The Secret to Taking Great Photos is… (You guessed it!)

The secret to taking great photos is…

• A video-based, photography info-product with all the bells and whistles?
• The newest digital SLR on the market today?
• Keeping your hands steady when you’re shooting?
• Being in the right place @ the right time?

Who really knows?

I’m pretty sure it’s not the first two.

Although, granted, they might help (a little).

Here’s what I think is the basic secrets of taking good pictures (even though it’s no real secret):

1. Seek out photographic opportunities
2. Learn & practice your craft
3. Emulate the photography style work you love
4. Be creative & work on your unique qualities (the thing that makes YOU different)
5. Work damn hard @ it
6. Then work damn harder @ it

ANYWAY…

I’m not really into the whole watch a million hours of videos and read 20 PDFs on your Kindle every night before bed.

I think I’d get (much) more from hanging out with my homies Chase Jarvis or Trey ‘Stuck In Customs’ Ratcliff for a week in Chiang Mai.

But…

I promised that I’d publish a review here on my site.

And I hate to go back on my word.

So here goes. (And, BTW, I didn’t write it. So if you want to talk with the author, you can contact her right here):

Amy’s Bad Hair Day

What does it take to shoot like a professional?

Old and new photography enthusiasts alike may still be looking for the secret to capturing amazing photos but somehow, they can’t seem to find it. However, professional photographer Amy Renfrey proposes a simple answer to this question: know how to play with light.

Shoot the moment, not the subject. Photographers spend too much time composing and arranging shots, not enough feeling what’s going on and flowing along with it. Life is a series of moments, not images. — Scott Mowbray @ Huffington Post

 

In her Digital Photography Success and Advanced Digital Photography ebooks, and in her monthly eMagazine, Focus, Renfrey gives you an easy approach to taking amateur shots to auction-worthy photos.

These materials are easy to read and are meant to teach beginners both the basics on digital photography and how to start shooting like a pro.

Her lessons include how to maneuver light, an essential factor that determines quality and instantly gives a dramatic effect to your photos. She emphasizes on this so that photos don’t end up under or overexposed.

Other lessons offered on technical digital photography is the proper use of aperture, shutter speed, the A, S, P, M exposure modes, as well as subject placement and composition.

By the end of the program, you’ll know how to use your cameras on full manual control. She also offers a monthly digest through her eMagazine, Focus, which includes photo critiques and more tips on specific photography.

Though there are countless materials on how to teach you digital photography, Renfrey distinguishes herself from the rest of the other programs offered by giving her readers a personal touch – being able to be contacted personally for other questions and concerns.

The products that Renfrey offers are very informative, easy to read, and each eMagazine even comes with a 30-45 minute video tutorial.

Her lessons are detailed and engaging at the same time.

I think the advantage to learning from a professional such as Renfrey is that she teaches not only the “how-to’s” but also the reasons behind it.

Satisfied readers say,

Having enrolled in an online course which was way out of my depth and reading hundreds of books which seemed to make me head swell, I found [her] books so easy to understand and thank god someone like her has simplified their words. – Tracy

For me, I have found that the digital photography techniques taught in the e-books do actually work and in my opinion has some of the best photography tips around these days. – Ben

Digital Photography Success and Advanced Digital Photography costs $39.97 and $59.97, respectively, while the monthly subscription for Focus is $15.00 each. They come in two packages (Super Package and Blockbuster Package) which includes added materials that readers will benefit from.

Click here for more information about Amy's 'bad hair day' photo guide

The Thousand Yard Stare

I hope you got all that.

Of course, you don’t need to buy Amy’s stuff in order to be a good photographer. Doh!

Although in saying that, you definitely need knowledge in order to evolve and move ahead in your field.

I just find some of the photo advice books out there completely alienate me. (Too much obsession over gear, lenses and the ‘tech side).

You could just as easily go read everything Kenny Boy says here.

Kenny Boy has some of that weird green medicine that will fix you up good.

Here’s an example:

Anyone can take pictures. Formal courses of photographic study rarely, if ever, cover the basics of image structure. All they teach is technical mumbo-jumbo, which is a waste because cameras do all of the technical stuff for us today anyway. Even professional photographers are rarely taught about the basics of image structure, which is why so many photographs are so awful. The lack of structure is why so many photographs don’t make it. Once you learn these simple basics, you’ll be able to take awesome, award-winning shots with any camera. Once you can do this, you’ll no longer need to waste so much money on camera gear or haul so much of it around with you. You’ll just take great pictures. — Kenny Boy

So anyways…

As you were!

Better to light a candle than to curse the darkness.
— Chinese Proverb

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