Realizing I’m a Terrible Photographer

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Prime example of my terrible photography. This shot of Trinity College in Dublin includes street signs and part of my sister’s face. Also there’s a date stamp… why?!

When researching and preparing to start the Poky Little Wanderer, I went back through all the old photos on my computer (going back to 2007). In doing this, I realized something: I was a terrible photographer. I can’t even blame my camera(s) since a good photographer can take a decent photo on nearly any camera. In high school I loved getting ridiculous candid shots of my friends, and was constantly snapping random pictures of them. (My apologies to everyone who was victim to my often ill-timed snapshots.) This habit of thoughtless snapping bled into all pictures I took, including when I was traveling. In recent years I’ve really come to admire gorgeous photography and made efforts to take better pictures myself.

Framing a Shot 101

When I noticed how bad my photos were, I started to look up some techniques for taking better photographs. One of the first things I read about was framing a shot and the rule of thirds. A rough definition of the rule of thirds for those of you who may not of heard of it before:

Research into becoming a better photographer introduced me to the rule of thirds as shown in this image.

The rule of thirds is a guideline for composing visual images. The guideline proposes that an image should be imagined as divided into nine equal parts by equally spaced horizontal and vertical lines, and that important compositional elements should be placed along these lines or at their intersections. The theory behind the technique is that aligning a subject with these points creates more tension, energy and interest in the composition than simply centering the subject.

To help me be conscious of the rule of thirds, I changed the camera settings on my phone to show the 3×3 grid. Ask any number of professional photographers and they might tell you to ignore this rule or that rules are made to be broken. However, as a newbie this has really helped me pay more attention to the composition of my pictures.

I have also started to be more selective with what’s included in the frame of my shots, and adjusting as needed. Patience is also helpful as it’s worth waiting for people to walk past so they aren’t cluttering up your photograph. So simple, yet it makes a world of difference to actually look at what’s included in the frame of a picture before clicking the shutter button.

Getting the Right Tools

While my iPhone takes pretty decent photographs, I want to be able to grow my skills beyond what my phone is capable of. Before traveling to Ecuador, I purchased a GoPro to be able to take underwater footage while scuba diving. After doing a lot of research, I ended up investing in a tray as well as red and orange filters to use while diving. The tray stabilizes the camera and the filters re-capture colors that get drowned out by the blue water. The GoPro worked out great since I participated in a lot of adventure activities on that trip and was able to document a lot more than I would have with only a phone camera. 

In fall of 2017 I also purchased a Nikon D5600 in order to have a nice camera able to take higher quality photographs. After doing quite a lot of research and going back and forth between a beginner DLSR or a professional grade camera, I finally settled on the Nikon D5600.

I’m practicing and hope you’ll enjoy my journey to become a better photographer!

A mid-level camera that will allow me to practice and grow my photography skills. I’ve also picked up a few basic tools to help along the way, including my favorite so far: Joby GorillaPod Focus tripod with Ballhead. This tripod was gold during a trip to Rome in the spring as I used it all over the city to capture Rome’s many landmarks. Take a look at 12 Photos to Inspire You to Explore Rome at Night to see how they came out.

A Work in Progress

The first few days with the Nikon were spent googling the settings to use and taking practice photos of my dog Pandora, who was a pretty good sport about it. However, since then I’ve taken thousands of pictures with it both around home and abroad. While I’m nowhere near the level of a professional photographer, I have learned a lot about taking better photographs and about my camera. I hope you’ll follow along and (hopefully) see my photography improve with time and practice.

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