The Pro Photo Business Forum

Things That Will Ruin a Great Photo
Bryan Lindsey
BCL Photography – Houston Wedding Photographer

You see the image in your head. You see it through the viewfinder. Time is of the essence. You actuate the shutter. Got it! Afterwards you get the image in post-processing and…crap! No, you didn’t get it. Below are three things to look out for as potential image-crashers. Simple reminders for the vets, pointers for the newbies.

Facial expression: Mainly for posed shots, smiles can look unnatural and your subject(s) can get tired. I have found the best way to keep people relaxed is to talk to them. Crack jokes. Reassure them that they look great. Positive positive positive. Do whatever you can to help them to act/interact naturally. Sometimes this can be very difficult if the subject is nervous or has something else on their mind. I like to use the old “close your eyes and imagine *pleasant experience*.” For unnatural-looking smiles, it often helps to have them look at a spot off-camera or, in the case of two people, at each other.

Over or under exposure: You’re on-location and you get done rattling off a set of 100 shots using 10 different poses, later to find that the images are all under-exposed or over-exposed. The easiest way to avoid this is to always chimp after the first shot (chimp = look at the image on the LCD and say “Ooooh! Ooooh!”). Once you’re confident of your camera settings, continue at that spot. I know this seems simple, but I personally tend to get in a groove and sometimes forget to chimp; this negates the LCD screen as one of the biggest advantages of digital photography.

Blur: Blur usually becomes a factor when you’re trying to catch an action shot or trying to shoot as wide open as possible. Knowledge of appropriate aperture/shutter/ISO/flash combinations is key. Blur can be tricky though, because it doesn’t always show up on the LCD screen – it is sometimes an unpleasant surprise when you get the image on the computer. Of course, the goal is always to get a well-exposed image, but my philosophy is that a slightly-dark-image is better than a slightly-blurry image. So I try to err on the side of a faster shutter speed.

No real revelations here, just some common sense to bear in mind and help keep our fingers off of the “delete” button in post-processing.

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Bryan Lindsey
BCL Photography
Houston Wedding and Portrait Photographer