Tips for Outdoor Photography

Just because you have a high quality digital SLR camera, it does not mean that you can click professional quality pictures. The right photography skills develop with experience and knowledge. If you have right knowledge, you can do great photography even with basic cameras. Outdoor photography is slightly tricky, especially for amateurs, because you don’t the opportunity to control the quality, quantity, direction and even tone of the light. Below given are some useful tips for capturing better outdoor shots.

• Find the right time for shots – For outdoor shots, the two best times are the beginning and end of the day. Move out to take shots half an hour just before sunrise or half an hour after sunset. Though sunshine is a good light source, but it is not good to take photos directly in the sunshine if it is afternoon time. This is because of the fact that the sun throws harsh shadows and light at that time. Look for shade if the photos need to be taken in the afternoon.

• Beat low light conditions – Sometimes, there is not enough light for clicking photos or natural light is not best for taking those photos. At that time, use other light sources like reflectors, fill flash, strobes etc. Also use tripod when there is low light outside. This will help you to take sharper photos. Open the shutter for longer time if there is low light in order to let the light in and expose the shot.

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  Think differently – Great photos cannot be obtained just because you know all the technical tips to take photos. It actually means being creative and different from others. Thus, for taking great outdoor photos, look beyond what is obvious. Everybody uses natural daylight when taking outdoor photos, but you can look for reflections, shadows, sun flares etc. Also look for new perspectives when taking photos so as to boost your creativity.

• Add filters – Add filters to get richer tones and colors in the photos. For example, polarizing filter cuts out reflections & adds rich blue into the sky. Another filter known as haze filter gives more contrast.

These are only some tips which can expand your outdoor photography skills to a little extent. But practice will make you perfect. Grab your camera & keep shooting different types of photos with different camera modes and different perspectives. Shoot more photos than required and select the best photos later. Even the professional photographers do not get right photos in single shots. So, try different shots each time.