10 Photography Tips to Get You Creative in the Summer Months
Even though we know summer to be characterized with the early sunrises, scorching sunlight during the day and the late sunsets, summer has always been a great time for outdoor photography. There is nothing as good as being outside with your camera in the warm months.
However, being creative during this time of the year is very important. If you are finding it difficult to come up with some great photography ideas during this summer, here are some few tips to help you out!
#1: Try visiting the Beach
Even though some people argue that beaches are dramatically more beautiful in the winter months, it’s quite obvious that they are indeed more pleasant destinations to visit during the summer. Also, during this time of the year, there are usually lots of activities to photograph.
When planning to go to the beach to take photos, it’s always a good idea to check the weather and tides times because the best time to take beachscape photos is usually shortly after high tide when the pristine sands are just being revealed gradually at the beach.
When you visit a popular beach at low tide, it means you often meet the sand all moved about and covered in beachgoers and their footprints. This too can make great photos anyway.
It’s a good idea you think about the type of pictures you plan to take at the beach and fit an appropriate lens. Once in the sandy beaches, it’s wise to avoid changing lens. To shoot seaside activities from afar, use a telephoto lens. If you want to take a photo of a subject in a portrait orientation, you will need to bring something a little shorter. To give your pictures a sense of space, a wide-angle lens is more suitable.
#2: Have a Little Flare
We usually take a great time to avoid flare, but it can be very attractive and is shouting aloud ‘summer sunshine.’ So why not take a few pictures that actually make use of flare? It could work great in portrait or landscape pictures.
If you are taking pictures in the middle of the day without a wide-angle lens, you would need to take photos from a low angle to capture flare. In rare and extreme cases, you would want to include the sun in the picture, but in other situations, you just need the sun to shine across the subject and front of the lens to have some light bouncing in the barrel.
#3: Shoot a Childhood Summer
When you remember your childhood summers, your memories are of exciting voyages to discover new and wonderful places on your new bike or maybe trips to the coastlines, seeing a lion at the zoo or exploring a historic monument, Popsicle in hand.
Your children and grandchildren are creating these memories right now too. Taking pictures of them would make for a wonderful summer project for you, and they will thank you 15 to 20 years from now. If there aren’t any children in your family, recreating your childhood memories will make for great pictures.
#4: Go on a Picnic
Having picnics during the summer with some tasty desserts and treats will put everyone in great spirits, increasing chances of taking great family pictures together. If you carry your tripod on this picnic, you could get a couple of pictures of the family having fun as a whole.
For the best results, put everyone in the family on a blanket in the shade and use the camera’s LED flash to brighten and add some sparkle to the picture. If your camera has a remote controller or Wi-Fi built in, you could control it remotely and take pictures of everyone – yourself included. Set the camera self-timer to at least a two-second delay, so you have ample time to put the remote away. To make the picture more fun, set the timer to at least 10 seconds and run into the frame.
#5: Try Using a Polarizer
With the use of a polarizer, you can turn blue skies almost black. Even though this isn’t something you want to do very often, it can give you some wonderful results. So, experimenting with it won’t be a bad idea.
You can also make white clouds out of blue ones with a polarizer. You can reduce the reflection in the waters and increase saturation for punchier colors.
#6: Create Your Own Postcards
You could try taking pictures worthy of being made into a postcard if you aren’t going away this summer. The main challenge lies in finding locations that perfectly capture the best and most beautiful parts and features of your location and also taking these pictures in a way that makes these locations look wonderful.
You can’t just hop out and start taking pictures, you need to think about the right weather, the perfect time of the day, where to view your chosen location from and if to or not to use filters or make use of particular techniques. You never can tell, if you have some prints made, you can sell some of these postcards on an online store like Esty.
#7: Do Smoke Bomb Photography
Smoke photography is receiving great applause from people today, and it will be a great idea if you could do some this summer. Smoke bomb does not only add creativity to your shots, but it also adds atmosphere, mood and plain fun to your photos. Engaging in smoke bomb photography is far easier these days than it used to be. You only need to get a hand of the trick.
#8: Take Black and White Pictures
The blue skies and flowers in the summer are all great for shots during the warmer month, but the bright sun and shadows it creates make for wonderful black and white photos, especially of cities.
For optimum results, you can decide to take pictures in both RAW and JPEG formats simultaneously. Set the camera’s picture style and/or picture control to monochrome. This way, you will see how the scene looks in monochrome and have enough data to convert to black and white after taking photos.
#9: Take Portraits of Yourself
Many photographers have a problem; they take lots of pictures but are rarely in any of these pictures. It’s best to push yourself to correct this come summer and take pictures with you in them. Preferably of you or you with your significant other.
Do not fall into the trap of using just your phone to take pictures where everything is at arm’s length. Use a proper camera and take particular care with the image composition, setting off the shutter remotely and also using a self-timer so you can be in the frame. Use a fill-in flash also for better results.
#10: Take Pictures of Sports During the Summer
Since the field hockey and soccer seasons are already over, there are still some great loads of other sports to take pictures of. You could try taking pictures of sailing teams and competitive surfing down at sea. Cricket is also in season.
You can also take pictures at polo matches though this is rarely done. Although the sport is usually the focus of most photographers, the fans can also be interesting. Take a longer lens along to enable you take pictures of your subjects from far away.