5 Ways to Shoot a Subject

by Sherri on March 9, 2010

Auburn-Courthouse-5

Spring shot of the Historic Auburn Courthouse, Auburn, California.

Capturing a subject in many different ways can be done all in one photo shoot, or over time. It's always a good idea when you have a great subject in front of you to really explore it and shoot it as many ways as possible. You may never get to return and re-shoot it later! The Historic Auburn Courthouse pictured above is a subject I have access to 24/7/365 and I have shot it many different ways. If you have a good subject close to home, I recommend practicing these tips on it first, before taking that once in a lifetime dream vacation. Here are 5 examples of how I have shot the Auburn Courthouse: Different Seasons - In order to shoot your subject in different seasons, obviously you need to be able to return to the location. I have shot the Auburn Courthouse in both Spring (see photo above) and Winter. Here is a shot of the Auburn Courthouse in the Winter. At night - Shooting at night can be challenging. I also don't have a lot of night shooting experience, but here is a night shot of the Auburn Courthouse I did manage to get that I really like. Different lenses - Experiment using different lenses. The shot above was taken with a 12-24mm wide-angle lens. For this shot of the Auburn Courthouse, I used a 28-70mm lens. Shoot Horizontal and Vertical - Many subjects work equally well shot in both formats, others don't. If you are shooting for publication, vertical shots are the desired format for COVERS, while horizontals are often used for CENTER SPREADS. Here is a horizontal shot of the Auburn Courthouse. Frame Your Subject - You can frame your subject many different ways. For examples of how you can frame your subject, check out this link. Here is a shot of the Auburn Courthouse using this technique. For a few more ideas on how you can shoot a subject, check out this link. What are your favorite ways to shoot a subject? Feel free to add them to the comments section below. Thank you for visiting! ~Sherri

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