How to Take Aesthetic Pictures: Photography Tips

The term aesthetic photography is almost familiar to every type of photographer, from newbies to professionals to hobbyists. But the actual definition of this term might not be familiar to everyone. 

In short, aesthetic photography is a set of principles to create attractive photos. What are these principles? Nothing fixed. As long as a photographer combines his time, patience, personal taste, technical choices, design principles, etc. to create a unique picture, and the picture evokes the emotions of viewers, that is an aesthetic picture. 

Importance of Aesthetic Pictures

Aesthetic photography is a game changer. Not only it helps your photos to stand out in a crowd but also can generate a good amount of money. Here is the importance of aesthetic pictures in brief – 

• In a business, brand recognition is one of the ways to connect with consumers. And it is highly dependent on unique photography. If you apply your aesthetics in your product photos, people will notice them, recognize them, and remember your brand when shopping. This may increase sales and expand your community of followers.
• When you have an aesthetic mind like your viewers, chances are higher that like-minded viewers will turn into leads or regular customers. 
• Apart from high-volume keywords and niches, good-quality pictures are a part of SEO that can enhance a website’s performance. Now imagine what will happen if you link your own aesthetics to your website. 
• Once you learn about aesthetic photography, you just need to choose a specific niche to work on. With time, you will get a large number of potential clients in your niche. Moreover, even if you are not a professional photographer, your expertise will boost your resume. 

How to Take Aesthetic Pictures

There are many different ways to take aesthetic pictures, but some crucial and common techniques are given below for photographers.

1. Highlight one subject 

This indicates that while taking a photo of multiple subjects, highlight one subject to create a different emotion. Again, you can take a picture of only one subject but calculate the shot carefully. 

In the photo of multiple subjects, adjust the brightness, contrast, saturation, and filters to focus on one subject. Alternatively, you can blur other subjects to achieve the goal. Again, if you intend to capture only one subject, make sure two-thirds of the frame have negative space. In this way, the subject will get attention. 

2. Follow the lines 

Lines will make your photos more natural and livelier. When it comes to photography, you should follow the rules of lines to make your photos aesthetic. The most common photographic composition principle is the ‘rule of thirds’. When you turn on the gridlines of your camera, the entire image is divided into thirds or nine parts in total. And you must place your main subject in the very middle part of the grid. 

The rule of thirds will make viewers focused, comfortable, and willing to explore your image. Another thing you should try is leading lines. Leading lines create a sense of depth in the image and draw the viewer’s eye in a certain direction. These lines can be straight or circular, including buildings, roads, train tracks, staircases, or a path through the woods. 

The best thing you can do to your image is to break all the rules of lines and be creative with new tricks. 

3. Shoot in the best light 

One of the most important rules of aesthetic photography is shooting pictures in the best natural light. To make it possible, take photos at 9 in the morning and/or sunset. The former time period will give you fresh and vibrant colors, while the latter will give warm and honey-like effects. In the daytime, the camera’s flash will help you to remove the dark shadow behind or below the main subject. For that, make sure to operate the flash tool manually rather than letting it be ‘auto’.   

Though in the dark you won’t get desired photos, you can utilize darkness in a different way. After the sunset, when everything just darkens, try to find the natural light sources to click photos. In this way, you can play with shadows or create a silhouette to make your photo mysterious. Later, adjust the exposure tool of the photo editing app you are going to use to make the photo crisper. 

4. Set a theme 

Giving a story-telling theme to your image not only shows its artistic identity but also proves your professionalism. Set a specific theme, style, or niche so that your clicks become a hit and unique. Keep in mind that the theme includes the background as well as the main subject. If you ignore the background, the aesthetic touch might be incomplete. 

Find out what kind of theme matches your main subject best. For instance, if you are a travel photographer, capture your clicks in the polaroid style. Choose an earthy, gritty effect with neutral colors for street photography. Likewise, customize your theme according to the genre of your photos. 

5. Focus on the angle

Like lighting, angling is another crucial factor to achieve your aesthetics. Placing the camera higher or lower does not define the angling alone. Rather the matter depends on the photo subject, lighting, setting, etc. Don’t click all photos at a specific angle. Doing test shots is the best way to get a perfect angle. But it may vary according to the different photo concepts. 

Take photos from new angles that no one has seen before. For beach photography, take photos from the lower angle possible to emphasize the expansive beauty of the beach. Use drone cameras to capture beautiful landscapes. Sometimes the closest angles will grab others’ attention better than normal, higher, or lower angles. Close-up photos highlight the tiniest, sharpest, and most delicate details that can leave people in awe. 

6. Pay attention to candids 

Nowadays candids are making a strong place in aesthetic photography. Instead of a group of people with a particular pose, a photo of people laughing, talking to each other, or doing things is more interesting. 

Candid photos portray emotions better than posed photos. The good thing is, that you won’t have to arrange so many things to get the desired shot. You can click many photos randomly and choose one with the most naturalness and spontaneity. 

7. Choose symmetry or reflections

Symmetry in photography indicates a balanced photo that is the simplest yet the most beautiful. With symmetry, you create an image that can be divided into two equal parts. And get a mirror-like effect from them.

Reflections are very close to symmetry but with a few differences. The first can be found in normal places, like sunglasses, drinking glasses, large bodies of water, etc. But the latter can be found in the wild. 

When you choose symmetry, you may not have to take a wide shot. But for reflections, you may need to take a wide shot to capture both the main subject and the ground where it reflects. 

8. Think outside the box

A strong composition makes a great photo. But cool, unique, non-conventional ideas can produce more outstanding photos than you could imagine. Never be afraid to think outside the box or go rogue when it comes to photography. 

Try going retro, play with the saturation, add a gritty effect to your photo. And see the magic! On an icy, leafy, or flowery ground, place something unexpected that contrasts the weather or the initial concept of the photo. 

9. Embrace color blocking 

How will it look when the main subject of a photo is colored and the surroundings are black and white? Pretty cool, right? You can try the color blocking feature with any photo editing app. 

Color blocking highlights the single and central element that you want. Besides, though the other elements remain colorless, they maintain coherence with the colored subject. 

Suggested Article– Spring Aesthetic Wallpapers. 

10. Go abstract 

While a full image reveals the overall meaning, an abstract only gives the essence of the whole image. This is why abstract photos are unique, and surprising, and leave the viewers wanting more. 

To get an abstract photo, click an abstract portion of a normal photo or take close-up shots of objects. You can capture subjects with a pattern or repetitions as abstract photos too. 

11. Edit as you like 

Along with all the tips mentioned before, you need to learn photo editing skills to make your images aesthetic. Create your own editing style rather than following others blindly. 

All you need to do is to adjust the colors, lighting, exposure, saturation, and sharpness of your photo editor tool. A great way to start an aesthetic style is to utilize the presets and filters available online. 

However, don’t overdo it. Rather than downloading and applying the online resources, try to make your own filters and borders from a scratch. 

The Bottom Line

After knowing how to take aesthetic pictures, follow these tips to turn your photos from ordinary to extraordinary. On second thought, try something new by playing with your camera and photo editor settings. The key part of aesthetic photography is you should edit your photos in every new way possible to make them beautiful.