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Greetings Fellow Photographers!
May is National Photography Month! To celebrate, I am giving you 5 tips for getting a great photo.
 Variety of Perspective
When you're out shooting, sometimes a scene will catch your eye, inspiring you to immediately take the picture. While there is certainly nothing wrong with that, you should also try to look for more interesting perspectives for the shot. Take the time to shift angles and viewpoints to really explore the shot from various positions. The first one may still be the best, but chances are that a little exploration in perspective will provide a nice variety to choose from.
 Be Bold and Make a Statement
All great photos invoke emotion. When you come across a scene that moves you in some way, take the time to think about how to capture that emotion in your photo. For example, if you come across a tree that seems ironic to you, ask yourself how you can lead your audience to the same reaction. Maybe the tree is all alone in the middle of a highly developed area, and thus struck you as ironic. If that is the case, be sure to capture the area surrounding the tree to prove your point.
 Follow Through
Seldom does a photo come right out of the camera and into a picture frame; there is almost always some manipulation happening, whether it is simple contrast or color adjustment, or an intense crop. Photo editing software has replaced dark rooms of the past, but the concept remains. My great friend Ansel Adams used to spend days in his dark room manipulating his shot until he got it just right. You have the advantage of working with software instead of red lights and chemicals, but a great photo still requires a bit of post-production work most of the time. If you don’t have any photo editing software, try the new edit tools in your photo account, which will be available later this month!
 Think Outside the Box
Sometimes, what seems like the obvious shot is not always the most interesting or best choice. For example, when a runner crosses the finish line as the race winner, your first instinct is probably to take a shot at the moment he or she breaks through the tape. However, what if you instead took a close up of a 4 year old child's eyes as he watches the runner win? The child's eyes are likely full of awe and wonder as he beholds what is in his mind a heroic event. Pay attention to subtle nuances like that in your photography.
Organize, Organize, and...Organize!
You are, and should always be, your harshest critic when it comes to your photography. Therefore, make things easy on yourself when reviewing your photos and looking for the best shots. After you upload photos to your online account, create a sub-album within the main album and keep only the best shots in that sub-album. You can call it your "best shots" album. Do this for all of your online albums, so when you go back to look next year, you can easily see the good ones without having to sift through the rest. Also, don't be afraid to delete any photos you don't like.
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