How You Can Shoot Better Pictures... "Develop" Your Inner Photojournalist!

President Jimmy Carter, 1980. Classic portrait style, photographed vertically with President's face at a composition point, looking into the frame, and intentionally slightly right of center. High flash lighting prevented red-eye and accentuated eye color, as well as providing nice shadowing effects. Open aperture of lens softened background of photo. Filling the frame provides details otherwise missed. Photo by Gary Rice

Those of you who have read my columns regularly know that I've had a variety of interests over the years. I've been involved in the world of music since childhood, playing with different groups, and teaching private lessons. As time went on, I've worked in retail music operations, repaired instruments, and eventually became involved with the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's guitar collection as "Guitar Guy Gary". I've also been a school teacher, retiring from that profession in 2005, as well as having been a writer - both for you, and for my own enjoyment, with prose, poetry, and songs.

In addition to all of the above, I also did a good deal of photography in my younger days. It's a craft that I was fairly accomplished at. I still do a bit of it for my own enjoyment, as well.

My father had been a good photographer, but my own interest in that subject began in earnest when I attended a night school class at Lakewood High School taught by a gentleman named Steve Arvai. In addition to being a first rate photographer, Steve was heavily involved with color chemistry and its developing process, back in the days when many people were happy to simply take their film to the nearest processor.

Steve was an outstanding teacher, and he and I developed a great relationship. He actually helped me to become a professional photographer.

As an aside, I would strongly encourage anyone to take advantage of the many fantastic night school programs available in Lakewood. If you've misplaced the informative brochure that was sent to your homes, check with the Lakewood Schools to determine what's available.

While technically, just about anyone can snap a shutter button, it's clear that some pictures are indeed better than others. The purpose of this column is to help you to be able to distinguish between mediocre and quality photographs. While you might think this to be an obvious exercise in common sense, a truly great picture often has certain characteristics that exude excellence.

Actually, photographers tend to fall into several simple categories: There are the record-keepers, and the artsy-craftsy types, and then there are the real artists, who can often combine both art, and simple recording into a substance transcending all categories.

As with any skill, to some extent, you can train someone to take better pictures. Here are a few tips to start you on your way.

First of all, lay an imaginary tic-tac-toe grid over the top of your potential image, and put your subject into one or more of the four places where those lines intersect. These are called "composition points". A prize winning photo will often have its subject, not in the dead center, but placed in one of those four points. Often, a subject of secondary interest is placed in a second point, generally diagonal to the first. For example, a deer, placed at one of those four points in your shot might have an interesting tree placed offset at another point. PLEASE AVOID placing your subject dead-center in your shot, as that's oftentimes not the mark of the best pictures.

Try to shoot vertical subjects vertically, and horizontal subjects horizontally. Cars and alligators generally would be shot while holding your camera normally, for example, while people and trees would generally be photographed with your camera held sideways. There's no law forbidding you from holding your camera any way you like!

Be sure to fill your frame up, keeping wasted space out of your image. No one likes to squint while trying to distinguish faces in a crowd. As we like to say in sports photography, "Show the sweat!" Shoot close. That's the mark of a professional photograph. Try to shoot thematically too. Let your shot, or shots, convey a topic, like a composition for your English class (comedy, tragedy, irony etc...) If your shot conveys emotional depth, so much the better! Try concocting a theme- like "A day in my cat's life". Start to see things as your cat does! Get creative. Have fun with a purpose in mind.

Get creative too, (if not wild!) with your angles. Shoot at ground level, or at an oddball slant. These types of photos, when properly framed, can be prize-winners! If shooting chrome or reflecting surfaces however, be sure of what you are reflecting!

Avoid shots that are either too "bland", or too "busy". That is, keep it clear what the focus of your photo is. Let people know that there's a reason that you clicked that shutter!
The candid, or relaxed shot, comes out so much better than an artificially posed picture. A real trick for professionals, who MUST pose their pictures, is to make them look un-posed!

Capture an essential moment. At a wedding, for example, you have to capture "the kiss". Little else matters, you know...

In addition to these rudimentary suggestions, there are technical points too, including depth-of-field and lighting issues.

"Depth-of-field" is how much of your picture is in focus. That will depend upon the aperture (mechanical opening) of your lens. In bright sunny weather, your lens opening will be fairly small, with more of your picture in focus; but in dim light, the mechanical opening will be far greater. A face, for example, might be in focus in low light, but the area behind it will be blurry. For portraits, that might not be a bad thing though!

Flash photography carries its own challenges, as well. A flash too close to a lens will often create a red-eye effect (where the flash will bounce back from a reflection on the eyes). Don't shoot directly towards a window or mirror with flash either, as that will also cause an unwanted reflection in your picture. For my flash shots, I generally mount my flash high up on a bracket, or even "bounce" the light off a ceiling, as this can give good modeling shadows, and will generally avoid that dreaded red-eye look. Computers can generally manipulate those red eyes away, with digital software packages.

Side-lighting a subject can increase details, character, and drama, as can creative usage of natural light, but avoid lighting a portrait from below, unless you want your Uncle Felix to look like Frankenstein's monster.

Finally, please keep in mind that there are serious ethical and legal issues involved with your photography. Photo labs will report any photos to the police that might be of a questionable nature. Questionable photos that people may take of children are particularly scrutinized these days. Under no circumstances should you either take, or circulate photos that might, in any way, be interpreted as pornographic or suggestive. I would think that would certainly include any and all nude photos of minors. The days of those baby-in-a-bathtub shots are long past!

Other ethical and legal issues come into play in photography that are too numerous to go into here. Suffice to say that if you think that you should not shoot a particular photograph, you are probably right.

Perhaps in the future, the Observer family of papers can offer photography contests.

Hopefully, in any case, if you follow some of the guidelines suggested here, you will be well on your way to taking a lifetime of better photos, as we continue to mark the pulse of this city.

I'd also like to mention that the excellent Lakewood Photographic Society meets most Tuesday evenings at 7:30 p.m., from mid-September to mid-May, at Lakewood Senior Center West. Call the Center for their schedule, in order to get in touch with this great group of friendly and welcoming individuals!