Photography and videos are tremendously important for communicating on the Internet. Why? Because people do not want to read online. People consume information on the Internet primarily through videos and pictures, not written words. You can argue with me on this point all you want, but you’re better off just accepting the fact that your message will reach more people if it’s framed by pictures and videos. (If the New York Times needs to supplement its written words with pictures and videos, so do unknown bloggers and websites.)
This means that you would benefit tremendously if you equip yourself to take high quality, professional looking photographs on a regular basis.Here’s one of the biggest tips I can give you: often, the biggest difference between professional-looking photos and amateur photos comes down to the time of day. I was speaking with a veteran advertising producer who told me that he used to hate getting up at three in the morning to prepare for a photo shoot that had nothing at all to do with a sunrise, but the fact is, the quality of light two hours after sunrise and two hours before sunset is magical on film. Those two two-hour chunks of time are when 80% of important outdoor movie scenes and magazine pieces are shot.
If you want your pictures or videos to look professional, the early bird still gets the worm.
Great tip, Will. A huge percentage in getting a quality, professional photo revolves around lighting. That could be outside, natural lighting, such as you describe. Or that could be the artificially setup lighting that pros use in a studio. That is a massive reason why your average Joe’s photos look very ordinary next to those of a pro at times. Camera matters, but so does lighting.
Thanks. That’s definitely true – I really like the camera I use, which is Nikon’s basic SLR camera, and being familiar with how that type of camera works does go a long way. But if you’re on a budget, or if you’re just getting started, heading out early in the morning may boost your photo quality more than anything else. And if you’ve got all the other things in place, but you’re taking your photos outside at 10AM, you’re going to be limited in your results as well.
As the mother of a professional photographer I applaud this post. There is truth in that old cliche: “A picture is worth a thousand words”.Another thing to consider is taking photographs indoors but NOT in a professional studio. In this situation the danger is over-lighting, sometimes even by the pros. Theatres, for instance (my company’s stock-in-trade) have no natural light. For those interested in a fascinating example, see this story of a broadway theatre renovation: no natural light, minimal additional light, taken with a Canon EOS 5D. http://bit.ly/dAGW0q(Full disclosure: the photographer is my son, Samuel Morgan. Forgive me, but his work is awesome.)