How to Get Better Photos On Le Cheap

     Ello poppets! Today I'm going to do something a bit different, a TURTLERIAL.
*Dramatic music*
     Yes, I know it's actually called a "Tutorial" but that kind of sounds like Turtle-rial. So from now on everyone must call it "TURTLERIAL" It's required by international law. On. Pluto.

     So I've always been talented at art, but the one medium I wasn't talented in was always photography. However, I've gotten a ton better, and I'd like to help you get better too so I'm going to give you some easy tips :)
     If you're anything like me, you probably are pretty parsimonious. I hate having to spend money to up the quality of my photos or art. I'm also just too plain lazy to go out to stores to actually buy stuff. So all these tips will improve your photos without you spending a cent. So whether you have a fancy Canon or just a cellphone camera, here's how to make the best of what you got.


1. Simplify! Everyone knows a clean house looks better than a cluttered one. Same goes with photos. I know, I know, it's such a pain to move all your curling irons, blow dryers, straighteners, make up, toothbrushes, lotions, towels, soap, and unidentifiable substances off the bathroom counter just to take an instagram selfie, but do it FOR THE SAKE OF ART. I believe in you.

2. Get close! I'm sure the sign you took a photo of was hilarious, but I don't get the joke since the words are two small to read. :( Things are generally more interesting up close, so we can see all the details and stuff. It also helps with tip #1, because if your subject is filling most of the photograph, that doesn't leave a lot of room for clutter to show up. Also, please, if you can physically get closer instead of using zoom, please do. It really ups the quality of the photo you take.

3. Don't center it! Photos tend to be more interesting if you don't center your main subject.

4. Make sure you have enough light! If you can, take your photos during the day and outside or near a window. Natural daylight will help you get better quality photos with a cheaper camera. The biggest differences you'll see between photos taken with cheap cameras and expensive ones is in low light situations, such as artificial indoor light or night time outdoor photos. Also, the most flattering light to take outdoor selfies or besties happens in the early morning, on cloudy days, or just before sunset.

5. Learn how to edit photos well. Photo editing programs can be really expensive, but there are actually some amazing free programs to edit photos. Editing can't make a horrible photo amazing, but it sure can make a difference. If you take photos on an ipod touch or iphone, there are tons of great free photo apps you can get, just try searching for some :) For general editing on my ipod, I use PhotoPower, which is pretty cool. For fun creative stuff, I really love FilterMania 2. It's a bit more digital-art-y, but it's really fun. On my laptop, I use GIMP all the time. It has almost everything that Photoshop has that I've ever needed, and it's totally free. It's a little hard to figure out if you've never done photo editing before, so I may write up some turtlerials on that someday, but there's probably already a ton out there, so if you are confured, look some up :)
I'm sure there are a ton of other great programs out there that I didn't mention, so you can try searching for some yourself, but be sure to check for viruses and such before you download anything :)
Also, if you get GIMP, I would suggest you download the version of it from http://www.partha.com/ because then you get it with some really cool plug-ins preinstalled, which you'll be grateful for when you need them and don't have to figure out how to manually install plug ins!