How to Maximize Your Photography Potential

Photography Tips

Most of us know that the art of photography is more than just pointing the camera at something and pressing a button, but is there really a magic ingredient that can help us know what’s going to make a shot turn out great? Something beyond mastering your camera settings and investing in great gear? Well, according to Polish photographer Marcin Lewandowski, learning how to see when a scene or image has the potential to really stand out is also part of the mix. In the video below, he gives some great tips for maximizing the potential of any shot, no matter the context:

Learning how to recognize potentially amazing shots is a key part of any serious photographer’s learning curve. According to Lewandowski, there are two key elements to maximizing a shot’s potential: noticing scenes that can be enhanced by post production and doing your research for any intended shoot.

Noticing Scenes That Can Be Enhanced by Post Production

Knowing just how your camera will capture a scene and what you can later do to make the image shine is a key skill for all photographers. This doesn’t mean settling for crappy composition or bad lighting and then trying to fix it in post production. Rather, it means to visualize the possibilities of things that can be done to make an average photo spectacular: noticing when the raw material is there and when just a few tweaks can bring out its brilliance—or as Lewandowski puts it, “polishing a gem.”

Look for images that you can improve with post processing.

Never Underestimate the Effectiveness of Planning

For landscapes, weddings, and other place-specific shots this is pretty self-evident: check the weather, look up other photos that have been taken of the place, check photography forums for tips of when/where to shoot from, check the timing of the event in question, etc.

Plan your portrait shoots.

But have you ever considered researching your portrait clients before shooting them? According to Lewandowski, this can really help in connecting with your clients.

What do you think?