Two Photography Rules You Should Break | A Club Click Course

i know that just a few short weeks ago we chatted about shutter speed, aperture and ISO and we discussed how to set them properly to create correct exposures. for the next seven days i want you to throw that all out the window + embrace two photography rules that you should break every once in awhile. after all, following the rules all the time can get pretty boring 🙂

slow your shutter speed: i typically suggest setting your shutter speed to 1/125 to freeze movement to achieve crisp photos. but the truth is that life is full of movement and oftentimes movement can be beautiful. blurring a waterfall, a car driving down the street, or even your child’s dance moves can add an element of action to your photo. my oldest daughter has long, beautiful hair and i love slowing my shutter speed to add some movement to her whipping her hair around. i’ll often set my shutter speed to 1/60 to start and then slow it down even more until i achieve my desired result. keep in mind that when you lower your shutter speed, you’ll have to adjust your aperture and ISO accordingly to still achieve the correct exposure.

shoot ‘oof’ (out of focus): we’ve discussed aperture and how high or low to set it to achieve a photo with more or less detail in focus. but what about shooting something where NOTHING is in focus? shooting out of focus is one of my favorite photography rules to break. during the holidays i took my oldest daughter and wrapped christmas lights around her in a way that looked like angel’s wings but the ‘look’ was only successful because it was shot completely out of focus. over the summer i took a similar shot of my oldest daughter swinging in our backyard. the soft, out of focus photos are appealing because they add a little storytelling element to your photo. instead of the viewer focusing on whatever you have chosen to focus on, your viewer is now focusing more on the story behind the image because there is nothing in focus. in order to achieve photos that are out of focus, you’ll have to set your lens to manual focus to ensure that your lens doesn’t automatically pick a focal point against your wishes. i snapped a photo of one of my lenses below to help guide you to finding the switch on your lens. once you’ve flipped your switch, you’ll have the power to manually control how ‘in’ or ‘out’ of focus your image is by moving the focus ring. find a spot you’re comfortable with and snap away! enjoy the ease and creativity of not trying to focus on one certain point.

this week i challenge you to break these two photography rules and get creative. set your shutter speed super low and have your subject run, jump, dance, whip their hair, ANYTHING with ANY movement will bring success. if you don’t have a subject to practice on, try photographing a moving car or water rushing out of a faucet. then, try snapping something out of focus. once you’ve set your lens to focus manually, remember to move your ring around to find your desired ‘out of focus’ look.  don’t forget to post your images to social media using the hashtag #ClubClickPic! i can’t wait to see your images!