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Whether it’s your kid’s first birthday, the high school reunion or you’ve just set off on that big post University journey of self discovery, whatever the occasion more often than not we want to capture it all for prosperity and to share with family and friends. Those darn Kodak “golden moments” commercials aren’t the only thing to blame, the relatively cheap prices of digital cameras and the ease in which images are shared make every occasion bait for the budding shutter bug.

The question though is, how, do you make your photos stand out among the sea of images everyone else will be taking, not those holiday snaps your friends try and get out of seeing with their arsenal of well rehearsed excuses?

Show me something new Squinty Eyed Camera Guy:
Without going in depth (as the title of this consisting of the word BASIC) it’s safe to say composition is a big part of any great photo, and using it to set your pictures apart is easy. Show the audience something new. Unlike the days of film a bad picture has no cost to you, so don’t be afraid to experiment. Try odd angles, get up high and shoot down, get down low and shoot up, try to present a view someone walking past the subject would not normally see.



Up Close and Personal:
A thing we all too often do when starting out is try and capture the subject as a whole, be it a majestic landscape, an old lady selling her wares at the market or an exotic sports car. There is nothing wrong with that at all, take that shot though and move on! Get in close capture the lines of detail, the intricate shapes, colours, and the key identifiers. By not presenting the whole picture you get the viewers mind working, creating greater interest than you would get by showing the whole subject, think of what a stripper does, the slow reveal... ummm so I hear anyway(smiles innocently).

Think, frame then click:
While a lot is said about being able to pre-empt a moment and capture it, for those starting out before they develop this sixth sense it is essential to think of what you are trying to capture. Take for example if you’re trying to capture the size of some massive landmark, a picture of it alone does not convey the size and often leads to reactions like “oh that’s nice… its big I guess”, put a person next to it however, and you get a sense of scale and a reaction more along the lines of “wow that’s F#*$KEN HUGE!”. Oh and you know that’s what we all love to hear (ok, I promise no jokes about the size of my Centre Point Tower, Americans, replace with Washington Monument).

Moving on, when it comes to people, it helps to ask yourself what makes the person interesting? Focus in on it and bring it to the attention of the viewer, eyes are usually a great point of focus and helps pull you in. Whatever you are trying to shoot, you’ll find that if you take a little time before you press that shutter button, the end results will be more interesting than shooting like a brainless zombie with a camera wired to the one crusty finger still left at the end of its arm.

Now that you’re armed with these few basic tips, I hope they help you produce some truly wonderful images. If they don’t look great straight off the bat, don’t be disheartened. Keep at it and you’ll get better. Now my fellow shutter bugs venture into the world and practice, practice, practice!