7 Simple Photo Tips

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Simple and practical photography tips for you:

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1. Photograph with one eye open

Make photos with one eye closed, to better understand perspective, and to see the world like your camera.

2. Small thumbnail test

A simple concept you can apply to your photography — look at your photos as small thumbnails to better understand your compositions.

Look at your photos as small thumbnails to quickly look through your photos; and choose your favorite photos based on your gut.

3. Start with a simple background

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Start off with a black or white background, then add your subject. Find inspiration from Richard Avedon; who made portraits of his subjects against simple white backgrounds.

By starting off by focusing on a simple background, you can better put more focus, emotion, and soul to your subject.

4. Clean edges

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To make better compositions: make the edges of your frame as clean as possible.

So when you’re making photos, pay attention to the edges of the frame.

If the edges of your frame are clean, the middle of your frame will look good.

5. Would I re-share this photo?

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A good tip to know whether your photo is good or not, ask yourself the question:

If I saw this photograph in someone else’s social media feed— would I re-share this photo, or like it?

6. When in doubt, throw it out

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Like bad food in the fridge, remember the saying:

When in doubt, throw it out.

If you look at your photo and you’re not sure whether it is a good photograph or not; it is not a good photo.

So when in doubt in your photo, throw it out. Don’t share it.

7. Photograph hand-gestures

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If you want more emotion and soul in your photographs, photograph hand gestures.

If your subject doesn’t have a hand-gesture, ask them to do an interesting hand gesture. You can ask them to put their hand on their chin, you can ask them to point, or you can tell them to play with their hair.

Slideshow: 7 Simple Photo Tips

More practical photo tips

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Tips are suggestions, not rules. I hope these help stimulate your creativity:

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