Tips and Techniques To Elevate Your Photos

The most important characteristic of any good picture is simplicity.

Impact/First Impression

The initial feeling you have when viewing a photo for the first time. Does this photo speak to you?

• Is it eye-catching? How does it make you feel?
• The best way to describe this is the ‘wow’ or ‘I wish I’d taken this picture’ reaction. 
• First Impression – What is the photographer trying to convey? How successfully have they carried that through? If they’re trying to tell a story, do the viewers receive it?
• Impact – can depend on originality, contrast between light and darkness, humor, mood, dramatic effect, or human appeal.
• Another way to achieve impact is to eliminate unnecessary distractions from the photo and focusing in on one aspect that gives the picture its appeal.

Creativity/Originality

Three main points to focus on in this category are as follows:

• Impact. 
  • This is the feeling one gets when viewing an image for the first time. Compelling images evoke laughter, sadness, anger, pride, wonder, or another strong emotion.
• Storytelling. 
  • This refers to the photo’s ability to deliver a message or evoke your imagination. Something beautiful about art is that each viewer collects their own unique message or reads their own stories within an image.
• Creativity. 
  • A combination or isolation of the original, fresh, and external expression of the maker’s art or imagination by using the subject and guidelines to convey a message, idea, or thought.

Composition/Arrangement

• Camera Angle
  • Choosing the right camera angle can drive impact and interest.
  • A ‘long-distance’ photo establishes and tells you ‘where’.
  • Close-ups focus attention on specific people or actions.
  • Sometimes shooting vertically rather than horizontally will create a more effective and impactful photo.
  • Location of subject within the photo (if applicable).
• Framing The Subject
  • Sometimes, the results are more pleasing if the subject isn’t perfectly centered in the photo. 
  • The same thing applies to horizons! They can be above or below center but should remain straight. 
• Background and Foreground
  • In general, the background should be simple and draws eyes to the subject. The exception is when the background helps to tell a story.
  • Foreground may add or detract from the photo.
  • Background and foreground don’t need to be in focus so long as the subject or focal point is sharp.
• Lighting
  • This subject is very broad and can get very technical very quickly. Two things to keep an eye out for:
  • Are there harsh or undesirable shadows on the subject? Are there shadows obstructing portions of the photo? 
  • Is there good use of natural light?
• Title or Caption
  • Is it short and to the point? Supplies only essential information.
    • EX: bird species, location. Could be a pun on subject matter or even an emotion/thought the photographer thinks the subject is thinking or feeling.
• Follows Submission Criteria
  • File type, file size, necessary cropping specifications, black and white or color, etc.

Editing and Technical Quality

Basic points of ‘good photography’ to look out for:

• Picture or subject is clear and sharp.
• The picture is simple with no unnecessary distractions which takes your eye away from the main subject. If of a subject, the background is simple and makes the focal point stand out. If the background is shown, or the landscape is the subject, the photo shows where the picture was taken or helps to tell a story.
• Pictures of people show them doing something – looks natural and not posed (unless it is a portrait).
• Close-up shots draw attention and the subject fills most of the picture. Close-up shots tell the details of a story.
• The person or subject is slightly off center in the picture and no important parts are cut off (general rule of thumb is that nobody is cut off or cropped at the joint).
• Watch for objects in the background or foreground that detract from the message in the photo.
  • Are there telephone poles or tree branches that look like they’re growing out of someone’s head?
• Edges of buildings or other straight lines line up straight with the edges of the submitted picture. This means the photographer held the camera level – reminder that minor corrections or adjustments are allowed and encouraged to be made in editing if not captured correctly in the photo.
• Good lighting which allows the subject to be seen in the photo clearly. Important parts of the pictures should not be lost in the shadows or too bright to be seen clearly.
• Look for these common mistakes:
• Light leaks – under or over exposure.
• Part of the subject is blurred through movement (either by subject or the camera)
• Picture is not sharp – unless this effect was created intentionally either through weather conditions, the use of a filter, or other special effect.
• Photo foggy or blurred because the camera lens was smudged or dirty.

Types of Photos/Subject Matter

What should you look out for when taking a picture?

People

• Background is not too busy.
• Unless it is a formal portrait, people should be doing something.
• People should look natural or spontaneous, showing movement. NOT posed.

Landscapes

• Landscape photos are as varied as the environment around us. Landscapes can be natural or manmade. City skylines, mountains, sunsets, lakes, fields of grain - all are subjects for landscape photography. 
• Have something in the foreground -people, a tree, flowers, etc. to give an idea of the scale. This emphasizes the size of the surrounding scenery and provides a focus of interest for the photo. 
• "Frame" your scene with tree branches, or other natural frames. Note that the “frame” should not detract from the focal point (something your eye is drawn to or comes to rest on).
• Perspective 
  • If there are definite lines in a picture such as roads, footsteps in sand or snow –they should carry your eye toward the focal point. Picture footsteps on the beach leading to a sunset over the horizon.
• Use of colors.
• Consider the rule of thirds, but keep in mind that composition isn't an exact science. The rule of thirds doesn't always create the most dynamic composition. 

Buildings/Architecture

• Most often, the camera is held level so that the buildings look straight up and down.

A Note on Editing Your Photo

Basic edits are permitted and expected. These include edits such as exposure adjustments, shadow and highlight recovery, HDR (high dynamic range) capture if applicable, color balance and tint correction, cropping, sharpening, contrast, and black levels. Disclosure for these edits is not necessary.

Advanced editing is permitted but should be disclosed. At proficiency, advanced editing could include layering, composites, cloning or healing tools, masking, warping, or heavy filters. 

Undisclosed advanced edits could lead to lowered ranking at a judge’s discretion.