How to take beautiful photos: the advice of 3 pros

Morning journey on Dronning Louises Bridge in the center of Copenhagen

10 pro tips to take beautiful photos

Digital phone and compact have revolutionized travel photography and therefore allow us to take a large amount of photos. In fact, no less than 350 million photos are downloaded on Facebook every day! But, let’s be honest: most of us should follow some tips for how to take beautiful photos! So how to succeed in our vacation photos? We asked Thomas Søndergaard, one of the most famous Danish photographers currently on Instagram, to give us his 10 pro tips to take a good photo. The best camera is the one you have with you
“I am a big fan of photos taken with a smartphone and the possibilities that it brings, both in terms of shooting and publishing, but also in the interaction it allows between photographers on Instagram. That said, a few months ago, I gave myself a high -quality compact device, and I still have it with me, to take a photo that would be less spontaneous. »»

View of Copenhagen from the Domus Portus

Use the flash only if you know what you do
“If you don’t know how to use a flash properly, then don’t use it at all. Flash photography is almost an art in itself and can have an exceptional rendering provided you know how to do things well. If you take a lot of interior photos, equip yourself with a “cobra” flash that you will direct towards the ceiling, but it still requires a lot of training! You will need to adjust the speed and opening of your device, or increase the ISO sensitivity in order to obtain high sensitivity to light. This can add grain and noise to the photo, but it is not necessarily a bad thing. »»

The Friday Night Skate in Copenhagen

Take advantage of the fall
“Fall is the ideal season for photography, especially if you like images full of colors. The low light that we have at this time of year is not a problem, it will just be necessary to do several tests to obtain the right settings. For example, photograph naked trees on a gray or blue sky background to obtain pretty silhouettes. And as for these yellow sheets, use them as the only dominant color in a gray or monochrome set, for a set of the most beautiful effect. »»

One morning misty in Faelledparken in Copenhagen

You can’t go wrong with a 50mm lens
“If you want to take a picture of people, you won’t be able to go wrong with a 50mm lens. This is a generally inexpensive and truly generalist objective. If you prefer to photograph the landscapes more, then invest in a tripod as well as a remote control (to avoid tremors or to take a picture of you). You will also need a great angle for this kind of catch. »»

Swimming in Gold Beach City, Alanya, Türkiye

Dare to photograph people
“Photographing a landscape is not very difficult. Most of us are able to photograph a sunset, the only difficulty being to frame it properly. Taking pictures of people is more difficult in the sense that you have less control over the stage and that you must also do with your own inhibitions. How to approach a stranger in the street to draw his portrait? And if you were caught taking a photo in the street? Anyway, try it. You will always be delighted to have done it. »»

Nairobi, Kenya

Stolen photos
“Photograph with a phone is particularly practical when trying to hide, so as not to influence the scene you want to take a picture. Street photo is a good example and some of my best images have been captured with my iPhone. In order not to get noticed, pretend to listen to music by putting your headphones and trigger your photos by using the button on the cable. »»

Morning journey on Dronning Louises Bridge in the center of Copenhagen

Avoid shots
“Instagram is certainly at the origin of the multiplication of these unbearable shots and I must admit having participated too in this. If you go to Barcelona, ​​you don’t have to make a selfie in front of the Sagrada Familia, and during your trip to NYC, no one forces you to photograph the sunset from Williamsburg or the view from the Rockfeller Center. Be rather curious and venture off the beaten track, to meet the locals to which you will learn where are the most beautiful places to photograph. I often connect to the accounts of local Instagrammers when I discover a new place, it’s like having my own local guide (and free!) Who likes the photo as much as me. »»

Of lowercase swimmers at the Goldcity Spa & Wellness Hotel, Alanya, Türkiye

Mix with the scene
“When you arrive in a new place, you are naturally more alert and on the lookout for interesting things to take a picture. If you visit a city, find a good place, ask yourself for example in an animated alley and dial your scene, make your settings and wait for people to enter your setting to start shooting. »»

Morning journey on Dronning Louises Bridge in the center of Copenhagen

Stay connected
“Nothing brings you closer to your photos than spending 5 hours in a dark room and going out with only two prints! It is not everyone who is fortunate to be able to shoot with argentic and even less to be able to develop their photos in a dark room, but if you have the opportunity, do it! You will learn a lot about composition, exhibition and development. The more photos you take, the more you think of the composition, what worked before and what did not work. And the more you feel comfortable. »»

From BMX to plug n play, an urban activity park in Ørestad, Copenhagen

VSCOCAM for everything related to retouching
“My favorite app is vscocam for all the very natural options and filters it offers. I also use Snapseed (for small adjustments that cannot be made in VSCOCAM), Mextures and Darkroom. »»

Fabulous Skógafoss Falls, Iceland

Now, nothing can stop you! Plan your next vacation, and prepare to machine gun!

How to take beautiful photos: the advice of 3 pros

No need to lug a high -end device to make shots that will dazzle the gallery. Just follow the advice of professional photographers.

By Marie Pâris July 13, 2021

Specializing in portrait, Monic Richard also makes a little decoration photograph. She devoted a section of her book the hidden face of the portrait (Flammarion editions) to the landscapes and on the trip.

Monic Richard

Use light well
We place ourselves back to lighting. The subject is then well lit and we avoid reflections on the lens. To photograph your good little dishes in diving, we favor the light that happens aside: it gives relief to food.

Not be afraid of the phone
It is not the apparatus that makes the talent – it is the eye of the photographer and the light that count. And phones have improved so much in recent years that succeeding in magnificent photos is within everyone’s reach.

Show the real proportions of spaces
A photo does not always make the extent of a landscape with. Put a reference, like a flower, in a pre-planning helps to give an idea of ​​the magnitude of a panorama.

Seek
We avoid taking photos between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m., when daylight is too raw. If we have no choice, we opt for a place in the shade, out of the sun direct.

Thibault Carron is one of the founders of portraits of/ of Montreal. As part of this project, he travels, with Mikaël Theimer, the streets of Montreal in order to know its inhabitants and listen to their stories. Objective: to show the great diversity of the city and to establish a link between people. Some of these meetings were published in the book Portraits of/of Montreal (Guy Saint-Jean editor).

Thibault Carron

Follow the two -thirds rule
To obtain a more balanced, well -composed photo, you avoid focusing your subject or the horizon line in the image. Rather, we choose to place them about a third of its framing, whether at the top, bottom, left or right. This will make the photo more dynamic and less conventional.

Take photos up to hips
This technique is used well with a phone. We carry his aircraft to the level of his hips, as if we had him in a strap, targeting approximately. This way of doing things is ideal for street shots or in a market. This point of view also gives a more lively and natural side to the photos.

Get up early
This allows you to enjoy the Golden Hour ! The hour following sunrise is one of the best moments of the day to take the photo. Light is lower and softer. The same phenomenon occurs before twilight. As a bonus, we escape crowds in tourist sites.

Do not take too many photos
For a static subject, such as a landscape, one or two shots are enough.

Member of the Collective Photo The Archipelago, Marie Sébire works for a diverse clientele: she does both sales and family or event photos. His style is marked by a documentary eye.

Marie Sébire

Put humans
When you photograph landscapes, you try to include people there, whether it is those who accompany us or strangers. This is what gives the best results.

Use your photos
On the return from the holidays, you must not drag too much to sort and print your photos, make them albums, supervise those you love … Otherwise, they may disappear with the phone the day when you escape it by megard , or to get stuck at the bottom of a hard drive.

Explore
Holidays can be an opportunity to have fun in photos and test things, without putting too much constraints. For example, trying graphic compositions with towers, if you are in town ..

Vary the angles
By taking pictures from afar, closely, etc., We can easily make them more dynamic, a bit like we would for a photo report.