How I take my pictures

People often ask, "how do you take good pictures?"  I've been asked this question so much that I decided to write a post about it.  I contemplated on naming this, "how to take good pictures," but that sounded a bit arrogant for my taste, so I decided to name it as is.  If you think my pictures suck, well, that's nice.  I'm not writing about how to take good pictures - I'm just writing about how I take mine.

1.  Practice.  Yeah, Kinda lame, but true.  Don't just practice, but try to learn from other people's photography and incorporate them into your own pictures.  Alex Webb is one of my favorite photographers, and he has influenced me greatly.

2.  Get up close and personal. 






The great Robert Capa once said, "if your pictures aren't good enough, you're not close enough."


3. Change your angle.





What do these pictures have in common?  I was lying on my stomach while taking them.  If your subject isn't unique, and your lighting is boring, you should at least pay attention to the background and the angle & focal length of your camera.


4. See the world from unique perspective

Kind of similar to number 3, but not really:



(This was taken by Susie Yoo, but since I thought of the idea and told her exactly what to do, I feel as if I deserve a little bit of the credit ^^ )





(self portrait)



(This picture was taken at Covenant UMC.  Does anyone know where?)

5. lights, lights lights

If you didn't know already, "photo" means light, and "graphy" means "to paint, or draw."  Therefore, photography means, "painting with light."



I'm not even gonna post pictures taken with fancy studio lights.  All of these were taken with either natural lights (sun or any light I can't manipulate), or with one flash.










6.  What are you trying to say?

If you can only remember one thing, remember this.  Try to tell a story.  If you're taking a picture of a landscape, you're obviously not trying to tell a story but taking a picture for its aesthetic value, but many times, it's possible (difficult, but possible) to tell a good story through photography.  No, it doesn't have to have some crazy philosophical value to it.  Just make it clear to the audience - this is what I want you to see!













(Humor is always good)




I also love pictures of everyday mundane object and making it somewhat special. 






Well, that's pretty much it folks.  Have fun taking pictures.