Top 10 Tips for Great Pictures (#1 – #5) by John Linton

Aamora.com member John Linton presents Kodak’s classic “Top 10 Tips for Great Pictures”, vividly and informatively demonstrating each tip. For the original Kodak Top 10 Tips, click here.

Amateur and professional photographers alike: Take Note!

(And thanks, John!)

Here’s the first five . . .

TIP # 1:  Hold your camera at the subject’s eye level to capture the power of those magnetic gazes and mesmerizing smiles.  For kids and pets that means getting down on their level to take the picture.  They don’t have to look directly into the camera. The eye level angle by itself will create a personal and inviting feeling.

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TIP #2:  Before taking a picture, check the area behind your subject.  Lookout for trees or poles sprouting from your subject’s head.  A cluttered background will be distracting while a plain background will emphasize your subject.

Kodak 2
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TIP #3: “Even outdoors, use the fill flash setting on the camera to improve your pictures.  Use it in bright sunlight to lighten dark shadows under the eyes and nose, especially when the sun is directly overhead or behind your subject.  Use it on cloudy days, to brighten up faces and make them stand out from the background.”

Kodak 3
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TIP #4: To create impactful pictures, move in close and fill your picture with the subject.  Move a few steps closer or use the zoom until the subject fills the viewfinder. You will eliminate background distractions and show off the details in your subject.  For small objects, use the camera’s macro or ‘flower’ mode to get sharp close-ups.”

Kodak 4
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TIP #5: Many subjects look better in a vertical picture – from the Eiffel Tower to portraits of your friends.  Make a conscious effort to turn your camera sideways and take some vertical pictures.

Kodak 5
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Check back soon right here at aamora.com for more of Mr. Linton’s keen insights and Kodak Tips #6-10 ! And now that you know the first 5, get out there and shoot something!

*****
John Linton is aamora.com’s floundering member living in Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, the state with the biggest name and smallest size. View more of John’s work on his Flickr stream, JPG Magazine or aamora.com.

23 thoughts on “Top 10 Tips for Great Pictures (#1 – #5) by John Linton”

  1. I’ve just finished reading through what is above.
    I was going to reply to the initial ten comments
    that had been made about that faded photograph with
    the mark of a paper clip where it had hung from a
    brad so long ago. This was my immediate response to
    the ten comments I saw at my first peep.
    So I slept on in and found one more at
    03:30 when I crawled back into cyberville. An hour
    later I said something to Aaron about commenting something
    before I left for a 07:30 breakfast at the India
    International Centre’s annex dinning room. But I left
    without writing it and cameback and still did not write
    what was promised It’s now 20:00
    hours and it still hadn’t been done and won’t be until
    the morning. Lemme see what the cavelcade nocturnally
    prancing between my ears has to say about all of this.
    Meanwhile, I stuffed some of you into the great god
    google and found out I was amongest a most noteworthy
    crew. All by routes fortuitus and well as curcuitus.
    I feel honoured and blessed and feel with that knowing
    certainity that this is indeed a propitious time.

  2. I’m laughing out loud John….thanks so much! Needed the comic relief, after a long day at work. Can’t wait til tomorrow, so I can “….get out there and shoot something”. Hugs to J. Harvey II ~ it must be very difficult for him 😉

  3. Excellent John! I especially like the first photo and I KNEW Crystal (the Queen of Photo Tips) would have something to say.

  4. If the five following are as good as these, I’ll sell my book ‘How to get good photos, but now!!’ and make myself a follower of your fabulous tips.
    Super-funny-and-hilarious-tips!
    Great entry, man!

  5. Thanks everyone for your comments. Liz, that’s me in the picture in the jacket and tie holding the baby. The baby was my niece and I have no idea why I ended up holding her.

    Please don’t pay any attention to J. Harvey. I haven’t listened to him since I made him leave the Young Republicans back in 1968 when Nelson Rockefeller lost the nomination to Richard Nixon. He’s been in a snit ever since.

  6. Dear Mr John Linton,

    Firstly, I second the motion or notion of J. Harvey Linton II. Secondly, I am writing a book called Ten Tips on How to Give Ten Tips. You would do well to read it. Oh, you have some useful information here but, really, if you are trying to infiltrate the long and noble lineage of the great Ten Tippers of History (of which I include myself as one) then you are going to have to learn a few things. Allow me to educate you as to just whom you are seeking the exalted company of:

    Heloise
    David Letterman
    George Eastman
    Frank Tetrini
    Moses
    Bo Derek
    Shirley Gulch
    Yours Truly

    Yours Truly,
    Crystal Lamont
    PS Your tip #1 is an eyeopener for me. Thank you.

  7. LOL, U R 1 funny guy mister Linton…I do like your 1st 5 Kodak tips, way better than those Kodak´s top 10 Tips on better pictures…your results certainly R more original….thanks 4 this John. Now, inspired by this I will get right on it & get photographing following your ever so concise directions to taking a better picture.

  8. Good morning,

    I’m one of John’s other personalities and I would like to take a moment and make a plea on behalf of lovers of fine art throughout the world.

    Please refrain from encouraging John’s childish behavior. You may find his imbecilic forays into the world of photography mildly amusing, perhaps evens worth a giggle, but I can assure you that any encouragement of his infantile behavior will be at the expense of aamora’s standing within the fine arts community.

    Imagine if you will what it has been like for me to be trapped in the same skin for the past 61 years, to share as it were the same brain cells, although heaven knows he has never made the slightest effort to stimulate them. In short he makes every town’s “village idiot” look good.

    I implore you, do not become an enabler.

    Yours sincerely,

    J. Harvey Linton, II

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