Some people just love to take pictures. 
We are called shutterbugs because everywhere we go we carry our digital camera and snap pictures of every random person, every beautiful scene and every family moment. If this describes you, then here are a few tips to take your amateur photography to the next level.
Smile, You’re on Candid Camera!
Rather than calling out to everyone and making sure they are paying attention, try the candid camera approach and avoid getting their attention at all. Candid shots tell a story. I am a fan of painting a picture with my photography, so I definitely encourage candid shots. On the other hand, this is not always easy. They see the camera; they know what you are up to. How many times have you lined up your shot, and your subject turns toward the camera and puts on their biggest cheeseburger, unnatural smile. Either that or they look at you and suddenly clam up and get nervous.
Sometimes what is a feeble attempt at a smile, looks more like they are bearing their teeth for a dog fight.
In this case, when you can’t do candid, make them laugh instead. I have a friend that I love to photograph. If you know me, you know exactly who I am talking about. Amanda is so fun and she and I have been best friends since the fifth grade. The fact that she is comfortable with me makes her extremely photogenic . FOR ME.
She claims that she is not photogenic at all with other people, which I find hard to believe since she is so beautiful. However with any other photographer, she may feel uncomfortable. She may not be able to relax and go with it. For me, she opens up and takes beautiful pictures. I have a trick to make anyone feel at ease. The best way to make someone comfortable in a pinch is to make them laugh. You can also click away while they are talking. Don’t feel like you have to wait for a perfect shot. You will be surprised what you will wind up with.
Forget the Rules.
Everyone knows that you are supposed to center your subject, right? Wrong. Forget what you “know” about photography. One of the easiest ways to set your photos apart and give your pictures that professional look is to do the exact opposite. Try putting your subject in the right side of the frame. Or the left. This will give visual interest to the photograph. The only rule that I would suggest following when it comes to framing up your subject is to keep the person’s head in the top 1/3 of the frame. Most people frame up their subjects by centering their head in the frame, leaving inches of sky above. This just doesn’t look great and it definitely doesn’t draw your eye to the key focus of the photograph. The eyes.
Everyone know that you never cut off limbs or appendages in your photograph, right? Wrong. Amateur photographers tend to center the subject and include every single part of their body in the frame. This makes the subject look small and unimportant in the shot. 
Try filling the frame with the subject’s face. Full frame shots differentiate the pros from the rest. And remember when your mom asked you to take a picture when you were a kid, and you cut off Aunt Barbara’s head? While we don’t want to cut off anyone’s head at the neck, it is not necessarily a bad thing to cut off the top of the head. For example, when taking pictures of babies, I often fill the frame with the baby’s face and cut off the top of the head a little bit. It looks just fine and gives more focus to that sweet baby face. Forget the rules, and experiment.
Give it Your Own Perspective
Another way to give your photos a professional look, is to shoot from different angles. It has been ingrained in us to stand directly in front of our subject, point and shoot. Try something else and you will be surprised at the difference. Try shooting from the side or from behind, or from above if your subject is heavy set. Shooting from below is sometimes necessary and can’t be avoided. It can also be used artistically as well. But it is rarely affective when shooting a person who is on the heavier side. Also, when taking pictures of children, get down on their level. It makes a big difference. Also, try photographing them from the side while their attention is focused elsewhere, and they are not distracted by the camera. When photographing adults, the same principle applies. Sometimes it is more appealing to look at a picture when the subject is looking away. It makes you wonder what the person is looking at. 
One of my favorite things to do is turn my camera on an angle. Never be afraid to try something new. Just because no one else does it, doesn’t mean it is wrong.
Capture Motion.
You can also add visual interest to your photographs by capturing motion. For example, snap a picture of your son right after he lets go of the monkey bars or leaps out of the swing or jumps off of a diving board. Ask yourself, what’s more interesting to look at? The moment before he jumps, when he is smiling directly into the camera and standing still, or the moment he leaps through the air in a victorious cannonball formation.
Turn off the Flash!
One major giveaway of an amateur photographer is the harsh unflattering light given off by your camera’s built-in flash. Most people use their flash on auto mode which means that indoors, when the light is not bright, that flash goes off regardless of whether or not you actually need it. Try turning your flash on or off depending on the lighting. Look at your screen after you take a test shot and decide if the flash is absolutely necessary.
Get Click-Happy!
Gone are the days of 24 exposure film. You don’t actually have to be careful how many pictures you take, as long as you have enough memory cards to support your addiction.
The more pictures you take, the more likely you are to strike gold. Sometimes, you will take 20 pictures and in 19 of them, the person’s eyes are half open. What if you had only taken one?
Be Creative
Don’t be afraid to develop a style. Long before I decided to call myself a photographer, I knew what I liked. I liked certain angles and certain settings. I used to take my friends on day trips to my favorite places so that we could do little photo shoots. We would change clothes in the car, over and over again, and take pictures for hours. They were more than happy to support my addiction because let’s face it, everyone loves pictures of themselves! I did this all the time with my basic digital camera, long before I upgraded to the Canon Rebel. I loved thinking of new ideas and when I saw something that someone else had done that I liked, I replicated it. That is how you learn. Be creative, but be warned, when you get those creative juices flowing, you may not be able to stop and photography may become an addiction for you as well!
