Methods to take higher pictures

Professional photographer, Legionnaire affords suggestions for Fourth of July, different summer season occasions.

The subsequent few months will likely be a good time for novice {and professional} photographers alike. Summer is the time of yr that many households take holidays or go to kin. And this yr, the Fourth of July marks the semiquincentennial anniversary of the United States. With that in thoughts, I assumed I might share a number of recommendations on how one can take higher pictures.

First, a fast introduction: I’m a Navy Gulf War veteran and an expert photographer and pictures teacher (Princeton Photo Workshop). I printed “Never Home: Remembering the Military Heroes Who Never Returned,” which honors the greater than 200,000 people memorialized in America’s 23 abroad World War I and World War II cemeteries by pictures and brief biographies (see the May 2025 version of The American Legion Magazine).

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The American Legion needs to see your celebrations

Click here to send us your Fourth of July and America 250 pictures.

Photos despatched will likely be thought-about for publication in American Legion media and social channels in July. Submission deadline: Midnight Eastern Time, July 7, 2026

Note that by sharing your recordsdata with The American Legion you might be agreeing that they’re your personal unique (not AI-generated) art work, any topics have consented to using their picture, and you might be granting The American Legion utilization rights to re-publish these photos. Submission of entry doesn’t assure publication. 

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One of the issues that makes pictures so difficult is that we’re working in a two-dimensional body (top and width, no depth) that by no means modifications. That means how we use the “real estate” contained in the body is essential. We have a restricted quantity of area to inform the viewer no matter it’s we are attempting to say. With that in thoughts, listed here are 5 solutions to right away enhance our pictures.

First, the photographer must resolve what they wish to say. With the standard of cameras – together with smartphone cameras – it’s straightforward to “shoot first and think later.” I feel we’re all responsible of simply lifting our digicam and firing away. But your possibilities of capturing a very good {photograph} enhance significantly should you decelerate and compose your shot.

In my educating, I inform individuals to suppose like a painter. Painters have a plan earlier than their palms do something. The first resolution is selecting a topic and the way a lot contextual data you need round it. Do you need the viewer to solely see an individual, or would you like them to see an individual in a cool location? Is it {a photograph} of a younger Marine, which may very well be a cool portrait, or is it of a younger Marine on the website of the previous Tun Tavern in Old City Philadelphia commemorating the Marine Corps’ birthday? A detailed-up shot (i.e., a “portrait”) that solely consists of the particular person offers little to no details about the place or when it was taken. If we would like the viewer to know extra, we have to step again, zoom out or compose the picture in another way so the viewer can see the environment.

Second, examine the background. If you might be together with contextual data round your topic, you will need to examine what’s lurking behind it. Just since you missed one thing distracting within the background doesn’t imply your viewer will miss it. Things like trash, brightly coloured clothes or objects are frequent offenders. Returning to my “think as a painter” analogy, there isn’t any trash in Monet’s well-known “Water Lilies,” nor are there shiny orange site visitors cones behind “Mona Lisa.” Sometimes this implies ready till distracting issues transfer out of the body, or shifting your physique or altering your focal size (e.g., select a distinct lens in your smartphone) to eradicate or decrease the distracting parts. And whilst you’re checking the background, ensure that to get the horizon line straight. It is distracting to see a sloping horizon line. I prefer to tease my pictures college students once I see a crooked horizon line on water with “You did a great shot capturing the subject, especially since they were going uphill on the lake.”

Third, if you’re taking a portrait of your loved ones or pals – and by that, I imply you’ve gotten determined to not add contextual data round them – keep away from placing the eyes of the topic in the midst of the body. This creates a bizarre hole of area above the topic’s head. Since all the true property in a body is effective, what precisely would you like the viewer to see with half the body displaying empty blue sky above your topic? Instead, place the eyes of your topic one-third of the best way under the highest of body.

Fourth, use the “Rule of Thirds.” You can learn a very good clarification here, however all it’s essential to do is activate “gridlines” in your cellphone or digital digicam, then simply place your topic at one of many intersections on the gridlines to create a comfortable and pleasing asymmetry in your body. For instance, if you’re taking a photograph of your son on the baseball stadium, don’t put him in the midst of the body. Instead, transfer the digicam so he’s excellent of middle, which leaves a bit extra space to the left for an excellent view of the sphere. This works brilliantly in lots of conditions.

Lastly, take much more pictures, and take a look at burst mode. When I first began in pictures, I attended a presentation by National Geographic photographers. They advised us that to get a handful of photos into the journal, they take a mean of 20,000 pictures! This is very true when there may be movement; I recommend capturing in burst mode (when you have a smartphone, there are numerous methods to do that that you could find on-line). Don’t fear about area in your card or cellphone; you may delete the unhealthy ones later, however you may’t re-create an occasion.

So that’s it: be decisive, handle your actual property, and be type to your self and take much more pictures than you suppose. It’s going to be an excellent yr for America and an excellent yr for pictures.

Rich Sherman is a member of John F. Murphy Post 303 in Bonita Springs, Fla.