This week in DS, it was visual week. The assignments and daily creates presented the challenge of taking various pictures of silly things. One thing that I got out of this week that I will always have with me are the tips to becoming a better photographer. I love taking pictures, but now that I know these tips, I’m sure to drive my family and friends NUTS {evil laugh}. To become a better photographer, see what worked for some people and what didn’t work for others in our DS Google doc. Here are 3 tips that helped me a ton!!!

• Change your perspective – By finding different angles and points of view, you can really make your picture say 1,000 words. Literally. Here is a picture that I took of my boyfriend’s nephew {I know, he’s adorable :)}. The camera is pointing down so he is looking up. Because of this perspective, the picture probably tells another story than if it was straight on or laying down on the ground.

• Get Picky – Taking pictures doesn’t just mean looking at something and clicking the button, which is what I used to do before. With anything, spending more time on the shot will make it a “perfect shot”. I spent more time on taking pictures this week than I think anyone has…EVER. I don’t have one good picture to show for it so I will just show you two. When I was taking these pictures, I was being very selective which sometimes meant taking another picture because I needed to move something in the background that was distracting or what have you.

• Defy the rule of thirds – Having balance in your picture doesn’t mean the subject has to be dead on in the center. Honestly, I had no idea a “rule of thirds” ever existed, but it is nice to know that you can defy it and at the same time expressing what you are trying to say. This is a picture of me and my boyfriend in Aruba. Sadly, this picture was not taken this week. I included it in this post because I feel like this expresses an emotion and tells a story and defies the rule of thirds.