"If Your Pictures Aren't Good Enough, You're Not Close Enough" - Robert Capa
Robert Capa was a legendary wartime photojournalist born Andre Friedmann, in Hungary in 1913. His assignments took him all over the war torn world in the years between the 1930's and the 1950's. He lost his life, ironically, in Vietnam in 1954 after stepping on a land mine. There is such a thing as "too close", I guess...
While these words are said by some to have been attributed to his girlfriend, rather than himself, they are known and repeated by photographers everywhere.
Whether you are shooting a war ravaged refugee, or a flower, the premise is the same. Getting in close can make all the difference between a nice photograph, and a terrific one. Don't depend entirely on a zoom lens, either. Move your feet. Inspect your subject from varying angles, above or below, from side to side.
Take your time composing the shot. A centered focal point is not always the most interesting.
Have you ever laid down on your belly in a public place to get a shot? We're talking REALLY public, here. I took this shot of the daisies at Sea World on my belly. My mother was mortified.
And it's a little bit harder to get back up than it used to be...hope no one was watching.
When you are shooting macros and close ups, it's a good idea to use manual focus to get the sharpest, clearest images possible, then use your photo editing program to sharpen it more for web or print.
Comments (86)Subscribe to CommentsComment