You may ask yourself what a professional looking photo looks like. It really depends on the composition of the photo and the lighting that the photographer chooses to take the photo. Amateur photos often suffer from bad lighting. They are often too dark when taken inside a building and often too bright when the sun shines outside during summer season.
A photo must meet a number of criteria before it can be considered professional looking.
Composition
Many people think that the subject of the photo is best put right in the center of the photo. Nothing is further from the truth. There are two hints that can help you to improve the composition of your photos tremendously.
The Fibonacci spiral
Without going into a complex theory. The Fibonacci spiral is a phenomenon that appears in nature and it looks pleasant to the human eye. This spiral is the result of a mathematical sequence. If one divides two consecutive numbers in the sequence, the result equals the Golden Ratio, being 1.618 on average.
A very close approximation of the Golden Ratio is the rule of thirds. You simply divide the frame of the photo in virtual thirds with vertical and horizontal lines and you put the subject on one of the intersections.
The above mentioned tips will help you compose your photos easier for better results.
Lighting
The second criterion, lighting, is also very important to make your photos look better. Depending on the location and the amount of light available the photographer must set the camera so that it uses the optimal shutter speed and aperture. The shutter speed is the amount of time that the light-sensitive device of the camera is exposed to a certain amount of light, determined by the aperture of the lens.
To make sure that the colors on the photo look natural the camera must be set to the appropriate white balance setting. The light color outside depends on what time of the day the photo is being taken, because the sun causes different light colors during the course of a day. It is also possible to observe the subject during several hours of the day to determine the desired light color.
For most photos the automatic settings will do for both aperture and white balance.
Sharpness of the image
Most digital photo cameras have an auto focus feature built-in. Using this feature will not always result in sharp photos. One of the main reasons is that some people do not always know how to keep the camera stable while pressing the shutter release button.
Stability can be improved by not using the LCD screen on the back of the camera to take the photo. A better idea is to use the viewfinder of the camera and to hold the camera closer to the face and pressing the elbows against the body while pressing the shutter release button. This is especially necessary in bad lighting conditions.
After reading this article you may realize that taking quality photos does not necessarily depend upon the camera used, but rather on how the photographer uses the camera.
Rudy Dhondt gives more Digital Photo Tips on his website Discoverdigitalphoto.com. The main subject is how to use compact digital photo cameras to take professional looking photos.
