How to Take Good Photos | 7 Tips to Be a Better Photographer

DMZ Half & Half Contest:
Hey everyone, my names Chris Winter and in this video, I’m going to give 7 tips to become a better photographer. 1) Try Different Routines: So It can be really easy to fall into the trap of taking the same type of photo over and over.
Don’t worry we all do it, and it’s mainly because we get comfortable with it.
But Tip number 7 is to Try and change up your photography routines.
Why not challenge yourself to shoot something different or even set yourself some restrictions.
You could shoot only in black and white, shoot only strangers or only do self portraits.
These are photos that you might not do that often and will take you out of your comfort zone. And we know, when we’re out of our comfort zone is often when we grow and get better.
2) Limit Yourself
Now we all love gear, and as you can see behind me, I’m as guilty as anyone for being a bit of gear head.
But my next tip is try and deliberatly limit yourself with what gear you use and see if you can still get a great shot.
Sure anyonce can take a lovely photo with a 85mm f1.2, but what about with a standard 18-55m kit lens.
With this youre really going to have to pay attention to lighting and compositon so it’s a great way to build those skills.
Now if i’m going to be totally honest with you, the biggest thing that pushed to become a better photographer was being a little competitive.
And if you ask my bigger brother, I’m get competitive at most things especially table tennis.
But the reason why I wanted to bring this up was that I believe entering yourself into photo competitions is one of the best ways of challenging yourself to take and edit better photos.
In fact one of the reasons I thought about making this video was that I was contacted by a photo contest from Korea of all places called the DMZ Half & Half Contest. and I was like yeah, that reminded me of how I used to enter into a lot of photo contests.
Now Theres heaps of reasons why entering can be a good idea.
Firstly like I said, it really pushes you to make your best work. You’ve got to think, plan and deliver something to be proud of.
Secondly, with the internet being so accessible these days, you can enter a photo contest pretty much anywhere in the world without leaving your home.
Who would’ve thought I’d be contacted by a Korean contest, but that’s whats so great about it. Whether you’re in the US or India you can enter.
Now some photo contests do cost money to enter and I’d always be a little bit cautious about that, but the contest I’ve been talking about before is free to enter, so win win.
Another reason is that you can actually win pretty sweet prizes. Now it shouldn’t all be about prizes, but it’s a pretty good incentive.
For example in the DMZ Half & Half Photo Contest, the winner get $5000 Cash, airline tickets worht 4 and a half grand and and you get to go on a tour. And there are hundreds of other prizes too.
And here’s a little tip. Not as many people enter these competitions as you might have thought, so just entering alone often gives you way better chances than you think.
So my challenge to you is enter yourself into a photo contest, whether its local or online and let me know how you go.
And I’ll put a link to the DMZ Half & Half Contest below if you want to check it out.
4) Shoot Every Day
Now have you ever heard the saying by Bruce Lee “I fear not the man who has practiced 10,000 kicks once, but I fear the man who has practiced one kick 10,000 times.”
This is a brillaint example of what consistency and pracitce can do for you.
So lets change this up for photography. Why not try and take 1 photo a day for a year.
Sure it might sound easy, but make sure that 1 photo is the best you can do and also make sure you dont miss a day.
In a years time you’ll be able to look back at all of the photos you took and how much you’ve improved.
5) Join a Photo Community
Some of my favorite moments in photogaphy have been when I’ve shared them with other people.
And thats my next tip which is to join a photography community.
Where do you find one? Well there are plenty of places.
I’d start by taking a look at places like meetup .com or facebook. On there you’ll be able to find different groups in your local area which have people with the same interest in you.
There are groups for studio photography, flash photography or even street photography.
And speaking about that, try and go on photo walks if you can too.
If you’ve never been on one, I’d highly recommend it as its a great way to challenge yourself and it also doesnt hurt compare your photos and learn from other people as well.