Self Portrait, Ottawa, Spring 2011

When I first got into photography, I had no clue what I was doing. I didn’t read any books, and didn’t take any classes. I simply listened to my instinct, trying to capture moments more or less successfully. Most of what I learned was by trial and error. I trained with a small Kodak Easyshare and eventually allowed myself to graduate to a DSLR when photography became a true passion.

And of course, when I bought the DSLR, I had to learn a lot of things from scratch because these cameras can be complicated at first—so many settings, so many options! It took me over a year to master the basics and I’m still learning new tricks every day.

Of all the tips I received, three stuck with me. Now it’s my turn to share them with you.

Buy a filter

When I mentioned to a photographer friend that I had finally bought a DSLR (my beloved Nikon D60), he gave me a tip I never forgot: “take five minutes to run to the photo shop and buy a filter.” I followed his advice and this $15 investment probably saved my lens from a thousand scratches.

The funny thing is, I knew that I had to buy a camera bag in the future, and I was already saving for a tripod and more lenses, but I never thought of buying a filter.

Neutral UV filters are usually pretty cheap and don’t affect the colour of your images. You just have to screw the filter on the lens. Some photographers argue that the cheap glass can degrade the result of your photography but honestly, I never noticed it. I don’t like the idea of my lenses being exposed to the elements (blowing sand, salt, water, dust…) and replacing a scratched filter is much cheaper than replacing a lens. For instance, Gail recently dropped her camera but apparently, only the filter was damaged. Note that leaving the hood on is also a good way to protect your lens, especially when you shoot in a crowd and the camera gets bumped a bit.

Take pictures of strangers

I used to have this stupid rule to only take pictures of people I knew, friends and family. Hey, why would I want to take pictures of perfect strangers? I’m not a stalker!

But one day, I was introduced to street photography. Suddenly, people around me weren’t strangers anymore, they were subjects for candid shots. I started the People of Ottawa project, a set dedicated to candid shots taken around the city and this keeps me endlessly busy.

And when travelling, I make a point of taking candid shots as well. These pictures often end up being the ones I look at fondly when I go back home because give such vivid snapshots of the country I visited. These snapshots of life mean more than twenty pictures of me in front of some local monument.

Cherry-pick your pictures

I used to take hundreds of pictures, upload them when the memory card was full and leave them forever in a folder. But when I started blogging, I was forced to be more selective—can’t upload twenty pictures of the same thing from a slightly different angle or you guys will be bored to death. Worse, the picture loses its meaning.

I started sorting out my pictures regularly and this simple decision really helped me improve my photography skills. Suddenly, I learned to recognize the original shots, the ones that would stand out from the boring ones. The more I selected the few good shots from the bunch of pictures I would inevitably take, the more I realized that sometimes, less was more. Picking the meaningful shots taught me that quality over quantity always wins.

How about you? What are your favourite photography tips?

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30 Comments

  1. Isa April 11, 2011 at 8:40 am

    J’ai les mêmes tips que toi, et ça m’a épargné bien du temps (et de l’argent !)
    My tip : always look for details, never take the whole thing you see. It could be an obvious thing to say but I’ve noticed that most of my friends didn’t know how to SEE the details. They are way more interesting! My 50mm lens helped me a lot to focus on that.

    Reply
    1. Zhu April 11, 2011 at 9:58 am

      Je vois exactement ce que tu veux dire! It’s a great tip indeed. Look for different angles, for the small details within the big pictures and you will end up with original shots!

      Reply
  2. Vagabonde April 11, 2011 at 10:53 am

    It is difficult for me to decide which photos to keep – I take hundreds then it hurts to get down to one so I use collages on my post where I can place several. About taking people in the street – I know someone in France who got in trouble doing that. I researched the laws and in France you can take pictures of everything you see, people included, but you can’t publish the people even on blogs without their approval, and the law is very strict on that. At the time I looked at all the international laws and the state of Quebec uses the same laws as France, the rest of Canada is like the US. Of course it would be a coincidence to find someone on a blog, but, really strange I saw a photo of a restaurant in Paris taken by someone in the US and in the picture I recognize someone there. Of course this blogger takes super close-ups of strangers – I would not like someone I don’t know to place a close-up of my face in a blog. It is still very hard for me to take pictures of strangers – I’m really shy about that but I am working on it.

    Reply
    1. Zhu April 11, 2011 at 11:22 am

      I sometimes ask people to pose for a shot but I don’t have a waiver for most candid shots. I try my best to show people in a positive light and so far, never had any issue. Street photography is often a bit of a grey area. For instance, you can take pictures of people who are doing a public performance. However, I avoid taking pictures of children though for obvious reasons.

      Reply
  3. Yogi April 11, 2011 at 11:05 am

    Those are good tips. I don’t have a camera that accepts a filter. When I do I’ll get a filter. I’m a big believer of quality also but sometimes quality comes out of quantity. Sometimes I don’t realize how good a picture is until I download it and get a good look at it.

    You are right on photographing strangers. I’m still very hesitant to do it obviously but the candidness always adds to the setting and I do find photos of other people acting in a candid manner much more satisfying of a photo of me or a loved one posed.

    One good tip I’ve learned is to get close especially on portraits. Head and should shots are lots more interesting than head to toe shots.

    Reply
    1. Zhu April 11, 2011 at 11:24 am

      Getting close to the subject is a very good tip and you are absolutely right, these shots are usually more interesting.

      I think filters are mostly for DSLR lenses. I never really protected my compact camera and its been through a lot!

      Reply
  4. Cynthia April 11, 2011 at 2:23 pm

    Deleting my not so good pictures so that I am not tempted to edit them to death 😉

    Reply
    1. Zhu April 11, 2011 at 3:14 pm

      Good one, and I do the same… for the very same reason! 😆

      Reply
  5. expatraveler April 11, 2011 at 4:36 pm

    The best tip I saw was checking out two websites that I loved. First was flickr which I learned so much from the great photographers that lurk around as well as Kenrockwell.com. His tips are amazing too!

    Reply
    1. Zhu April 11, 2011 at 9:37 pm

      I’m a big fan of Flickr as well but I must check the second website you mentioned. Thanks for the tip!

      Reply
  6. DianeCA April 11, 2011 at 6:07 pm

    Excellent post and excellent tips. I still have a lot to learn but I am having a good time learning. I think what I need the most is patience. I like to shoot and shoot but don’t always have the paticent to find the best shot. But of course sometimes I get lucky 🙂

    Reply
    1. Zhu April 11, 2011 at 9:37 pm

      I’m not always the most patient person but I must admit it pays off in photography. Although sometimes you just get lucky and capture the moment just like that!

      Reply
  7. Tulsa Gentleman April 12, 2011 at 12:24 am

    You remind me of the most important 3 words in French — merci, s’il vous plaît, and bonjour. Those and lots of smiles and pantomime got be by in a lot of situations.

    Your 3 tips are spot on.

    I might add that it is important to keep the photographer’s eye turned on. Rather than after the fact that such and such whould have made a good picture, Try and recognize a situation before it is past and snap a quick one before it is too late.

    Reply
    1. Zhu April 12, 2011 at 12:40 pm

      You are absolutely right about the phographer eye: learn to develop it and use it! The world will look much more interesting 🙂

      Reply
  8. barbara April 12, 2011 at 9:04 am

    Salut Zhu,

    My husband is as you know is French and very “Cartesian” Better safe than sorry, he says. It was one of his first purchases after buying the Nikon. He said that it was a good insurance against scratches,dust or sand. We haven’t gone wrong.

    You have some great projects! The reason why I started to blog as I did was to force me to do better. I notice a change. I take my time, look and especially feel.Do you once in awile find that some places don’t catch your eye? Be honest… Maybe I am too picky at times!!

    Bises.

    Reply
    1. Zhu April 12, 2011 at 12:42 pm

      Oh yes! Some days, I just can’t find anything worthy of a picture. There are places I have very few pictures of, they didn’t inspire me. For instance, I have very few pictures of the Byward Market, which is Ottawa’s #1 attraction. I took pictures around it but never really of the buildings.

      And some places suddenly inspire me even though I know them well and have been going there for ages.

      Reply
  9. Pauline April 19, 2011 at 7:44 am

    I LOVE taking candid shots of strangers on the street! The only thing that can be aggravating is when they catch you and that can be unpredictable. I wish I was invisible with my camera sometimes.

    Reply
    1. Zhu April 19, 2011 at 9:25 am

      I never actually had bad experiences when taking pictures of strangers (touching wood!). I try to portray people in a positive light so I have no problem showing them the pictures I took if they ask.

      Reply
  10. Katherina April 19, 2011 at 4:04 pm

    Hi Zhu, I just stumbled upon your blog and have been making my way through it for probably the last half an hour – I love it! How couldn’t I know about your blog earlier? Myself I’m recently discovering some sort of curiosity for photography and these tips come in very handy. I usually have that rule of not taking pictures to strangers, but your photographs are really meaningful (I specially like the guy reading on the floor…), so… I’m giving it a try over my upcoming holidays!

    Reply
    1. Zhu April 19, 2011 at 8:01 pm

      Hi Katherina,

      Thank you for taking the time to comment and for your kind words!

      I think we all have the “no taking picture of strangers” rule at first. But I find street photography is very addictive. Trust me, give it a shot and you won’t regret it!

      I’m curious to see your photography… I’ll be around 😉

      Reply
  11. micki April 21, 2011 at 12:29 pm

    Thanks for sharing your great tips! What lenses are you using for your D60? Thanks~~

    Reply
    1. Zhu April 21, 2011 at 1:55 pm

      I have two lense: 18-55 mm and 55-200 mm. Planning on buying a new one soon… 🙂

      Reply
  12. Em May 10, 2011 at 7:59 pm

    I am still really shine when it comes to take pictures. I’m fine when it’s just me and surroundings, but when there are people around, I shy away. In a way, I feel that my small camera causes that. People admire the bigger cameras, with lenses etc, they look more professional and they will nod appreciatively. With a small camera, I just feel less confident and assertive, except when I’ve had a drink and then my pics are blurry! As you said before, it’s not the camera, but how you use it; yet, I’m still shy…

    Now, being selective is another one of my problems. I’m generally a keeper and it’s the same with photos. I’m working on it and I try to be more selective now. Actually, I think your editing tips have help me to be more selective. Before I would tend to keep all the photos because they were imperfect and I felt that a few imperfect photos would add up in a way. However, since I’ve strted cropping and playing with the luminosity, I manage to improve them a bit and I then keep the best one.
    I think your comment about the i=uniqueness of the picture will help me to be even more selective 🙂

    The Wall show is in two weeks, I wonder how I’ll manage to play with the light…

    Reply
    1. Zhu May 11, 2011 at 6:34 pm

      I understand what you mean but the downsides of having a bag camera (we are talking about cameras, right? :lol:) is that people may feel threatened. They wonder if you are a pro, if you’re a journalist… and some places ban DSLR altogether.

      I hate a hard time deleting my bad shots at first too. I find the key is to weed them out little by little. First I upload the pictures to my computer and delete the really bad shots, blurred pics etc. Then a couple of days later I have another look and delete all the ordinary plain ones.

      Reply
  13. Em May 19, 2011 at 4:41 pm

    Just read again the 1st line of my comment. What time was it when I wrote that???!!

    I hear you, weeding… My favourite activity! 😉

    Talking about photos, I’m chancing to bring my camera on Monday at The Wall concert. We’ll see how it goes…

    Reply
    1. Zhu May 19, 2011 at 9:21 pm

      Oh, they didn’t let me bringing my DSLR but a small camera was fine. They are just picky with flashes but you shouldn’t have to flash anyway. That should be fun, do post the result!

      Reply
  14. Em May 20, 2011 at 6:15 pm

    That’s fine, I have only a small Lumix anyway and I rarely use the flash…

    Reply
    1. Zhu May 20, 2011 at 8:19 pm

      Can’t wait to see your pics. You’ll see, it’s a great show!

      Reply
  15. Priyank March 13, 2012 at 7:07 am

    Hi Zhuli,
    Can’t believe I was filter-less all this time. I was about to buy one but then I remembered your post and googled it for recommendations. 😉
    thanks!

    Reply
    1. Zhu March 13, 2012 at 3:23 pm

      Which one did you end up buying?

      Reply

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