There are simple things you can do to improve your photography. Things that professionals have learned to do instinctively. Putting these four simple tips to work will immediately elevate the quality of your photography. And as you use them they will become an automatic part of your process. With practice, you won't even need to think about them.

Get Closer

The first thing you can do to make your photos look better is to get closer to your subject. Too many photographs are taken too far from our subjects. Take a few steps closer, zoom in, whatever it takes. That is what professionals do, and it's easy.

The next time you're about to take a photograph, do me a favor. Once you've got your shot all lined up, take a couple steps closer to your subject. In most cases, you will notice an improvement.

You've got a frame to fill, and how you fill it makes all the difference. If you're photographing a child, try moving in close and filling the frame with that child's cute face. If you're photographing an object, cut down on the dead space around it by moving in close and letting it fill up the frame. If you are photographing a group of people, move in tight so that their faces are more than mere dots in the frame. Get in close.

And don't be afraid to try getting in "too close." When you push the limits, you'll often be surprised later that what you thought was too much may have been the best approach after all.

Now Back Up

Now that I've encouraged you to get closer, I want to encourage you to back up. Quite often, by moving back you are able to include more in your photograph. Background elements like a beautiful blue sky, or location elements like flowers in the foreground. As long as the space around your subject is contributing to the image, and not acting as dead space, you are doing something right.

Or Split the Difference

You can also split the difference by moving your subject closer while pushing the background back for a more interesting composition.

It's All About Thought

These two pieces of advice—getting closer and backing up— seem to conflict. But in fact, they go hand in hand. Getting close to fill the frame and backing up to put your subject into an environment both demonstrate that you're thinking about what you're including in your photograph. And that's important. If you're not thinking about what to include in your photograph, the image will not say what you want it to say.

Quite often, photographers aren't seeing their entire frame. Imagine a mother photographing her infant child, or a man photographing a classic automobile. As they compose the frame, they are often focusing exclusively on the subject (which is dear to them) and they aren't seeing the dead space surrounding the subject. Often they aren't thinking enough about things like the background, the lighting, which lens they are using, etc.

In cases like these and others it's easy to find yourself in snapshot mode, just clicking off photographs without much thought. Fight that urge, and make sure you're close enough/far enough to/from your subject. It makes all the difference.