Most people love summer, as it is the best time to rest from work, relax and take amazing photos. No matter where you go on vacation, there are always many possibilities to grab some fantastic photographs to remind you about an enjoyable time and beautiful places you were visiting during your trip.

Summer is a perfect time to get incredible photos as well as the hardest time due to the harsh conditions, complicating taking good, high-quality pictures. In most cases, the reason is that the light has bad quality in terms of photography since the sun is overhead for almost the whole day. Though summer is also a great season when you can shoot the nature that has already woken up and everything begins to blossom.

If you would ask whether most people like their summer pictures or not and the way how they look on these pictures, it should be mentioned, that it depends on different factors, for example, the quality of the camera as well as techniques applied while taking photos. So, let’s consider some of them. For example, one of the most common imperfections in summer photos is weak or excessive tanning. In case, your skin is over-tanned, you might want to remove that tan somehow in order to add more aesthetic value to the photo. Otherwise, if you haven't got much tan or you are not just prone to it, you might be wondering if there is any way to make you look a bit more tanned so that your friends wouldn't doubt that you went overseas and have been lying in the sun at least for a week.

Here, you will be able to get some helpful tips to help you take awesome photos as well as give you a hand with the typical summer photo mistakes.

1. Choose the right lighting

A very important factor to consider is the lighting you are surrounded by. It changes during the day. In summer, when day lasts longer in comparison with other seasons, the sun shines brightly throughout the day. That is why the light is harsh, which does not help to increase the quality of images. Soft light is much better for capturing portrait photos. At midday, the sunlight is stronger and direct light creates short shadows. This lighting is not considered to be the best, because it is too bright for taking pictures. Your photos will probably be spoiled and the image will be washed out. So, the best time for taking high-quality summer pictures is early morning, afternoon and evening, when shadows become longer, softer and more suitable for taking photographs.

In the late afternoon and evening, the light is appropriate for taking photos, as there is still a lot of colors around. If you need to take a ‘night’ shot, you’d better use a flash after 10pm.

A time before sunset is known as the golden hour, because it is the time when the light is diffused by the atmosphere. It is the best time to take photos of the sunset, as the sun’s golden orb looks much bigger than at sunrise.

When trying to take a photo on a hot summer day, try to do it at different times of the day. Seriously, you might probably be very surprised at how much differently colors look and how shapes are changing, when there is direct sunlight and shadows. If you are exposed to light that is weak, colors tend to remain more saturated unlike if there are no shades. Whatever the skin complexion is, it looks more natural in indirect light than in direct, which makes it look blurred.

2. Take colorful photos

Photographers advise telling a story using the photographs. There are many possibilities to take amazing shots as well as many places to do this, for example, on the coast of a lake, ocean or river, music festivals, barbecue parties, summer carnivals and so much more. Whatever the background is, make sure it is full of color. For example, use a garden as a setting since it is one of the most advantageous places to take photos.

A lot of flowers and blossoms are what makes garden a perfect background for rich color photos. For example, take a summer photo of you in front of a bright green lawn with vibrant flowers to make you look natural and fresh. When shooting at the garden, observe the light rules described above. Because of their versatility, these rules can be applied to the photos taken at the garden as well. As mentioned above, difficult lighting can prevent from taking good photos. You can even take the colorful summer photos at noon, but remember not to point out your camera towards the sun. Use filters on your camera if the sun shines too bright. In case you do not have an appropriate garden in blossom, you can always use the background change, applying numerous options, presented by RetouchMe app.

3. Taking photos at the beach

Beach is an excellent place to learn how to take photos, where it seems there is nothing but water, sand, and sun. The favorite time of most photographers is before sunset when long shadows create perfect conditions for a good picture. Though this is the time, when everybody feels relaxed, so if you want to take pictures of you or other people having fun, you need to do this much earlier, either in the morning, at noon or afternoon.

When speaking about lighting, this is not the best time, but using simple lighting tips, you can get no less beautiful photos comparing if they were taken in the evening. There are a lot of great beach picture ideas for taking amazing summer photos. Beach images are usually focused either on people or on nature. In the first case, you need to capture the action, while in the second, time and location for good lighting. Try to do something cheerful to get playful shots. You also need to pay attention to details in the appearance. It is important to take into account the colors of the outfit. Also, if there are any bright items such as a towel or a colorful umbrella, use them to bring out details in your photo.

4. On the background with big city lights

If you have ever had the possibility to visit some city located on the ocean coast in summer, you would say that this could be an incredible time to take photos.

Which mistake can be easily avoided taking a photo at night surrounded by sparkling lights of the big city? When speaking about the art of taking photographs at night, it must be said that night has its own rules to comply with. When taking a photo of you in the foreground of city lights, take into account special conditions. For example, don’t use flash. If you are editing your summer photos taken in the city, you may try to apply some built-in options of your camera such as reducing saturation, increase of the contrast, reducing the warmth, brightening, etc.

5. Picture editing

It is not a secret that many people, who post their pictures, edit them before uploading. Using simple tips, described above, you will be able to enhance the quality of your summer pictures.

In case, you are not satisfied with your skin tone on the summer pictures and would like to remove pimples, wrinkles, excessive shine, dark circles or any other tiny imperfections, use some skin tone correction apps. It is also easy to add some joy to your photo with various fun photo options, offered by RetouchMe professionals. RetouchMe is an ultimate photo retouching app that can be used to edit your summer pictures, multiplying likes in social media.