77 photography techniques, tips and tricks for taking pictures of anything

from Digital Camera World

Learn new photography techniques – and master old ones – with this essential photographer’s resource. This list of 77 photography techniques to try covers some of the most popular types of photography.

Whether you want to improve your portrait photography or learn how to take better landscapes, discover the secret to sharp close-up photos or start out in street photography, you’ll find some essential tips and tricks here.

Words by Marcus Hawkins

Portrait photography techniques, tips and tricks

Improve your photos of people with our quick and easy camera techniques

Portrait photography technique 01: focus on the eyes
While eye contact is not always desirable in a portrait, sharp eyes certainly are. Manually select an AF point that’s positioned over one of your model’s eyes, or use the central focus point to lock focus on their eye.

Then, with the shutter release half-pressed to keep the setting locked, recompose your picture before taking the shot.

SEE MORE
10 portrait photography mistakes every photographer makes (and how to fix them)
14 portrait photography tips you’ll never want to forget
Shoot Like a Pro: outdoor portrait photography made easy

Portrait photography technique 02: using a standard or telephoto lens
Wide-angle lenses are a great choice for photographing environmental portraits, where you want to show a person within a specific context. However, wide-angle lenses used close-up will distort facial features and creative unflattering pictures.

A better choice for portraits is either a standard lens or a short telephoto lens. The classic portrait focal lengths for a full-frame camera are 50mm, 85mm prime lenses and a 70-200mm zoom.

These will help to compress features and provide a more natural-looking result.

 

 

See the next 75 tips here