bright sky and foliage. But while it enhances the image, one needs to understand that these circular filters required adjustment with framing which greatly depends on the direction of the light and how you position the camera. The polarized filter is a good tool to bump up colour and contrast in your shots and is also helps in protecting your precious lens.Avoid using flash indoors
When a subject is moving fast with limited light available indoor, we often tend to switch on the flash mode to get a brighter image. Although at times it gets the job done, firing the flash on the subject makes it appear rather unnatural. Alternately, you can tweak a few settings manually; for instance, increase the ISO level, use the widest aperture, decrease the shutter speed and use image stabilisation to avoid shaky images. However, if the light level is too low, you can use an external flash unit and mount in on the camera. You can rotate it and point the light ‘to the ceiling on an angle’ (if the ceiling or walls are white) to get a well-balanced and natural shot.
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