Go Close!

Hello folks…sorry for the long hiatus—I’ve been working on an exciting photography-related project (which I’ll let you know about soon), and so the last few months have been very tight. Meanwhile, I also went on a solo trip to the beautiful high sierras, and it really is a photographer’s paradise. The highlight was seeing a huge black bear and his family right next to my car early in the morning. Because of them, I missed sunrise, and the worst part is that I didn’t even take a photo of the bears—I was more worried about getting eaten.

Let’s get back to photography…today’s tip is to go close. A lot of beginners are afraid to take close-up shots. I encourage you to close in on your subject’s face. You’ll get a much more engaging and interesting shot. When you zoom in to your subject’s face, you cut out all the other distractions in the scene, and so it’s easy to bring attention to your subject. Plus, in a close-up shot, you can see your subject’s expressions, the sparkle in their eyes, and whatnot—it just makes for a much more engaging type of shot.

Here’s an example…

Notice here how her face makes up almost 75% of the frame’s area. This is what we refer to as “filling the frame.”

I think people tend to take wide shots because they don’t really know what they are shooting. They don’t have a clear purpose for their shot, so they just frame everything in front of them. So…go close and own your shot. You'll start to see your photography becoming a lot more engaging, thought-provoking, and just a lot more interesting.

If your picture is not good enough, you're not close enough. —Robert Capa