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Top 5 tips for photographing Devon

17th December 2018

Categories: Visitor News

Image - Salcombe

Top 5 tips for photographing Devon

If you’re following us on Instagram (and if you’re not, why not?!) you’ll know that Devon is a beautiful place to be, it doesn’t matter if you’re in the cities looking at the architecture, in the countryside or on the coast, everywhere you look is something you want to add to your Instagram profile. But, how do you do the scenery justice? There is no need to panic about how to make your photos look good and there is no need to get fancy equipment (though if you have a top of the range DSLR, feel free to take it with you when you explore Devon!) Here are our top tips!

Change the angle of your camera

If you’re at the beach you might spot light rippling on the water or the way the waves are crashing, perhaps a boat on the horizon, whatever you spot, you want to take a picture so tip number one, get as low to the floor as you can. By focussing on the pebbles in the foreground, the beach will look larger, the waves more dramatic and the horizon will go one for ever! If you don’t fancy lying om the ground, then why not instead look to the horizon, make sure it is in the lower third of your screen or view finder and that will become the focus of you photo adding even more drama to the image.

Use grids or the rule of thirds

If you’re in the countryside, try focusing on a tree or other feature in the foreground, it’ll have much more impact that just snapping aimlessly at the landscape. If you’re drawn to the sky or the shadows or the way the weather is affecting the area, imagine grids (or turn them on if you have that function on your camera/smartphone) and try to get the thing that catches your eye to line up. For instance, want to emphasise the sky? Keep the horizon in the lower third of the grid, want to focus on a ray of sunlight on a tree? Get that in the middle of your grid.

Image - Hound Tor

Use your zoom functions

Some cameras have better zoom functions than others, but you can always make a picture look more dramatic by zooming in as much as you can. This is an interesting way to capture wildlife, which you’ll find plenty of when wandering around Devon! For instance, try to fill your viewfinder with the animal/bird/plant/insect and you’ll have a really interesting picture. Plus if you’re somewhere like Dartmoor and see all the horses and want to photograph them, it is always better to use zoom than to try and approach them, they’re likely to just run off!

Change your shutter speed – or enable the video function

If you want to photograph something that is moving, a surfer, a dolphin in the bay, one of those aforementioned horses, whatever you see, you might need to do some messing around with your settings to get the right shutter speed. This is when you change the settings to change how long the shutter is open for… Point and shoot cameras and phones don’t always let you change this so if that’s the case, video it instead, then you can view it frame by frame and screenshot the shot that you want!

Image - Hartland Quay

Try using a tripod

If you’ve seen some of the night sky over the moor style photos or perhaps images of lights at dusk or some evening shots and wondered how on earth to do it, the first thing you’ll need is something to keep your camera/phone steady. A tripod is a must, as is changing your shutter speed and apateur settings, if your camera doesn’t allow for this, the videoing tip will help to some extent, then use the camera/phones in built editing software to change the exposure (or do this when you get back from your holidays!)

Have you taken any amazing photos of Devon? Let us know! You can follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.