A lot of amateur or aspiring photographers can be heard complaining that the photos they take and the custom canvas prints they make from those photos are rubbish because their camera is no good. Whether it’s a smartphone or a bargain point-and-shoot, they constantly complain that if they could afford a better camera, their canvas prints would be a thousand times better. Every time they show off a new composition just back from the canvas printers, they always deprecate it with a comment about their awful camera.
The fact is, though, that photography isn’t about the camera – or at least, not much. Talented and creative folks have taken amazing photos with a humble iPhone, and others have taken awful, boring photos with expensive cameras that required a mortgage to purchase. As the old saying goes, the best camera is the one you’ve got – don’t think you need a better camera to take better photos. Here’s three ways to get better photos right now, even with the cheapest, dinkiest smartphone camera in the world.
Better Photos for Custom Canvas Prints
Step One is to learn everything you can about your camera.
So many amateur photographers simply point and press. They don’t read the manual, they don’t experiment, and they don’t do any research at all. Ask yourself: Do you know all the possible settings of your camera and what they mean? Are you using the best possible camera App on your phone? Do you know anything about lighting and composition?
Knowing what your camera is and isn’t capable of takes two things: Book knowledge of its settings and defaults, and real-world experience using it. Before you strike out to take photos of anything, experiment. Try different situations – full sunlight, shade, evening, night – and different tools, including the camera’s flash. Get a feel for how different configurations turn out. No matter how humble your camera is, knowing what it’s capable of will get you superior results.
Practice Makes Perfect
Part Two is to use your camera. A lot.
Every day would be a good starting point. Bring your camera with you at all times, and keep your eyes open for possibilities. Put the knowledge you’re collecting about the camera to practice, and change the settings as needed. The more photos you take, the better feel for things like the Rule of Thirds or lighting you’ll have. In short, every time you take photos, you’ll become a better photographer – and a better photographer will always get better photos out of any camera, no matter how cheap or how low-end it is.
Finally, after a lot of practice, you might get good enough and familiar enough to hit the final stage: Using the camera’s limitations as an advantage. Whatever faults the camera has can be made into artistic pluses that you can use to create interesting, unique photos.
It’s all about attitude. You can choose to be depressed about your low-end camera, and blame it for your poor photos, or you can choose to overcome and find ways to create great photos anyway. When you figure that out and have some truly amazing shots, click here and share them with us, and we’ll send back amazing custom canvas prints to match!
