Not happy with your pictures? Have a watch of this video from the excellent Mike Browne.
The truth is it took me about 3 years before I was happy with my own pictures. Its not about the kit, its about the time invested. So grab the camera you have now and get out and shoot. Make mistakes, mess about. Get to know your camera's buttons with your eyes closed. Try to shoot everyday! No matter your skill level if you relax and keep shooting you will get better.
So I was covering a corporate event the other day and one of the speakers asked for a cool portrait at the venue. We had 2 minutes before his taxi arrived and I had no way of lighting him nicely as I had one flash for corporate "run and gun" and couldnt bounce it as the ceiling was way above us. What to do? I positioned him in the frame so his suit was silhouetted by the light coloured marble and his hair and face were backed by the dark statue.
It's high iso grainy photography but by being intelligent about the composition allowed me to get a interesting contrasty shot in a terribly low light lobby.
Try this yourself with your phone in a bar next time you want a picture. Put your subject against something that contrasts with their outline, then if it does get grainy because of low light you will still get something useable because you brain perceives contrast between two areas as sharpness. As always this is a free tip, just spend some time practising with what ever camera or phone you have with you when you are out. #mathieudecodtsphotography
OK remember last week I was saying you can improve your pictures regardless of what camera you have, even a phone? How you do this is composition. Or in simple terms what is in your picture and were is it placed in the frame. Have a watch of this awesome guy, Jared. I would recommend his videos for tips and pointers but this is the best video because it is simple and applies to ever camera ever made. I plan to make a 'photographer s eye view' video myself some day to illustrate what goes through my mind when I shoot and what I myself see when I'm thinking how to compose. Jared's best tip here is to go out and learn by doing, so have a watch of the video then practice yourself. Like all these tips this is free to try and only requires you invest time, not money. So what have you got to lose, watch it and give it a try.
Have you ever said this to someone who takes nicer pictures than you? Shame on you.
What ever camera you have, have a watch of some of Digital Rev's pro tog cheap camera videos.
Watched one? Or maybe a few? Now think:
Does the cooker you have determine how good a cook you are? If you bought an expensive grand piano would that somehow make you a better pianist? If you bought expensive paint and brushes would that make you an awesome artist?
No of course not, good tools help but you have to know how to use them what ever you are doing!
So why do folks think the camera you have is the only factor for good pictures? The fact is any camera can make good pictures in the hands of a skilled photographer. I like to remind myself of this when I lust after new camera gear. I really don't need a new camera and chances are neither do you. If your camera has a PASM dial you have everything you need to start taking better pictures. Even if it doesn't you can massively improve your photography by learning about composition. That is something you can learn without a camera at all, you just need to learn to see!
So respect good photos and the folks that took them, invest time in your photography, not money. It is a free way of improving your pictures with the camera you already own.
Here are two pictures I made, one with a £300 starter DSLR type camera and one with a £3000 pro camera. Which is which? Hard to tell? Is one picture ten times better than the other, I mean the pro camera cost ten times more!
A lot of this is subjective anyway but the second picture is with the pro camera, but far more importantly, an extra years experience shooting. I can promise you any improvement in my photography over the year has been through experience. I think I might go out and do my own pro tog cheap camera challenge. I'll sneak the results on here and see if anyone notices! #mathieudecodtsphotography
For the next little while I am going to share some great videos that will help you in your photography. I have deliberately picked videos that make sense to complete beginners, I will also post my own advice here too, but wanted to start off by sharing this great video from Tony Northrup on Youtube that explains the relationship between Aperture, Shutter Speed, ISO, & Light.
I just wanted to share a little story from shooting today. I am trying to broaden my horizons, no pun intended, and get better at landscapes. I always find them hard to shoot because landscapes don't have eyes to peer into! This is why I so love shooting people and animals, but it makes a landscape difficult for me to compose.
Anyway I was out in the car this morning and saw a beautiful sunrise. So I stopped at the side of the road at the first place I could which happened to be some barren land that has become a illegal dumping ground. I stood on some of the garbage and got some okish shots of the sunrise. Just as I was heading back to the car though I looked down and noticed this awesome little diamond in the rough, a literal angel peering our of the junk at me and knew immediately because of the strong textures it would make a cool B&W. So I just wanted to share it here and remind folks that regardless of what you intend to shoot when you put your camera to your eye be sure and look around your surroundings for other shots too.
Just wanted to share some of the lovely portraits I got today at the Gillian Doogan Dance practice for the Christmas Show
Great teacher and a lovely bunch of girls and boys
http://gilliandoogandance.com/
This weeks posing advice is legs. This is only a little tip but it makes a massive difference. Don't be tempted to point both feet at the camera. If you point both feet forward your legs will be straight up and down, boring and unflattering, like this first picture.
If you point one foot to the side so you have, for example, a 90 degree angle between them both then you will be showing a calf muscle and thigh on one leg and the shin and knee on the other. This leads to a much more interesting and flattering photo.
This is also much more feminine too. This is just a simple tweak from standing, but whatever way you are posing try not to have your legs too straight, it is generally unflattering. Even with a little curve your legs will look more shapely so give it a try. If you want a boost without much work, put on a pair of heels, while they do make you taller they also lift your calves (and your bum!) to make them look more shapely.You can compare the previous pictures with these heels ones to see this (same poses).
Again don't be afraid to stand in front of a full length mirror at home and practice these poses and see how a wee differences to the way you stand affects your overall look.
So here is a little tip that can be used for any body part but is best illustrated with these two examples, boobs and bums, or for guys shoulders and bums.
Generally if you want to make anything smaller you should move it away from the camera or alternatively if you want to make anything bigger you should move it towards the camera.
It is very, very simple, things closer to you appear bigger in real life and it is the same with photos.
So for example if you want to make your bum look smaller just push it away from the camera. Now make sure you are pushing it in the opposite direction to the camera, be careful not to push it to either side or it will look bigger.
And if you want to make your boobs look bigger, push them towards the camera, a bit of a bend at the waist actually does this very simply.
Combine both of these and you get this. Just look at the before and after photos to see the difference.
Before with no pushing either way.
After with pushing your bum out and a bit of a bend at the waist. Making your top and bottom halves more in proportion like this will also dramatically slim your waist. Hope you can see this in the pictures, as always practice away in the mirror. #mathieudecodtsphotography
Posing your hair! What really I hear most people say? Well yes you can 'pose with your hair'. Although this is mainly for the ladies with medium to long length hair. You know in some cultures women are not allowed to show their hair in public? This is because it is such a central part of their femininity and allure. So use your hair!
In the first picture the hair is in just down at the back.
That is lovely but a bit plain. Now if we put it in the shot by bringing it over the shoulders you can see an immediate difference.
Its much more interesting now and helps frame and soften your face.
Or all down one side like this creates a nice curve and helps lead the viewer to your eyes
Another option is to plait it this allows you to draw attention to your eyes or down to some other point of interest depending on the length and direction of the plait.
So if you have long hair. Then use it, you can put your hands in it to give them a purpose or use it lead to a focal point on your body. Your hair can be used to give a lovely feminine touch to a picture. #mathieudecodtsphotography
So lips, eh? Surely you can't do anything with them, I mean they are so small anyway, right? Well wrong, you can pose your lips! As normal with this type of advice, photos all have the same sizing, lighting and processing, only posing differs shot to shot.
Lips then, want to make them fuller and more alluring? Easy!
First up these are normal un-posed lips
Next we have one simple addition, breath through your mouth.
Just breathing through your mouth parts your lips slightly and in a natural way. It also makes both the top and bottom lip look fuller because they are not pressed together.
This should help immediately, but what if you have a problem lip? Top or bottom?
Look at these two examples: See how the first model has a small top lip and the second has the opposite problem?
How do you go about fixing this? Well, first you need to know that these are both the same model. So how was she able to make her lips look so different in two photos mere seconds apart? Posing! I teach all types of posing to models, photographers and normal people just like you!
If you want to make the most of your lips without resorting to surgery or lip fillers book a private lesson with me on zoom and I can give you a 1 to 1 consultation on your lips and what you should do with them to make them look great. Remember I am a qualified makeup artist too! So it might be posing advice, lipstick recommendations or something else but regardless it’s personally tailored to you in your very own private one to one advice session. Just purchase a private lesson here and I’ll get in touch to arrange a date and time that is convenient to use both. Before the session find a good place to do the zoom call as I will need to see your lips clearly to give you great advice.
#mathieudecodtsphotography
This weeks top posing tips are for your chin and neck. Before we start each of these photos is from the same camera, lens and lighting with the same post processing. I haven't done anything in photoshop to remove anything, posing is the ONLY difference between each shot.
So the big issue first, double chins and how to avoid them. Unfortunately we all have one, no matter what size or shape we are. We all can get a double chin in pictures, especially when you laugh.
Everyone, and I mean everyone, instinctively contracts their neck and throws back their head when they have a genuine laugh (1st Picture). Stick thin models, to sumo wrestlers, everyone gets a double chin when they laugh. It is not about being thin or fat. It is about your skin and how taught or loose it is. So now that's out of the way, this is how to fix it.
You need to tighten up that skin! Look at the 2nd and 3rd pictures, 2 is with a few tweaks, 3 is a normal pose.
Hopefully you can see the difference?
So how do you do this step by step? First tweak is to push your whole face towards the camera(4th picture), like a little chicken impression or 'walk like an Egyptian' if your old enough to remember.
Next a little head tilt to the left or right(5th picture) (more on this with head posing another time)
then lift your chin up (6th Picture).
Now you look awesome but your head is pointing up and away so bend forward a little at the waist so your face is forward again (7th Picture).
When you put all this together what you get is a lot of muscles in your neck, shoulders and face pulling that skin taught, so any double chin will be reduced or eliminated all together, you neck and chin are now far away from your chest so they are all stretched nicely too. Hopefully you can see the results! Anyone can do this, when they are getting their picture taken any time! Not just by a pro photographer like me, you could even do this with a selfie yourself, give it a try, post your results before and after here in the comments #mathieudecodtsphotography
Do you have a bit of a tummy? Men tend to get a pot belly that sticks out pregancy style while women get a bit of shape all round, out the front and to the sides.
So how to minimize it on camera?
First picture is normal posture with no tweaks at all
First thing to do is turn a little to the left or right
Depending on how much tummy you have at the front and the sides you will need to turn more or less, and sometimes better straight on. You can work this out yourself by looking in a full length mirror.
Next is the tweak, bend at the waist a little. Also stick your bum out away from the camera while pushing your chest towards the camera. It should feel a little uncomfortable but the result is your bum and tummy move away from the camera making them smaller and your chest and shoulders move towards the camera making them look bigger.
Not bad for 5 seconds? DONT suck in your stomach, it will make your tummy look smaller, but it will make your shoulders, neck and face look tense! If you follow the tips above your tummy will look smaller without sucking it in and making your tense all over.
Have a practice yourself in the mirror at home
So I want to help everyone get better at modelling for, posing for and taking pictures.
I had asked via a poll on Facebook what to start with and the winning topic was posing but several people asked for help with taking pictures too. I will be doing posing advice for a while so those who want to improve their photography can get a head start and read this book.
Out of all the stuff I have bought this was by far the biggest bang per buck of anything. It is a book by the awesome Tony and Chelsea Northrup and the book includes links to over 7 hours of video tutorials on how to take great pictures. And.... they update the book regularly for free! You also get access to their great Facebook community that help each other by giving feedback on posted pictures.
It is just slightly more than the price of a pint electronically and less than £20 for the paperback either way money well spent. Give it a try, you can even read a few pages of it for free if you follow this link:
#mathieudecodtsphotography
So first up in the posing advice, Hands! The basic rule when posing with hands is "use them or lose them". So what does this mean, well basically don't put you hands in the picture unless they are doing something. It looks weird if your hands are just kind of in shot, but if they are holding your hair or your waist (more on faux waist soon) it looks fine because that is the way ladies stand. Now the hard part once your hands are in shot is making sure they look ok. Basically present the whole hand to camera or none of it, here is a wee example.
See how in the first shot it looks like a finger has been amputated?
It is quite easy to pose like this without realising, but if you are showing your hand to camera make sure all 4 fingers are in shot, and ideally spread out a little.
Generally exceptions to the rules are fine if it seems normal, like this hand in a pocket. Everyone does this so it doesn't look weird.
So in future remember to think about your hands when posing, it can be the difference between a good shot and a stunning shot! #mathieudecodtsphotography
Hi, welcome and thanks for taking the time to read this. My posts will be about my work as a photographer, so I obviously have to start as I mean to go on. What really motivates me as a photographer is finding that little special thing about each person and capturing it. Everyone has something about them that makes their eyes light up and I really like getting to know people so they can show this to the camera.
One example of this is a model I regularly work with called Ellie McCreight. First Ellie is awesome, easy to work with, excellent at posing and great fun on a shoot.
The best thing about Ellie though is that she has a deep passion that drives a lot of her life, bondage!
I don't want to get into all the details, god forbid, but I did want to capture some of her character in pictures so we did a themed shoot in the studio. These are some of Ellie's favourite pictures because she got to be herself on camera! And they are some of mine too because I caught her inner beauty! This happened because she got to be comfortable in front of the camera talking about her passion and all the little things that make her, er hobby, so special to her. Shooting with me is just like hanging out and chatting. I try and make the camera something I am holding while I talk, not something I hide behind while silently taking pictures!
