When it comes to photography, there is a rabbit hole that leads to a plethora of information requiring decades to fully master. But you don’t need to dive down that rabbit hole to produce some of the finest photography you’ve ever done.
All you’ve got to do is get a bit creative and use the web to your advantage.
Work Smarter, Not Harder
The internet is a stunning compendium of data that can make someone with the ability to type a query into a search engine as well-armed in terms of information as a life-long professional in the same career.
For example: have you ever seen a photorealistic painting? Obviously, someone took a picture, then painted the picture as exactly as they could. Well, that kind of thing has been mass-marketed now, and there are pet portraiture studios that provide such services.
You can do the same thing with photos that aren’t of pets, and you’ll find the same result. Following are several additional tips of this kind to help get your imagination stimulated.
Cheap Augmentations
Take an empty cardboard roll from spent toilet paper tissue and take a picture of someone’s face with it. Now they look like the moon! This could be a great activity for an elementary school classroom, it is additionally something that is fun in general, and easy enough for anyone with spare time to do.
It’s not the only kind of cost-effective augmentation of this kind, either. All you need is some translucent filters, and you can put a “tone” to a picture without any digital after-effects. You can pick up such “films” or “filters” at varying hobby shops, and you can even use household items like cellophane to the same effect.
The key here is to think outside the box. Glass globes, eyeglasses, magnifying glasses, prisms, and more can be used to augment a picture. It may take a little practice, but you may be surprised at some of the images you can get just by taking pictures through varying transparent media.
Depth-Of-Field
Depth-Of-Field refers to differing focus. For example, have you ever seen a picture where there’s someone in the foreground, but the background is fuzzy? Have you ever seen a picture where someone in the foreground is fuzzy, but the backdrop behind them is crystal-clear?
These are all examples of depth-of-field in practice. Varying settings on your camera can help you strike the best balance, but figuring out this key concept can help you find some exceptional photography opportunities.
Backdrops
Denny Manufacturing provides a number of backdrops specifically used for photography. These can represent a cost-effective way of setting a scene that allows you to maximize depth-of-field simultaneously. The texture is a big deal in photography. Leaves have a texture. So does grass, so does cement; the right camera captures these textures in ways the eye can’t appreciate on its own.
As a microscope makes miniature creatures otherwise invisible into larger-than-life creatures that stimulate the imagination, photography additionally exposes intricate textures that are otherwise hard to see. Backdrops provide texture that can augment photos in a nigh-subconscious way which facilitates professional veneer. This is one reason you’ll always find backdrops at photography studios.
Additionally, they reflect light in ways that allow for closer management of the final photos which result. Textures that come from backdrops can be an essential part of any studio, and even allow you to do things you didn’t realize you could. A green screen is essentially a non-textured backdrop that a computer can use to substitute different images.
You can pick one up cheaply if such a thing suits you—just ensure anyone in the picture has on a different shade of green; mint is good, but the lime of a green screen will make them disappear except for their skin and non-green clothing items.
A Professional On A Budget
Photography can be expensive, but it need not be. Through cheap innovations, backdrops, and depth-of-field mastery, you can take some compelling photographs super-cheap, without years of expertise, which yet have the appearance of deep professionality. So play around a bit; see what works for you. You may be surprised at the opportunities you have available.
Related: Best Camera for Nature Photography
