Photography tips

Here are 10 top tips to help you get the best shots which will present your group, business or offering in the most attractive light.

1. Familiarise yourself

Before you begin, familiarise yourself with your camera and ensure you have selected the highest resolution in which to take your pictures. Set to an ‘Automatic’ or ‘Program’ mode which will pick the best setting to shoot at depending on the kind of lighting available.

2. Think about your composition

Don’t take pictures without first thinking about how you want them to look and the kind of message you’d like them to convey to potential customers/your audience.

3. Good light

Try to take your pictures in good light – outdoors is great as you’ll have plenty of all-round natural light available to illuminate your subject.

4. Horizontal Line & Rule of Thirds

A simple way to improve the composition of your images is to split your frame up into nine equal parts. Position your focal point not in the centre of the image, but instead align it to one of the intersecting lines as shown below. Read more on the rule of thirds by looking at the Wikipedia entry.

An example of the rule of thirds

5. Remove distractions from the background

Whether it’s a tree which looks as if it’s growing out of your subject’s head, or piles of paperwork on your desk, try and keep the picture as clean as possible and the focus of your image clear.

6. Fill the frame

Don’t be frightened of getting up close to the object or person you are photographing. Have a go at doing this with the ‘Macro’ function enabled, which might be shown as a small flower icon. This is ideal for really zoomed in shots, where you want to capture lots of detail.

7. Play with perspective

You might be surprised at the results you’ll achieve from coming in at a slightly unusual angle.

8. Focus

Use your 'focus' feature - this might be as simple as holding your button at the half way point for a second before taking the shot. It’ll help you gain a nice, clear image.

9. Keep still

If you really want to ‘sell’ yourself, a rushed, blurry shot is the enemy. If you suffer from shaky hands, invest in a tripod or for the purposes of this picture, use a stack of books or another prop to rest your camera upon when taking pictures.

10. Take lots of shots

Experiment with your angle, background, different settings, with and without a flash – then when it comes to viewing your pictures on the computer and editing down to your chosen few, you’ll have more to pick from and a better chance of finding one that fits the bill.