A simple trick that will improve your photos - even if you're not a photographer.

There are different ways to boost the professional level of your photos. There are tons of complex tricks that are difficult and expensive to recreate, but there are tricks that are simple as an ax and just as effective. This article will describe one of those simple tricks.

If you wish, you can take a cool photo using a couple of improvised items that can be easily found in every home. You don’t need to be a photographer or have a camera for that. A smartphone will suffice. All you need is a desire to learn something new.

Since the advent of the first photograph, people have tried to improve their photography skills and come up with various devices for this purpose. They all aimed to make photography better. Over the years, complex - and not so complex - shooting tricks have appeared, but you don’t always need expensive and complicated gizmos to improve a photo.

Let’s take any household item and take a picture of it at home using a smartphone. The first picture will be shot without any tricks.

For this article, I specifically asked to a non-photographer and a regular housewife to take the photos, so they are unprofessional.

In the example, there is only one light source - natural light from the window on the right.

Now let’s use a reflector to help improve our shot.

Foiled cardboard reflectors – the ones used to cover various dishes in food delivery - work great. If you don’t have reflectors of this kind, it doesn’t matter. You can stick baking foil on a piece of cardboard. If there is no foil around, a simple A4 sheet of paper will also work.

It’s crucial to realize one thing - any object will look more interesting if it’s shot with light from two sides. It’s also useful in shooting portraits, only an A4 sheet of paper will be too small. But a large sheet of Whatman paper will do.

let’s take another photo, but this time with the reflector across from the window (to the left of the perfume bottle).

Pay attention to the left side of the object. You can tell that light appeared, and the object now has more volume. The effect of the reflector is especially apparent on the perfume cap. This way of shooting helps brighten up the dark side and give the photo a more professional appearance.

This simple trick can be applied when shooting any objects, people or animals. The only difference will be in the reflector size. Small reflectors can be secured with clothespins, and large ones - in other appropriate ways. I think that it’s the easiest and most affordable way to improve photos and understand light a little better.

We are actually surrounded by lots of reflectors outside – I’m referring to walls. White or gray walls and even buildings reflect light perfectly. You can take beautiful portraits next to them!

Try this trick yourself. Feel free to share your work in the comments.