Don"t Let These 9 Mistakes Rob You of a Good Photo
This is a follow up to my article, published earlier, titled "9 Good Ways to Take a Bad Photo." Response to that article was very good. Since a person can avoid those first 9 errors and still wind up with a bad picture, I decided to write about 9 more common mistakes that we see at our photo retouching company, 399Retouch.com.
As I wrote in the first article, professional photographers and amateur snap-shooters alike send us images for airbrushing and retouching. The pros know instinctively to avoid these mistakes, but the amateurs often do these things which rob them of some great photos.
This article is written to help amateur photographers take better photos, by describing 9 common errors that we see time and again in pictures that people send us at 399Retouch.
MISTAKE #1: WEAR A CAP
Unless your intent is to rob a bank and not be identified in the surveillance video, wearing a cap is not a good idea when having your picture taken. The brim of the cap blocks light to your face, so your eyes and upper nose are un-naturally dark. If you want to take a bad photo, put on a cap.
MISTAKE #2: SHAKE THE CAMERA
You can turn someone's face into a blur if you move or shake the camera while taking the picture. This doesn't happen much in good bright light, but as the scene gets darker and exposures lengthen to 1/25 of a second or longer, it really becomes a factor.
MISTAKE #3: OVEREXPOSE THE PHOTO
The automatic modes of modern digital cameras can handle almost any naturally-occurring brightness level, but if you set them to one of the priority modes or manual, then you can overexpose a photo. This can also happen when taking a photo of someone spotlighted, like a performer on stage. Retouching can frequently fix this problem.
MISTAKE #4: CUT OFF THE TOP OF THE HEAD
Some amateur photographers must be fixated on the eyes of the person they are shooting, because they will take several photos with the top of the head cut off. This is a very effective way to create a bad photo, one that you will not want anyone to see. Retouching may be able to fix this, but it is an avoidable expense.
MISTAKE #5: FROWN
Happy people look better than grumpy people. Some people, even when they are not angry, look like they are. If you want a bad picture, don't remind an unhappy-looking person to smile.
MISTAKE #6: STARE OFF INTO SPACE
Some people believe they should stare off into space when having their photograph taken. They usually wind up looking strange.
MISTAKE #7: SHOOT WITH SUN OVERHEAD
Bright overhead sun gives dark shadows where the eyes are and under the nose. It looks bad.
MISTAKE #8: DON'T SHAVE
Some guys look OK un-shaven, others just appear as if they don't care about their appearance. Retouchers can make more and better improvements to faces if they don't have to deal with un-shaven skin.
MISTAKE #9: DISPLAY BAD TEETH
If your subject has yellow, crooked or missing teeth, he/she will look unattractive in the photo if their mouth is open. If you've got a photo like this and you want it to look bad, you have succeeded. If you want the person to look good, send the picture to a retoucher like 399Retouch.com and it can be dramatically improved.
Once again, we want you to take excellent photographs. Before you press the shutter button, it's a good idea to take a moment and look for these kinds of problems. Don't let these errors rob you of the satisfaction that comes from taking a photo with everything "just right."
And if you've taken a really good photo and want it made great, send it to a retoucher.
As I wrote in the first article, professional photographers and amateur snap-shooters alike send us images for airbrushing and retouching. The pros know instinctively to avoid these mistakes, but the amateurs often do these things which rob them of some great photos.
This article is written to help amateur photographers take better photos, by describing 9 common errors that we see time and again in pictures that people send us at 399Retouch.
MISTAKE #1: WEAR A CAP
Unless your intent is to rob a bank and not be identified in the surveillance video, wearing a cap is not a good idea when having your picture taken. The brim of the cap blocks light to your face, so your eyes and upper nose are un-naturally dark. If you want to take a bad photo, put on a cap.
MISTAKE #2: SHAKE THE CAMERA
You can turn someone's face into a blur if you move or shake the camera while taking the picture. This doesn't happen much in good bright light, but as the scene gets darker and exposures lengthen to 1/25 of a second or longer, it really becomes a factor.
MISTAKE #3: OVEREXPOSE THE PHOTO
The automatic modes of modern digital cameras can handle almost any naturally-occurring brightness level, but if you set them to one of the priority modes or manual, then you can overexpose a photo. This can also happen when taking a photo of someone spotlighted, like a performer on stage. Retouching can frequently fix this problem.
MISTAKE #4: CUT OFF THE TOP OF THE HEAD
Some amateur photographers must be fixated on the eyes of the person they are shooting, because they will take several photos with the top of the head cut off. This is a very effective way to create a bad photo, one that you will not want anyone to see. Retouching may be able to fix this, but it is an avoidable expense.
MISTAKE #5: FROWN
Happy people look better than grumpy people. Some people, even when they are not angry, look like they are. If you want a bad picture, don't remind an unhappy-looking person to smile.
MISTAKE #6: STARE OFF INTO SPACE
Some people believe they should stare off into space when having their photograph taken. They usually wind up looking strange.
MISTAKE #7: SHOOT WITH SUN OVERHEAD
Bright overhead sun gives dark shadows where the eyes are and under the nose. It looks bad.
MISTAKE #8: DON'T SHAVE
Some guys look OK un-shaven, others just appear as if they don't care about their appearance. Retouchers can make more and better improvements to faces if they don't have to deal with un-shaven skin.
MISTAKE #9: DISPLAY BAD TEETH
If your subject has yellow, crooked or missing teeth, he/she will look unattractive in the photo if their mouth is open. If you've got a photo like this and you want it to look bad, you have succeeded. If you want the person to look good, send the picture to a retoucher like 399Retouch.com and it can be dramatically improved.
Once again, we want you to take excellent photographs. Before you press the shutter button, it's a good idea to take a moment and look for these kinds of problems. Don't let these errors rob you of the satisfaction that comes from taking a photo with everything "just right."
And if you've taken a really good photo and want it made great, send it to a retoucher.
