3 Beginner-friendly shoot ideas
Often, when contributors on Unsplash look at their stats page to get a better understanding of how their images are performing on the platform — they’re surprised at which photos have the most views and downloads.
Because most of the time, the photos with the top views and downloads are the visuals that our community finds the most ‘useful’ in one way or another. Which translates to: how a photo can be utilized in a blog post, a powerpoint presentation, or within a digital collage or work of art.
We’ve put together 3 photoshoot ideas based on what content our community finds really valuable. And they all happen to beginner-friendly.
Textures & Patterns
If you browse through the homepage, you might just start to see a pattern ;) Whether it’s the texture of a leaf up close or the windows of an apartment building — images featuring textures and patterns are infinitely helpful for designers and artists — as well as anyone looking for a new wallpaper for their phone.
So next time you’re out, why not try to look out for any simple patterns or interesting textures you come across on a daily basis? It could be a pattern of light, pebbles on the beach, or even a simple brick wall. Think about how the Unsplash community could incorporate your image in a collage or add your photo as a much-needed layer of texture to a piece of art, and get shooting.
Just remember – great photos of textures & patterns have a few things in common. For starters, make sure that the texture you're shooting is in focus, so we can actually see the details that attracted you to shooting the subject matter in the first place. And don't forget experiment with taking photos at different distances and angles, so you can understand which shot showcases the pattern or texture most effectively. And if you need any inspiration, head over to the Textures & Patterns Topic to get your fill.
Negative Space
When our community is searching for images to use for their marketing materials or graphic design projects — images with negative space are very popular. They may need room to incorporate some text of their own, or maybe they’d simply like to crop an image in a particular way. So photographs with negative space make a huge impact on the platform for their versatility and flexibility for creatives.
Luckily, there are tons of ways to play around with negative space for your next shoot, whether you’re shooting a specific object, or would simply like to experiment with injecting more simplicity into your shots.
A few tips from us? Once you’ve got the main subject of your photo in view, slow down and focus on the area surrounding the subject, and experiment with the framing until you feel you’ve reached a nice ratio of negative space.
Another fun way to experiment with negative space is to go back through some of your older photos to see if there are ways to crop the image that play with the space around the main subject in your photo and create a stronger final photo.
Quotes & Expressions
Often, we see that images that incorporate text in some way tend to be valuable for our community of marketers who might be using the image to communicate a very specific message in their next pitch or presentation. Images depicting a single word, a known expression, or a phrase evoking specific emotions are consistently downloaded and used by the community.
This topic could be approached in a few different ways — from writing out expressions you’d like to capture, to shooting words or sayings you see when you’re out.
Whether you’re new to Unsplash and not sure what our community is searching for, or you’re simply wanting new ideas for your next shoot —hopefully these 3 easy-to-shoot ideas will help you get started. And even if you aren’t happy with your first shot, the more photos you take — the more you’ll improve.