I’m far from being called a professional photographer but that doesn’t mean I don’t enjoy taking photos and learning about photography.
Having an interest in gear also means that I like to do a little show and tell by way of photos. As I look around this forum and other places online, I’ll often see photos of someones everyday carry contents and think to myself that if they just did a few small things, their picture would look so much better.
Note: These are just tips based on my experience. I’ve played with a few techniques and these have seemed to help me. They may help you too but feel free to keep experimenting on your own.
Generic Tips
- Take time to lay out your gear. While a [literal] pile of gear may be what you’re going for and that photo may turn out great, organizing the individual elements can be very pleasing to the eye.
- Use the best camera you have. Many people, myself included, use their smart phone as their primary camera. Actually, I just recently got a new camera for Christmas but most phones are capable of shooting great photos, as long as you have proper lighting.
- Unless you’re going after a certain effect, find a location with bright yet even lighting. You may have to move things around if you’re getting a harsh glare or “hot spotâ€. I prefer to find a nice outdoors location on an overcast day.
- Consider your backdrop. Is it boring? Sometimes the texture of a wooden table or a stump in the woods can do wonders. Stay away from shooting photos on an unmade bed and try to make the photo more interesting.
Test Shots
I decided to lay out my EDC (minus the phone because I was taking photos with it) and do a few test shots in different environments. These were taken on the Nexus 5.
Test Shot 1
This was indoors and with minimal ambient light and some glow from my computer monitors. The background is a black wood desk. Photos this dark tend to be grainy/noisy and don’t allow a lot of detail to come through.
Test Shot 2
This shot was still indoors but in more lighting. Indirect florescent on a metal desk background. Not bad but there was a small shadow of myself holding the camera that got in the way a little.
Test Shot 3
This shot was outdoors on a sidewalk during an overcast day. The indirect light was great because there were no hot spots from the sun. The only problem I had to deal with was the wind as it kept blowing my notebook away.
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Let me know if you have any questions and if anyone out there can add to what I said (or even correct me), please leave a reply. I hope these tips help and we see a lot of awesome gear photos in the future!