Sometimes it is hard for me to turn off my photographer brain. I find myself critiquing photos I see in Facebook feeds and blogs and not even meaning to! A lot of times I just think, oh man that would have been perfect if they just _____. I know a lot of times we can’t control every aspect of a photo to make it perfect, but if you CAN, here are three small tweaks you can make to take your photo from ok to WOW! These can literally work for ANY photograph.

Let’s start with what we see a lot of (from non-professionals)

Not a TERRIBLE photo, but here is what I see…
The tree is sticking up directly from behind him. I also see the building and light post in the background and it distracts me. The light on the left side of him is much brighter and splotchier than that on the right. A portion of his cheek is actually “blown out” and he has shadows and dark patches on the opposite side. And finally, it is so far away and slightly crooked that it is hard to know what to look at!

And here are the three fixes…

1. Check your background. Are there are distracting things in there? Is there a tree or building sticking up from behind someone’s head? In my sample photo, yes the tree was sticking up behind him. Below is another example. ON the top photo, the tree is behind him. ON the bottom I literally just stepped two steps over and shot the same pic. he didn’t move his feet.

2. Look for EVEN light. Is there bright spots of light on their face? I love lighting the tops of the head/hairline, but I avoid Bright spots on the face. Make sure the skin is EVEN across the entire frame. Even light lets you focus on the eyes and not the patch of their skin that is brighter.

3. GET CLOSER! The biggest thing that can improve your photos is simply getting closer. Take a step or two forward.  It will make your subject POP off the background! See how your eyes know exactly where to go. And all these were taken in the exact same spot in my yard. Getting closer makes the background disappear too!

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