Three simple ways to improve your photos

We all want to improve. When we are starting out, improvement can be hard work. But, sometimes we make it harder than it is.

We get caught up in what we see and hear in the industry. Use this technique, use that software, this app is the best, etc. 

The reality is, that there are some really simple things we can all do to improve a photo. It doesn’t have to be complicated.

Straighten your horizon and lines

This is a big one for many of us. If you are looking for critiques from peers or pros, the first thing they’re going to look at is your horizon line. Is it straight? That applies to the verticals in your images as well — buildings, towers, telephone poles and any other vertically oriented subject. 

These are both generally a click or two away from being fixed. Lightroom Classic has a Transform module where you can click on Auto or choose to correct the perspective using lines to straighten. Nik Perspective Efex by DxO Labs is one plugin you can also use to straighten lines and horizons. 

Photoshop, Luminar Neo and most of the rest all have ways to make straightening your images easy.

Remove the dust spots (or clean your camera once in a while)

The first thing to do is get your sensor cleaned. Many of us do this ourselves as well, but every so often it’s worth it to take in your camera and lenses to have them professionally looked at and cleaned. They may see something that needs attention that you might not know about.

Now, to remove those spots in post-processing. Adobe Lightroom spot removal does a pretty good job. The Spot Heal tool in Adobe Photoshop also works well. If you want to save some time, check out Luminar Neo. It uses artificial intelligence to find and clean up the spots in no time. (I have found that it doesn’t get ALL the spots though.)

Remove distractions

This is something that you can also do while you’re creating the images if you pay attention. Slow down and actually SEE what is in your frame before you press the shutter. Is there something poking in along the edge that is unnecessary? Is there an ugly garbage can just in the corner of the frame? Take a step forward to remove it from your frame first. 

If you can’t remove the distractions as you’re shooting, there is always post-processing. Sometimes, it’s as easy as a small crop to get rid of something that is along the edge of the image. 

Maybe it’s bigger than that and can’t just be cropped. Or you’re in a tourist area and just don’t have the time to wait until there are no people in your frame. If you’re not familiar with using long exposure to ‘remove’ people, then it’s time to get into the removal of objects or healing brush tools in various software and apps. Power lines are another distraction in some images, depending on the intention of the photo. Luminar Neo does a pretty good job of removing those with AI as well.

These are three easy tips to help you improve your photography game a little bit. Little things make big differences when you look at the before and after. Details matter. The more you become aware of what those little things are that make your images better, the more you’ll start thinking about them while you are out with your camera.

See, it’s not so hard to improve your images after all.