Learn to lens

 If you are interested in photography, but you are daunted by all the potential hurdles that need to be jumped to be a “photographer,” relax. Getting started with photography is not complex, nor does it need to be expensive. The hardest part will be convincing yourself to just get started. I have good news, you’ll not be alone.  

I was reluctant to commit to photography when I was younger because I didn’t think I had “it” and my photography would be like my attempts at drawing…disappointing. Sure I liked to take pictures and enjoyed capturing interesting things on film (that’s how old I am) but I never believed I could do photography at any meaningful level. Decades later, I found out I was wrong! Getting into photography was simpler than I understood. It was like learning a musical instrument. 

I often liken photography to playing the piano. 

Now, if you have ever learned to play a musical instrument, you probably know the biggest challenge is usually the technique. Once you understand music theory, you can pick up any new instrument and only really have to wrestle with the technique involved in making that instrument sound good. 

Consider the guitar. If you have ever tried to learn guitar, you probably had a long stretch of twanging, rattling and cringing while your fingers and hands learned where they needed to be to make the notes sound clear and clean. Now, consider the piano. Sit at a piano and push down a key. Voila! Doesn’t that sound nice? A crisp and clear note resounds. All you had to do was “push a button”. 

Approaching the piano is very easy. The trick is building on lots of small techniques to develop mastery, but making music on the piano requires little front-end technique. (I’m sorry if I offended you piano players with my oversimplification.) Photography is similar. 

You don’t need a fancy camera, tripod or strobes to take a picture. You probably have a perfectly good starter camera in your hand, or your pocket. 

Most smartphones have an adequate camera built in to them. Let’s start there! 

You can develop your photography technique with just a smartphone camera. There are only a few simple things you need to make the most of your smartphone camera for photography. 

Composition is key. Composition is how things in the frame are arranged in relation to the camera. Having a good (or at least not bad) composition is the foundation to mastering photography, but first things first. Lets ease into this, as promised, it is not complex. 

The best way to ensure you’re taking good and visually interesting photos is to use a few simple compositional tools. 

Rule# 1: Rule of Thirds. The basic idea is to divide the frame into 9 parts and arrange the subject so it intersects one of the dividing lines.

Here is a picture of my coffee cup. The cup is centered in the thirds. Not very interesting. 

In this example, I shifted things a bit to get the primary parts of the picture to follow the dividing lines. More interesting…right? 

It’s a simple thing, but with a small amount of attention to composition, your photos will be more interesting and appealing. Your smartphone may have the option to “overlay” a thirds grid on your screen while you are framing up your photo. This is a great way to instill the Rule of Thirds into your work as you get started. 

Rule #2: Layering. The next simple tool for photography on your phone is layering. Think of it like this. A good photo has layers, like notes in a chord (going back to the piano metaphor). A single note is fine, add a couple proper notes to that and you have something that can evoke feeling. My mnemonic for this layering is F.M.B. or, foreground, mid-ground, background. Using layers will help to create more visual interest, keep the viewers eye engaged and help separate the interesting from the mundane. Here is an example from an image I took.

First off, your probably thinking “what the heck is this!?!”  Let it go for now, I will let you in on what this scene is about in a future post. For now, notice the “layers”. The “tree” in the left of frame is in the foreground (its actually a stick I’m holding in front of the camera while I snap this picture with my phone). It helps to create a sense of scale and depth. Second is the house and critters. They are in the mid-ground, because the picture is about them. Finally there is the background; all that stuff disappearing into the fog helps further reinforce the sense of depth in the image.

It can be tricky to get a 3 layers in every composition, always strive to have at least 2 layers. At the very least, avoid photographing against a wall, or using a flash in the dark. It may not help you to create the depth that good photographs need. 

Rule #3: Get Closer. The final trick to taking good photos as a beginner is to get closer. Often beginners feel the need to “show everything”. Don’t be afraid to get a bit closer, shut out the unimportant stuff and draw your viewer into what you want them to focus on. 

Here is a picture of a festive seasonal wreath. Yup, there it is. A wreath. 

But….

This is still a picture of the seasonal wreath. However, I think we can agree this closeup version is more visually appealing and interesting. Not having to “show everything” can make for better phone photos. 

There you have it. A soft introduction to simple photography with your smartphone, and a few things to consider as you start photographing. I hope this releases you of any potential photography stress and frees you up to just start taking better (more intentional) photographs. 

If you enjoyed this intro to photography, please follow and share. I have more content in the works for those of you who have a good handle on your photography and want to get better. Upcoming ideas will include advanced compositions, compositional tools and how to use the Elements of Design in your photography. Once you have a strong grasp on composition we can explore lighting and color. 

I would love to see your photography progress. Get out there and start taking pictures on your phone. Focus on making well-composed images and share them with me. I will post the ones that show you’re getting the hang of composition, and I will give tips to those of you who could still make some adjustments to composition.