'How to Take a Good Photograph' - talk by Jeni Reid

We enjoyed a very interesting and helpful talk from Jeni on taking good photos with our phones. Jeni is a professional photographer and takes stunning pictures, but her tips and advice were geared to us 'happy snappers'. She explained how to choose good compositions and to edit these to get the best components of a picture. 

Advice on looking in the every day for our inspiration, and thinking about whether homing in on a subject or drawing back would suit it better. 

Looking at the light and shadows to achieve a particular ambience, and how to choose the right setting to take advantage of the light, to make the subjects softer or crisper, and the effect of the colour or the light, e.g. cold winter light or warm lamplight.

Taking photos from a different angle, such as kneeling g or even laying down to get a different perspective on the subject.

Tips for taking photos of people included not posing them, but snapping them while they are doing something and are unaware, as we all tend to 'freeze' when being posed.

And a clever tip for a group photo to avoid someone having their eyes closed - tell everyone to close their eyes, count to three and open them, and take the snap - simple and brilliant!

I shall definitely take these tips on board, and hope my not very great photos will improve.