With photography being a great love for many people, it can be difficult to make it a successful career, let alone business. These days, practically anyone can take out their smartphone and take a quick shot of the sunrise.

For those who want to make photography their main source of income, there are a few tricks you should learn to make your photography stand out against your competitors. This article will list a few of them.

1. Look For Connection

Before you send your photo to the next photo contest for inspection, you should first determine if there’s a story in your photo. Anyone can take a shot of a tree and while it may delight the eye, if there’s no connection, no story, then all it is and all it ever can be is a pretty picture.

You need to find a subject and a means to take photos that connect the viewer with the subject. Sometimes this can be as easy as changing the height from which the photo is taken. For example, if you’re taking a photo of a child, it’s easy to just shoot down from your own height. However, if you were to get on your knees and rest at the level of the child, that photo is going to offer a direct connection to that child. In this way, you can form a story, and that story is going to interest people.

2. Mind The Background

Another amateur mistake that even professional photographers sometimes forget is to watch your background. While color is always a wonderful thing, too much of it can be distracting to the eye. Always go for a simpler background. It allows the eye to focus immediately on the subject of the photograph. Pictures that have a mess of a background can appear shallow or just too busy. The connection and story can be lost. So, the next time you go shooting, be sure you mind the background as much as you do the subject.

3. Remember Your Flash

Regardless of what camera you have, if you don’t know how to use your flash, you could be missing out on some extremely beautiful shots.

The first thing you need to keep in mind is that a flash can be improperly used as well.  Make friends with that trigger and take a few test shots to see if the flash entirely bleeds color out of your subject or adds to the subject. This can be especially difficult to determine if your shooting outside in the dark or in that special time of day where it isn’t too bright or too dark. Play around with your flash to determine which is more necessary at the given moment.

You should also keep in mind that flashes have a certain range. Make sure you know how far your flash can reach for the best use of it.

4. Off-Center

Most of the stunning photos that you have seen likely have had their subjects off-center. This provides an interesting tale or story for the eye to follow as they make their way to the actual subject. One pitfall of this technique, however, is that it is easy for cameras to lose focus on the actual subject. Instead, it wants to take a well-focused shot of the subject in the direct center of the camera.

Luckily, you can correct your camera by telling it to focus on a certain part of the viewport instead. Make sure your shot is truly focused, and then marvel at the story you’ve just created.

5. Make Photos

Perhaps the hardest part of photography is developing your eye. After all, you can have the best equipment in the world, but if you don’t possess a unique eye, then your photos are going to be passed over every time. This may take some soul-searching and a lot of digital memory, but in time, you’ll find your niche.

The important thing to remember is that you’re not taking a photo, you’re making them. You are the only one capable of telling a story with a shot. Find your story, capture it, then share it.

With these tips, you can start entering every contest and gallery out there to get your name recognized and appreciated.