Taking artistic photographs

Have you ever wondered why professional photographers hold their hands in a square in front of their faces before snapping a picture? No, they’re not going out of their way to look totally lame; there’s actually a legitimate purpose to this. They want to figure out if the subject is going to look good in a frame. And that’s the question you should ask yourself before you take (or create) an artistic photograph: "Will this look cool if it’s framed and hanging on a wall?"
Unlike with other types of photography, artistic photography is all about trial and error. It doesn’t matter if your final photograph ends up looking like your original subject, the goal is to make something that’s interesting to look at, and to have fun in the process.
Luckily, we’re living in the age of technology. Even if your pictures don’t come out exactly right the first time around, experimentation through trial and error is half the fun. Here are a few tips to help you better understand which photos are keepers and how to make the accidental shots more creative.

Got those blurry blues
Fear not! It doesn’t matter if you didn’t actually mean to take that blurry, out-of-focus photograph. The bright side is that if the subject matter is interesting, blurry can be beautiful. As long as you don’t try to make every mistake a masterpiece, you can salvage a few of them. Intentionally blurry photographs are especially good to:
• Suggest that things are moving. For instance, when you take photographs of cars at night, the lights end up looking like streaks. This illustrates that the car was moving when you took the photograph and creates the illusion that the car in the photo is actually moving, as well.
• Make things look mysterious. You know how shadows and dark corners always seem to be hiding something? Blurry images are very similar. By blurring out the details, you are essentially hiding certain things from your audience
 

Crop creatively, confidently!
It’s not uncommon to want to fit everything into one picture. You might even be a "leaner" yourself — you know, the person who moves his/her body around in order to try desperately to squeeze everyone into one shot. That’s fine for snapshots, but if you’re taking a more creative approach, you may want to leave a little to the imagination. Cropping pictures is a quick and easy way to make boring photos more interesting.
When you crop your images, it’s important to remember to:
• Save the original. Always use a copy when you’re cropping your photographs, just in case you make some mistakes.
• Experiment with what you crop vs. what you keep. Because you’re working with a copy, you can play around with your borders to see what looks best. It’s easy to begin cropping in Adobe Photoshop Elements.
First, in the File menu open the image you’d like to work with. Select the Crop tool, which is the third tool down on the left side of the toolbar. Right click on the image where you’d like the new upper left hand corner of your photo to be, and drag the crop tool to the area you want the bottom right hand corner to be. Now, check your cropping dimensions — the area you’re throwing away will be darker than the area you’re keeping. If you’re happy with this crop, either right click and choose Crop or simply press the Enter key. If you’re not happy with this crop, right click and choose Cancel and start over from the beginning. Once you’ve successfully cropped your image, be sure to go to the File menu and Save as… with a different name than the original.
Close encounters
Sometimes it’s ok to get too close for comfort, especially when you’re trying to take an artistic photograph. There are millions of interesting objects of all shapes, sizes and colors out there, so why not capture them in photos? Geometric patterns and unique shapes can make for some amazing photographs. Don’t be afraid to try close-up shots of the random items in your room, at the mall, or in your own backyard. There are a few things that will help you take better close-ups, including:
• Proper lighting to avoid ugly shadows. Be sure that your light source is bright and that it doesn’t create shadows that could hinder the outcome of your photograph. Some shadows are ok, as long as they don’t block what it is you’re trying to capture.

• Macro settings on your camera. Some higher-end cameras have a macro setting that allows you to take incredibly detailed photographs of very small objects. If your camera has this setting, try using it to capture even the tiniest details.
• Tripods or stationary surfaces. It’s very important to hold your camera very still when you’re taking close ups. If you don’t have a tripod, try resting the camera on a shelf, a stack of books, or even your own knee.

Center of attention
Being the center of attention isn’t always a good thing, especially when you’re the subject of a photograph. If you’re going for a more creative spin on a picture, try changing the balance a little. For instance, if you’re taking a picture of a tree, try to include a bit of the background to the left or to the right of the tree, rather than putting the tree exactly in the middle. Try to think more in terms of what’s going on around the tree, rather than just thinking about the tree by itself. Taking photos in this way helps you to:
• Capture unintentional moments. In the example of the tree, you could take the photo and later discover that a family was having a picnic in the background, which would add a whole new dimension to your photograph.
• Provide your audience with some extra context. If you just take a photograph of a street, no one will ever know where the photograph was taken. However, if you take a photograph of a street that includes the street sign, suddenly you’ve provided some background.
• Create a unique photographic composition. Everyone’s seen photographs of a bowl of fruit. So why not step back a little bit and take a picture of a bowl of fruit sitting at the end of a very long table? Empty space forces people to look directly as the subject of your picture without the subject taking up the entire space.
Practice makes perfect
There’s never been a better time to learn more about photography. Digital cameras make trial and error picture taking far less expensive than traditional film cameras, so you don’t have to feel bad if you make a lot of mistakes. The more pictures you take, the better your pictures will become. And now that you are armed with a few new techniques, get out there and start taking some pictures!

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