Photographer Jimmy Chin’s Best Photography Tips

Every photographer must understand the basic differences between lenses. Understanding how a lens works and what types of images it’s best suited for is very important. Some of the basics to consider when approaching lenses include:

• Focal length: Simply put, focal length is the measurement of distance (in millimeters) between the point of convergence of your camera lens and the sensor recording the image. Focal length is expressed by a number, and that number tells you how much of the scene your camera will be able to capture. Smaller numbers have a wider angle of view and show more of the scene; larger numbers have a narrower angle of view and show less. Learn more about focal length in our guide here.
• Primes and zooms: There are two basic types of lenses: primes and zooms. Primes have a fixed focal length, making them faster and sharper. Zooms use a series of lenses to allow different focal lengths from a single lens, making them more flexible but not as fast. Learn more about zoom lenses in our in-depth guide here.
• Lens names: Lenses are referred to by their focal lengths. If there is a single focal length listed, it’s a prime lens. If there are two numbers, it’s a zoom lens, listing the minimum and maximum focal lengths. For example: 50mm is a prime lens with a 50mm focal length, whereas 16–35mm is a zoom lens, which can vary anywhere from 16mm to 35mm. Additionally, sometimes the maximum aperture (or speed) of the lens is incorporated into the lens name. That’s because it’s possible to have lenses with the same focal length, but different maximum apertures. For example: 24–70mm f/2.8 is a zoom lens, which can vary from 16mm to 35mm and can open up as fast as f/2.8. 85mm f1.4 is a prime lens, which can open up as fast as f1.4. Usually, when photographers are talking about lenses, they don’t say “millimeters”; they’ll refer to a lens as a “50” or a “16 to 35.” And if they’re mentioning the speed of the lens, they’ll often only say the key numbers, so that an 85mm f1.4 lens becomes “85 one four.”

Understanding the exposure triangle is an important step to knowing how to use your camera. Your camera has three ways to control the amount of light that reaches its sensor:

• Shutter Speed: This is how long the shutter is open, expressed as a measurement of time. For example 1/100 means that your shutter is open for 1/100th of a second. Shutter speed allows you to freeze or blur a subject in motion.
• Aperture: This is how big the opening is that lets light in, expressed in f-stops. F-stops are counterintuitive, because the larger the number, the smaller the opening. For example, f/2.8 allows twice as much light into the camera as f4, and 16 times as much light as f11. Aperture affects the depth of field: larger openings create a shallower depth of field, while smaller openings make more of the image in focus.
• ISO: This is how sensitive your camera’s sensor is to light, expressed in a number. The higher the ISO number, the more sensitive your camera will be to light. But increased ISO will also increase digital noise in your images, so you typically want your ISO to be as low as possible as the native setting for your camera.

All three of these variables work in conjunction with one another to get the correct exposure for your images. For example, if you open up the aperture to let more light in, you will need to have either a faster shutter speed or a lower ISO to compensate for this additional light.

Learn more about the exposure triangle in our guide here.

There are three main camera modes:

• Manual: You set a specific shutter speed, aperture, and ISO. This is useful if you want complete control of your camera settings, and you have time to adjust them for each shot.
• Shutter Priority: You set a specific shutter speed and the camera automatically selects the aperture. This is useful when your subject is on the move.
• Aperture Priority: In aperture priority mode, you set a specific aperture, and the camera automatically selects the shutter speed. This is useful when you want to control the depth of field.

Both Aperture Priority and Shutter Priority have their uses, and you’ll often find yourself switching back and forth, depending on what you’re shooting. It often makes sense to set your ISO to Auto when you’re shooting in these modes, so that the camera has more flexibility to make decisions to get the shot right.

• Autofocus: If you are photographing a moving subject, you may use Continuous Autofocus (called “Servo” on Canon cameras). Continuous Autofocus tracks your subject as it moves through the frame, keeping the focal point where you want it. The faster your subject is moving, the harder it is to nail your focus. Continuous Autofocus is an important tool for action photographers—it gives you a much better chance that you’ll get a crisp shot.
• Exposure compensation: Sometimes you’ll be shooting in Shutter Priority or Aperture Priority mode, and because part of the frame is very dark or very light, the camera gets confused and doesn’t get the settings quite right on its own. For example, if you’re shooting a portrait inside a building on a bright day, and you have your subject stand with the window to his back, the camera’s not going to know if you want to expose for the subject’s face, thereby overexposing the background, or if you want to expose for the outside, making your subject a silhouette. If you switch into Manual mode, you’ll have control over this, of course, but if you’re in a hurry, you can use the Exposure Compensation dial on your camera to override the camera’s settings. By turning the dial, you’re telling the camera to under- or overexpose the shot, giving you the desired look.

Controlling the amount of the photo that is in focus is one of the photographer’s best tools to help draw the viewer’s eye where you want it. For example, landscapes are typically shot so that everything is in focus, so photographers will shoot at small apertures. But you can create layering in your image by having only part of the photo in focus. If you have some foreground objects out of focus (for example, some leaves), they will give your image depth; the viewer will really feel like they’re looking through those leaves at your main subject. To achieve this effect, shoot at a wider aperture. When you’re shooting an image, you’re telling a story to the viewer. It’s your job to tell them where they should be looking, and directing their attention to the photo’s key elements. There are a number of tools you can use to tell the “story” of your image:

• Shallow depth of field Immediately brings the viewer’s attention to whatever is in focus in the photo.
• The Rule of Thirds places your subject on the left-third or right-third of the frame, creating a pleasing composition.
• Leading lines bring the viewer’s eye through the frame. The viewer’s eye will travel along the lines as it moves across your photo.

Once you’ve mastered some of the basic rules of composition you can begin to break them for dramatic effect. A great photo doesn’t have to follow the basic rules of composition, but it’s still critical to learn and internalize these rules so that it’s clear you’re breaking them not out of ignorance, but for stylistic reasons.

Like many photographers, Jimmy uses Adobe Lightroom to organize and process all his photos. Lightroom is a very deep and powerful tool, and combined with Adobe Photoshop, you can do pretty much anything you can think of while processing. Because Lightroom has so many capabilities, it can be a little intimidating to learn how it works. Fortunately there are a lot of tutorials available online, both free and paid. A good place to start is with Adobe’s own tutorials on how to master Lightroom. Online documentation for the application abounds. The main alternative to Adobe’s Lightroom is Capture One, by Phase One. Like Lightroom, Capture One allows you to catalog and process all your photos. Both platforms have ardent evangelists arguing which is better; do some Internet research and decide for yourself which is better suited to your needs.

Some things you can adjust during the editing process include:

• Overall adjustments
• White Balance: Adjust temperature and tint so that the colors are correct.
• Exposure: Overall brightness or darkness of the image.
• Highlights: Control just the brighter parts of the image.
• Shadows: Control just the darker parts of the image.
• Whites: Set the brightest point in the image.
• Blacks: Set the darkest point in the image.
• Contrast: Adjust the contrast, or the variance between the light and dark parts of the image. Adding contrast makes your darks darker and your brights brighter.
• Clarity: Adjust contrast, but just in the middletones of your photo. Increasing clarity has the effect of enhancing texture and brings a little grittiness to the image. Conversely, decreasing clarity can give your photos a dreamy quality.
• Saturation: How much color information is in the photo.
• Sharpening: A method in which contrast is increased anywhere a light area meets a dark area, thereby making the photo look sharper.
• Noise Reduction: A method to smooth out any “noise” in a photo, which is usually caused by severely underexposing and/or shooting at a very high ISO. Noise is not grain, and is generally considered undesirable.
• Lens Corrections: Corrects distortions made by the lens when capturing the image. Each lens is different, and Lightroom selects the correct setting for your lens automatically.
• Perspective Correction: Corrects distortions made by shooting an image that’s not quite square to your subject. For example, if you shoot a building from the ground you will need to tilt your camera up to capture the whole building; in the photo, the building’s walls will look like they are angling toward the center of the frame instead of being straight up and down. Perspective Correction allows you to fix this so that the building looks square.
• Grain: Allows you to add grain to an image for creative effect.
• Vignette: Allows you to darken or brighten the edges of the image for creative effect.
• Radial Filter: Allows you to affect an area inside (or outside) of a circular or oval shape.
• Graduated Filter: Same as the radial filter, but with a straight line instead of a circle.
• Brush: Allows you to “brush” on changes using a mouse or pen/tablet.
• HSL: Allows you to change the hue, saturation, or luminance of a particular color. (For example, you could use HSL to make all the reds in a photo appear more orange, more saturated, and brighter.)

• Preparation is key. Have a pre production meeting to make sure everyone knows what’s happening creatively and logistically. Talk through everything that will appear on camera; determine your equipment needs; and choose the right location, time of day, and crew.
• Hero Shots. Get the hardest shots (or “hero shots”) first. Then you can move on to other shots, knowing that your most crucial images are covered.
• Options. Give yourself options. Always look for ways you can get alternates or varied images by shooting with different lenses and compositions. You’ll give yourself more options when it’s time for editing.
• Communicate clearly. Make sure that your crew and talent have what they need so that they can work safely and comfortably. Give clear direction to your talent, so they know what they should be doing, and can give you the performance you’re looking for.

• Understanding light. This is the most valuable skill you can learn as a photographer. Learn to use light quality, direction, and the changes in natural light throughout the day to your advantage.
• Harmony. Creating harmony between subject and background: The background should never draw too much attention away from your subject.
• Focus. If you’re shooting a portrait, it’s critical that their eyes (or at least the eye that’s closer to the camera) are in focus; it’s okay if the rest of the image is soft, but the eye(s) must be sharp. Sometimes your autofocus might accidentally zero in on their eyebrow, leaving the pupil slightly out of focus. In order to avoid that, you can “focus with your body” to help ensure you get the shot you want. To use this technique, set your camera to manual focus mode, and then focus on the person’s eye. Then shoot a handful of photos where you lean back ever so slightly and then lean forward a tiny bit too. By moving the camera, you’re moving the plane of focus; one or more of those photos should be in focus by using this technique.
• Tip for Using Light. If you’re shooting in a situation where the subject is significantly darker than the sky, as you saw in this chapter, you’ll likely want to underexpose your image slightly to make sure the sky isn’t blown out to a complete white. You can always brighten your subject later in postproduction. But if you overexpose the sky and the camera doesn’t record any information because it’s too bright, you won’t be able to recover any information in that part of the image, and the sky will always be a pure white. Knowing exactly where the sun will rise or set on any given day is incredibly helpful when you’re planning a shoot. There are a few different apps you can purchase, which will tell you the exact sun (and sometimes the moon) position on any day of the year, anywhere on Earth.

Whether you’re just starting out or have dreams of going professional, photography requires plenty of practice and a healthy dose of creativity. No one knows this better than celebrated National Geographic photographer Jimmy Chin. In Jimmy Chin’s MasterClass on adventure photography, he shares how to capture your passions, build and lead a team, and execute high stakes photography.

Want to become a better photographer? The MasterClass Annual Membership provides exclusive video lessons from master photographers, including Jimmy Chin and Annie Leibovitz.