When you’re trying to take a good picture, many things come into play. Lighting is important, as is composition and camera settings. But sometimes, it’s the little mistakes we make while taking pictures that can ruin them. Photo editors know all too well the most common of these mistakes – but since they’re not always easy to see in retrospect, here are 9 things that you should avoid at all costs!
Mistake Number One: Taking a Photo in Low Light Conditions
People take photos all the time that turn out poorly because of low light. Whether it’s from sunset or indoors, bad lighting can be an issue for any photo you want to capture – and without enough light, editing software will only do so much. If your phone has a flash, then use that! Letting natural daylight come through is always best if possible too. Mistakenly taking pictures at night might yield some cool results, but they’ll still be way better with more lights involved.
Lighting should also not totally overwhelm the subject when shooting outdoors either; like most things photography-related, the balance between these elements is key while considering what type of settings on your camera work best.
Mistake Number Two: Not Enough Photo Details
If you’re taking a picture of an object, there are two main things to consider – that it’s in focus and has enough detail in the shot. Clear shots with well-lit backgrounds give viewers more than just a general idea of what your photo is about; they show them something specific from their own point-of-view that really adds character. Objects can be blurry if they’re too close or not lit up properly for whatever reason, but this is easily fixed by moving farther away on occasion! You might also want to try zooming out, so you get more space around the subject before snapping the photo as well (depending on how much room was available).
Butterflies are always a popular subject to photograph; they’re colourful and usually have their wings outstretched, so it’s easy for them to capture your attention. But if you take a picture from too close up or with poor lighting – like in the middle of the day without shade outside – that photo will not be as good as one taken later at dusk when their colours won’t get washed out by the sun!
Mistake Number Three: Photo is Too Close Up
Sometimes, this can happen when someone gets caught up in trying hard just because they’re shooting on their phone instead of using a camera. It’s important to remember that these aren’t telephoto lenses, but rather cameras fitted onto phones which means focusing even more closely might result in some blurry shots! Photo editors can do some correction with the software, but it’s always better to err on the side of caution and shoot a little further away from your subject.
Mistake Number Four: Thinking Photo Editing is Like Photo Shopping
Some people are under the impression that photo editing software will fix all their mistakes – which might be true if there were only one or two things wrong in an otherwise perfect shot – but this isn’t going to work most often. If you’re taking pictures indoors, they’ll need more light because what comes through windows won’t suffice; photos taken outside during cloudy days may suffer as well, depending on how much sunlight reaches them (and if it does reach them). Compensating for these issues in post-production takes this seriously.