Last Updated: February 14th, 2020
Truly amazing photographs are often the result of hard work and some luck. In a staged environment, it’s going to be much easier to reproduce amazing results over and over again. But, in the world of more candid, in-the-moment, “lifestyle” photography – amazing pictures that might find their way into National Geographic or other popular magazines will require a good deal of planning to make happen.
The most famous photographers among us like Annie Leibovitz, Ansel Adams, Steve McCurry, and others have captured incredible photos of interesting and powerful subjects, knew how to utilize light to their advantage, and have created work with real intent. Their photographs and reputations have risen above most because of this.
There is no single formula for taking an amazing picture. Let us be clear on that. But, as we go through some of our favorite pictures that we have taken – there does seem to be a trend of factors that contribute.
It’s from this viewpoint that we have put together our list of 5 tips to take amazing pictures. Later in this post, we’ll also take a look at some popular photos that are generally considered “amazing” by most people and talk about what makes them so great. We’d love to hear you discuss with us in the comments!
5 Tips to Take Amazing Photos
Think About The Types of Subjects That Make Pictures Great
We recently binge watched Planet Earth II – a great nature documentary series. While pretty much every scene was great in their own ways, a few really stood out to us as amazing. The amazing shots are really more than just good or great but are really in the top 1% of the shots in the series.
There were two scenes in the show that really caught our eye. These were the iguana vs. snakes’ bit, and shots of a snow leopard – a rarely seen animal in the wild on the border of extinction.
Thinking about these sequences, we can really highlight some of the key characteristics that would make up an amazing shot:
- Obscure subject matter
- High levels of emotion
- Beautiful environments and subjects
- Really extreme things
- Documentation of experiences most humans won’t have (like jumping out of a plane, fighting in a warzone, etc.)
It’s only after you have at least some of these characteristics that you begin to even really look at the technical aspects of the photograph like lighting, exposure settings, level of clarity, etc.
In practice, a technically imperfect photo could still be amazing to look at with the right thing on display.
As a photographer, you can take amazing pictures if you incorporate these types of things in your own images. Of course, sometimes they can be hard to come by, but that is the real challenge, isn’t it?
Find the Right Subject Matter & Quality Photo Balance
Being real for a moment, if you have the right subject matter and conditions for taking a photograph of this caliber, your actual camera gear will matter less than you might think. We’ve seen so many amazing photographs probably taken on starter cameras – some even from the early days of photography that are so grainy and discolored and yet – amazing.
We say this, but also know that in some circumstances, having the right camera gear will make it easier for you to get the shot you have in your mind. So, while a viewer won’t care too much if you used a full frame Canon 5D Mark IV, a mirrorless Sony A7III, or your iPhone – they will take notice of the image quality overall.
In our minds, having the best camera setup you can reasonably afford is the right way to go. Don’t go looking to produce amazing photographs with really cheap stuff, but also don’t feel limited if you’re on a tight budget.
If you’ve been wanting an upgrade or just want to see what types of products are out there and how they could serve you better, consider checking out some of our product resources over on our Recommended Gear page.
Have a Clear Vision & Act on It
While there are certainly amazing photographs that just happen by chance by being in the right place at the right time, these aren’t the types of pictures you’re really going to be out to reproduce every day.
Having a vision requires you to do some pre-planning, and it takes luck out of the equation in a pretty big way.
If your goal is to take an amazing photograph, you will want to start at the drawing board.
Literally plot out what you want your photo to look like:
- What is the subject?
- Where will it be taken?
- What kind of lighting do you need?
The list goes on…
You may want to even consider doing some mock up drawings, or actually writing down in a notebook your thoughts. By putting things down in this sort of physical way, it will help you commit to seeing it through into production.
The act, of course, will be the most fun and exciting part! 🙂
Here’s an idea…
You want to take an absolutely stunning landscape photograph. You’ve seen a million of photos taken in Iceland with the beautiful environment and wicked aurora borealis overhead. Some people might argue that you should stay away from Iceland because it’s been “over photographed”, but you instead take it as a challenge. Go to Iceland and capture a shot of a new landscape you haven’t seen before. Capture an amazing image and reap the benefits.
Having visited Iceland ourselves and seen a million photos of the place (about 6,000 of which we’ve taken – haha), we know photographers flock to just a handful of spots. Yes, we’re looking at you Skogafoss, Godafoss, and Kirkjufell.
They are, rightfully, beautiful places and we visited many of them. But, Iceland has so much more to offer for photographers – and with the right mindset a new and amazing photo of a different location is out there waiting to be had.
In order to achieve this sort of goal, you’d need a few things:
- The right camera gear – not just the camera itself, but a solid tripod like this one on Amazon for Northern Lights photography
- A map of Iceland and a plan to get to the location(s) you have in mind
- An idea of what to expect from the weather and light in Iceland
- The ability to persevere even if driving and hiking to your spot of choice turns out to be more difficult than you expected
- Time to spend in Iceland in case the weather isn’t great for what you want (you can see our 25 Best Hotels in Iceland if that’s something you want to do some time)
- The drive to seek out the auroras if needed by referring to the Icelandic aurora forecast
In this scenario, an amazing photo is waiting to be taken – but requires a good deal of effort to make happen.
Use Light Effectively – Here’s How
Photographers need light. “Photography” in Latin translates to mean “drawing with light.” This is what photographers literally are doing every time they press the shutter button.
We all love to utilize natural light when it’s available and will have to overcome its challenges from time to time. By using artificial light, we can do just that. In some environments, we’ll take on the blended difficulty of balancing both together – no small feat.
In general, the best use of lighting can account for both shadows where they are needed and highlights where they are needed. Having too much of either results in a flat looking image.
What you want is contrast – though there are levels to this ranging from too little, just right, and too much (sometimes…way too much!!).
Amazing in its own right – light will translate everything in the environment in ways you will not always expect, so you’ll need to be prepared. For example, if you are photographing a person inside a wood barn with natural light, you might not realize how the wood color will impact the lighting and coloration of the skin (among other things) to be more orange in tone.
This type of situation can be minimized (to an extent) in camera by tweaking the white balance. Later on, photo edits can also help to reduce the effects. As can flash and flash gel packs.
For more on taking great photographs and using light well, check out these posts:
Edit Your Photos for Maximum Effect
Did you know that even Ansel Adams would edit his photos?
Yes, he’s a photographer that pre-dates computers and editing software like Photoshop & Lightroom, but he still would make major tweaks to his film in order to achieve the stark and heavily contrasted looks of his landscape photos.
Read more about this amazing man and his process in the book sold on Amazon – Examples: The Making of 40 Photographs.
In the modern age, photo editing has become increasingly normalized in photography.
While some might argue that it’s killing photography and making it less authentic, we tend to think there is a happy medium. Sure, we don’t want things being photoshopped in-and-out of a photo that is supposed to be a real life documentation of a war zone for a newspaper, but when creating imagery for our own purposes – we get the final say of how we want it to look (whether anyone likes it or not is for them to decide!).
We use photo editing to help enhance our already great images. It gives us control over things in significant ways – from fixing bad technical form (like mucking up the exposure level) to tweaking colors, shadows, highlights, and more to our liking to suit a specific mood.
This entire process is made much easier through the use of preset packs – some of which are free (not usually that great…) and others of which are sold to help you more easily achieve a certain “look.” One of the preset packs we’ve been having a lot of fun with lately is the Genesis Presets by Signature Edits – you can read our thoughts and see some before-and-after shots we took and edited here.
Discussing a Few AMAZING Photographs Through History
Now that you have some great tips to help you make your own amazing pictures, let’s talk about some photos we’ve looked at and said…”Holy ****, this is amazing!!”
These are just a few that have stood out to us but be sure to share any that have impacted you in the comments below. Throw in a link to the image and talk about it!!
1). Ansel Adams – The Tetons and the Snake River (1942)
In this image captured in the Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming (USA), Ansel Adams exercises very precise photo composition techniques paired with his darkroom technique to create a very distinctive black and white photography style as a part of the Mural Project where he was commissioned by the US government to photograph the beauty of the national park system.
This is one of the most famous photographs in the world – easily recognizable and having had the distinguished honor of being sent into space along with 114 other photographs in the Voyager Golden Record aboard the Voyager 1 rocket.
What stands out is it’s simplicity – with a strong S-curve leading line drawing the eye from the foreground right into the background. The black and white styling is dramatic, and helps to bring more balance into the image. We generally have a lot of love for landscape photography – its simplicity and ability to capture natural beauty when done well.
2). Benjamin Von Wong – Underwater Shipwreck Model
In another direction, we were intrigued when we stumbled upon this photo online. We mentioned earlier in this post that amazing photographs often require obscure subject matter, beautiful environments, and doing things most people wouldn’t dream of – and this is one of them. We’ve always been fascinated by the ocean and generally underwater environments. Our personal explorations have mostly been as far as snorkeling in reefs and cenotes in Mexico, but never something quite like this.
The amount of planning, preparation, and precision required to capture this photo can be read about on Benjamin Von Wong’s post about this image set. It all had a great payoff, too, as it is a very strong and compelling photo that creates an otherworldly environmental portrait.
3). Steve McCurry – Afghan Girl
In this image, the photographer came across this 12 year old girl in an Afghani refugee camp in Pakistan. It is an extremely simple, yet striking portrait photo that rose to fame by being featured on the cover of National Geographic in June 1985.
What ends up being so compelling about this shot is it’s simplicity – the contrast between complementary red and green colors, and a simple portrait setup taken on a 105mm lens. What has elevated it to fame is the story surrounding the subject, and the intensity of her eyes. Like a lot of great paintings, there is a lot of emotion revealed through the facial expression – and it’s for the viewer to determine what it all means.
4). Neil Armstrong – Walking on the Moon
In this final image for this post of amazing photos, we look at this shot of Buzz Aldrin walking on the moon in 1969. This is a huge moment in human history – and it’s no doubt one of the reason it has risen to the ranks of being viewed by the general population as amazing and jaw dropping.
Seriously, this is a photograph at it’s simplest form – a human subject placed in the middle of a frame with not much going on in the background. Yet, it stirs up so many emotions. Thoughts of how small we are on planet Earth, and dreams of where we might be going.
Discussion Time
You can help us expand this post by adding some lively discussion in the comments below.
We’d love to see our readers share their thoughts on what makes a photo amazing, and even some examples of amazing shots they’ve seen and love. So what do you say?