>{therealnickjones}<

ok, I’ve recieved a few messages lately asking me about my photo technique. Let me just say up front, I don’t consider myself a master of this craft by any means. I feel like I’ve been fortunate to get some of the shots I’ve taken and even more fortunate to sell some of them… Anyway, I thought I would take some time to write out a few thoughts on some things to keep in mind to get a really good photo. I’ll be using some of my flickr photos as examples.

1. GET CLOSE.

I think the worst thing that has happened to photography is the digital zoom… If you want a good photo, you really need to be intimately close to your subject. Obviously there are exceptions (landscape photography, wide angle stuff) But for most journalistic or artistic photography you really need to get close. Here’s a favorite of mine.

If you want to improve at this, try setting your camera as wide as it will go (all the way zoomed out) and move yourself closer instead of zooming in. There are so many awesome aspects in a photo that you will only capture if you are truly close.

2. LOOK FOR FRAMES.

When I take a picture my first thought in composition is how to naturally frame the subject. Are there objects in the enviroment that will create an interesting framing effect?

Can you shoot through a naturally created window?

Sometimes frames will only cover one side. That’s ok. some of my favorite shots are framed on one side only.

3.SHOOT THE ORDINARY.

So many people think they are uncapable of taking “cool” pictures because they don’t have any “cool” subjects. I think the true sign of an artist is making something ordinary look special. Shoot a ton of shots. Save some of them. Throw a bunch out. The days of the old school photographer working for hours to shoot one exposure are over. You can take 3,000 pictures for the same price as one. So shoot as much as you can. Here are some random shots I took while I lived in a typical apartment in OKC.

I’ll post some more thoughts later. I don’t want to throw it all out there at once you know…. My best advice is to keep shooting. Honestly, you’ll never get better if you don’t take a LOT of pictures in a LOT of different situations. And if there are certain topics you want me to talk about let me know.