6 Ways to Make Your Photos Like a Professional Photographer
Are you an amateur photographer or business owner who wants to have pictures that look like they were done by professionals? Check out these six tips to make your photos look like they've gone through professional photo editing.
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Exposure
Exposure is very important but not everybody knows what it is. It refers to the amount of light that hits the film if you're using an old-timey camera. The modern equivalent is known as an image sensor. To edit a photo professionally, you should understand exposure because proper manipulation can create a really good photo. To start, there are three key factors that you should consider:
ISO
This refers to the light sensitivity of your camera. The darker the image, the lower your ISO and vice versa.
Aperture
Aperture is the hole in your lens that allows light to pass through. This means that if you have a small aperture, you create a bigger depth of field and vice versa.
Shutter Speed
This refers to how fast your shutter is opening to allow light to pass. The faster the speed, the less light is allowed inside.
Knowing how to modify these settings can give you photos of varying color saturation, clarity, field, focus, and so on. Make sure to put these factors into consideration especially during your post-process photo retouching.
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Low Light
It could be difficult to take a photograph with low lighting. However, there are a lot of instances that require you to take a photograph with dim to little light, such as Halloween, sporting events, night parties, and so on. As such, it is very important to learn how to deal with such conditions.
There are three tips to work with low lighting:
● Increase the ISO to get a brighter image.
● Use a large aperture to allow more like to come in.
● Set the shutter speed at a slower rate to limit the blurring of motions.
You might get a grainy image but you can fix this during post-process retouching. If you are using Photoshop, the function that you are looking for is called Reduce Noise, found under Filter.
You might be asking, should you use flash? The best answer is to not use it. Using flash can create overexposed images where people just look pale and awash in the flash. You might want to experiment with indirect lighting if you have an off-camera flash, but otherwise, we suggest leaving this option behind.
Low Resolution
Now let's talk about resolution. What is the best resolution for a photo? The answer depends on where you plan to use the photograph. For instance, photo books will require images with higher resolutions. If you are not sure if the photo can't fit, it is still better to shoot at a high resolution and then scale it down later during retouching.
If you're talking about online images, you don't have to use very high resolution. Usually, 72 PPI is recommended because it will let you load the website or page faster. However, take note that online images can look blurry when printed out, so again, we are recommending to shoot in high resolution and then just scale it down during editing.
Retouching apps allow you to upscale resolution. For example, Adobe Photoshop has a Resample Image Tool that can increase the PPI of a photograph. However, this is not a perfect solution but more of a band-aid. The best way would still be to shoot images at the desired resolution in the first place.
Resizing
The best photography editing software for beginners makes it easier for us to resize images. Photoshop has the Image Sizefeature under Image. Here, you can adjust the pixel dimensions, resolution, and document size of your photo.
Feel free to experiment with resizing. If you want to shrink the image, you might want to consider moving some of the shot’s outer frames in order to recenter your subject. Another option would be to make the image larger by sliding the subject over to have a more dynamic negative space.
Focus
It might seem like a scary prospect to turn off autofocus and use manual focusing instead. But if you are into experimenting with ways on how to improve your photographs, then this is something that you might want to try.
Most modern equipment come with advanced autofocus functions, however, every now and then you can notice that your camera is hunting for the specific subject that you want to focus on. By using manual focus, you get a better degree of freedom in terms of composing the shot that you prefer. Go for single auto-focus. This will allow your camera to understand that you only want to focus on one subject, which means that not everything else in the shot has to be crisp and sharp.
Framing
Finally, let's talk about framing. A lot of amateur photographers center the subject in their viewfinder and leave it at that. While this is a traditional and acceptable way to do your photos, we can all agree that it is also not unique and quite boring. By using framing, you can express yourself and present a more original approach to taking photographs.
Try to find ways to frame your shot within the frame. This means that you need to look at the bigger picture and consider the landscape shot via an open window. Good examples are taking a photo of a child that is surrounded by playground fixtures and toys, or a person on a hiking trail framed by trees on the outline.
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When you are post-editing, make sure to consider all of these factors and try out different settings to find out which ones work the best for you. We all have different photography styles, and learning how to tweak these modifications can help you get one step closer to having photographs that look like they've gone through professional photo editing.
post production
Finally you can make your photos stand out from the rest using post production tools like Photoshop and Lightroom. If you don’t have the time to use these tools yourself then consider an app like MIKU. MIKU allows you to send your photos to a team of professional photo editors. You can ask them to make any changes you want and they will send the photo back usually within 20 minutes!
