Tips for great garden photos
Good photos do not require a DSLR camera, the kind with interchangeable lenses. Almost everyone has a smartphone these days with a camera. Some of the newer phones have camera technology that make photo taking easy. To get a really great photo, think about careful composition, attention to detail and maybe a little adjustment and cropping after. So here are some tips that might help you.
Tip #1 Composition is everything. Taking the photo means you were there to push a button, and sometimes that works fine. But to have a really great photo you need some composition. Several cameras these days have a grid overlay to let you use the “Rule of Thirds”. Use the grid to position the focus or dynamic portion so that it falls into one- or two-thirds of the screen. Play with the interest being somewhere other than dead center. How to make grid lines visible on your phone:
- iPhone: go to Settings, then Camera and make sure that the Grid switch is turned on.
- Android: (This may vary slightly depending on the age and model of your phone but the following is generally true.) On your camera screen, tap the settings icon and look for the grid setting slider button. Slide to the right to turn the gird on.
Tip #2 Where’s your focus. Make sure that the point of your image is obvious. Make sure IT’S in focus! Most users use auto focus but it isn’t always where YOU want to focus but you can fix that. To create the best possible image it’s essential that the camera is focusing on your intended subject. So rather than letting the camera decide what to focus on, you can control the focus point.
To set the focus point, you can simply tap once on the phone screen. Doing this also sets the exposure level (how bright the subject appears). The camera will aim to ensure that the area that’s in focus is properly exposed (not too bright and not too dark).
When you tap to set focus, you’ll see a yellow box (iPhones) or yellow circle (Android) appear around the part of the scene that you tapped on. This indicates your focus point. If you need to adjust the exposure to make the image brighter or darker, just swipe up or down (iPhone) or left or right (Android) on the screen. Experiment with different settings on you camera.
Also remember all lenses have a minimum distance they can focus, usually around 6-8 inches. If you really want a portrait shot with a short depth-of-field, back off and zoom in. This will shorten your focal plane and drop out the background.
Tip #3 Put a little effort into the shot. Drive by shootings are inevitable sometimes but not the best way, nor is the shooting from whatever height you were happened to be born with.
- Sometime you have to move around, check all angles.
- Lie down on the ground and shoot up, feel the grass on your tummy (and sometime the mulch). Or get on a ladder and shoot down.
- You aren’t wasting film anymore shoot horizontal and vertical.
- Step back for a wider angle or move in for a closer one.
Today’s generation of smart phone cameras have become really high quality and you can take exceptional photos with them. Take lots of photos for practice. If it’s not want you want, delete, and try again.
Updated: June 29, 2023