Questions on enrolling? We're here 9am-8pm ET Mon-Fri 1 800-583-1736

Photographing Close to Home

By Chris Corradino on April 21, 2015

 

The New York Institute of Photography is the world’s largest online photography school, and because we are, we often publish fun and useful photography tips. Please enjoy!

Photographing Close to Home

Extensive travel is not a prerequisite for creating great photographs. There are often wonderful subjects directly in front of you or just a short car ride away. Maybe it's your own backyard garden, a flower bed, or a bird feeder. Identifying this home base is an important piece of your photography puzzle. It's a no-pressure zone where you can take your time, explore creative techniques, and test new equipment. By frequenting the same place you will start to observe the subtle changes of nature, and also the weekly improvements in your overall photography skills.

To make things even more interesting, try shooting with a prime lens on one of your weekly walks. What exactly does this mean? Put simply, a prime lens is a fixed focal length with no zoom functionality. It's still possible to get closer to the subject, but you have to zoom with your feet in order to do so. This key difference opens up a whole world of possibility. By merely walking around, the potential for finding different perspectives multiplies dramatically. No longer bound to one spot, you're forced to look for angles that would have gone by unnoticed.

Want to take your photography skills to the next level? NYIP will help you become a better photographer. Request your free course catalog today!

About the Author

Chris Corradino is the head of the photography mentor program at NYIP. Just like all of our mentors, he is also a professional photographer. See Chris's photography lesson from last week for more.