You may think that you're stuck with the voice you have, but this isn't true. You can change the way your singing sounds and end up singing better than ever. Sound too good to be true? Well, it's not. Think of it this way. Let's say you want to build muscle in your triceps. You don't like the way your arms look. After checking out a few YouTube videos or getting tips from a bodybuilder, it's clear that you can change your arms' appearance by consistently working on certain exercises. You may need to make some changes in your diet as well, but the exercises are mandatory.
Now, it wouldn't make sense to exercise your thighs if you want to concentrate on your arms. It's the same with the voice. Specific exercises geared to develop areas of the voice are essential to better singing. If singing on key is a weakness, it makes no sense to work on developing a vibrato. How is vibrato going to help to carry a tune?
Several factors are necessary when it comes to singing with a better voice, depending on your present strengths and weaknesses. It's important to focus on the exact areas that need development. Please make it a habit to always warm up your voice before singing. Warm-ups not only prepare your voice to sing better but also help to prevent vocal damage. Warming up your voice will get you ready for singing challenges, resulting in a happier and healthy voice.
I can't possibly cover everything here, but you will learn important vocal techniques (skills) to help you sound better (and in some cases) much better than you do now.
1. Warm-up Your Voice With Humming Prepare your voice to sing with a gentle warm-up. There's no better warm-up for your voice than humming, and here's why. Humming prevents vocal strain, is easy and natural, and prevents tension in the tone. It can be done anytime, anywhere. Try this right now:
• Put your lips together gently and hum in a comfortable tone. Feel the buzzing sensation in your lips. This indicates a nice relaxed feeling and sound. It also kicks in the resonating area around the nose. Don't confuse this with singing nasally. It isn't the same thing.
• Repeat several times until the buzzing feeling becomes automatic.
• Beginning with a hum and keeping a relaxed sound, slowly drop the jaw to form an “ah” sound. Now you’re singing, and it should feel easy. Focus on maintaining vibrations around the nasal area.
• Repeat the same exercise changing from an “ah” to an “ee.” Bring your lips to a slight smiling position as you hum to prepare for an “ee.”
What I'm teaching you here is the importance of relieving all tension in the lips, tongue, and jaw as you sing. One reason we dislike our singing is due to tension in our tone. Singing should always feel easy, ringing, and never forced.
2. Drop the Jaw for a More Powerful and Confident Voice
The first area to cover is the way you open your mouth. Sound silly? It's not and here's why:
The mouth is a strong resonator for sound. With the mouth barely open, your singing tone will remain suppressed or hidden-sounding. You want to create enough space for the sound to come out. Don't be self-conscious about a generous mouth opening. How will your tone ring unless your mouth is open enough for the sound to escape? Have you observed a singer up close and personal on television or YouTube? At times, you can almost see the back of their throat.
So give your singing a big boost, by keeping the mouth open as you sing. You will quickly hear a more powerful and better sound. This is no time to be embarrassed. You're a singer and the mouth is part of your singing instrument. But do avoid opening your mouth so wide as to create tension.
To assure that the mouth is open wide enough, place two fingers (one on top of the other) between the top and bottom teeth. Keeping the fingers in the mouth sing 'ah,' then remove the fingers from the mouth while still retaining the 'ah' sound. Did your mouth remain open after removing your fingers?
An exercise to help you to train your mouth and jaw to the right position for singing words using the 'ah' vowel is:
• Using a mirror to monitor for openness, sing the following words in a medium, comfortable tone: hot, brought, not, fall, hall, tall, talk, walk, father, stars, bars, far, and broad. Remember to avoid singing too low or too high. Keep the pitch centered around your speaking voice.
• Be sure to sustain the vowel 'ah' for a few seconds before closing the word with the final consonant. In other words, say you're practicing the word "walk". Sing the first part of this word "WAAAAAH", holding the 'ah' before adding the final consonant, 'K'.
• As you repeatedly practice each word, start off by going very slow. Gradually build your speed until you can sing through the above list at a faster pace.
Tip: How long must you practice? The answer: Until whatever you're working on becomes automatic. Let's say your goal is to remember to drop your jaw each time you sing a word containing the "Ah" vowel. You practice consistently until this goal becomes automatic. You no longer need to concentrate on the mouth position. Everyone is different. Some may see results quickly. For others, it may take a while. Best results are attained by practicing for a few minutes every day as opposed to practicing hour-after-hour, for long periods of time, one or two days a week.
3. Breath Control: Learn to Breathe Correctly
The voice cannot work to its full potential unless it's basic energy is not breath. Your singing sound rides on air and it's for this reason you must learn to support your sound by breathing correctly. One reason singers go flat is that the voice is not supported well enough. Belly breathing, or diaphragmatic breathing, is essential to applying the right amount of support. Maybe the following will help you to understand this a little better:
When you begin phonation, (speaking/singing), air causes vibrations to occur within the vocal cords, which produces sound and will continue until you run out of air. If you are currently breathing in the air (inhaling) by using the upper portion of the lungs only, (just the chest) you'll not only run out of air too early but you may also find your sound is weak and breathy. Learning how to inhale by inflating around your waistline takes practice and plenty of it. Don't get discouraged or give up.
You'll need to use this way of breathing to enhance your present voice, extend your vocal range, sing with vibrato, and project your voice.
As you work religiously to learn the belly breathing exercise, you'll learn the right way to breathe. This will bring more life and energy to your singing, helping you to sound more professional. For more help on How to Breathe From the Diagram take a few minutes to add these exercises.
As a manager, you can use the following steps and strategies to create a motivating environment for your team.
Step 1: Check Your Assumptions
You may not realize it, but your management style is strongly influenced by what you believe about your people.
For example, do you think your team members dislike working, and need continuous supervision? Or, do you believe that they're happy to do their jobs, and are likely to enjoy greater responsibility and freedom?
These two fundamental beliefs form the backbone of the team motivation concept Theory X and Theory Y .
Theory X managers are authoritarian, and assume that they need to supervise people constantly. They believe that their team members don't want or need responsibility, and that they have to motivate people extrinsically to produce results.
Theory Y managers believe that their team members want more responsibility and should help make decisions. They assume that everyone has something valuable to offer.
In short, your beliefs about your team members' motivation affect the way you behave toward them. So, it's important to think carefully about how you view your people, and to explore what you believe truly motivates them. (It can help to think about it from your own perspective – would you prefer your own boss to manage you using Theory X or Theory Y? And how long would you stay working for a Theory X manager?)
Step 2: Eliminate Dissatisfaction and Create Satisfaction
Psychologist Fredrick Herzberg said that you can motivate your team by eliminating elements of job dissatisfaction, and then creating conditions for job satisfaction.
In his Motivation-Hygiene Theory, he noted how causes of dissatisfaction often arise from irritating company policies, intrusive supervision, or lack of job security, among others. If you don't address these issues, people won't be satisfied at work, and motivating them will prove difficult, if not impossible.
Once you've removed the elements of job dissatisfaction, you can look at providing satisfaction. Sources of job satisfaction include clear opportunities for advancement/promotion, an increased sense of responsibility, ongoing training and development programs, or simply a feeling of working with purpose .
Step 3: Personalize Your Motivational Approach
Remember, your team is made up of individuals who have their own unique circumstances, backgrounds and experiences. Consequently, each person may be driven by different motivating factors, and be more or less adept at self-motivation . When you make an effort to understand each team member, you can help them stay motivated.
There are a number of tools and strategies that you can use to tailor your approach to motivation – and not all are completely consistent with one another. However, it's important to remember that every individual and situation is different, so make sure that you choose the theory or model that best fits your circumstances.
Let's explore these in more detail:
• Sirota's Three-Factor Theory argues that there are three crucial factors that motivate your people. These are Equity/Fairness, Achievement and Camaraderie. You can help to ensure that your team members remain motivated and positive by incorporating each of these factors into their work.
• McClelland's Human Motivation Theory is subtly different. McClelland believed that we all have three different drivers, the need for Achievement, Affiliation and Power, with one of them being dominant. If you structure your motivators and leadership style around a team member's dominant driver, your efforts should produce good results.
• Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs identifies five needs that we all have, from the most basic to the most complex. These are physiological/bodily, safety, love/belonging, self-esteem, and self-actualization (the sense of doing what you were born to do). Maslow's Hierarchy is usually presented in a pyramid – you place the basic needs at the bottom, because you need to meet these before you can address any of the more complex ones. According to this approach, you can motivate your team by addressing all of the levels.
• Amabile and Kramer's Progress Theory highlights how progressing and achieving small "wins" can be motivating. It suggests six things you can provide – clear goals and objectives, autonomy, resources, time, support, and the ability to learn from failure – that give people the best chance of making recognizable and meaningful progress at work.
• You can also use Expectancy Theory to create a strong, motivating work environment where high performance is standard. It clarifies the relationship between effort and outcome, and you can use it to tailor motivational rewards to individuals' preferences.
• According to the Pygmalion Effect , your expectations can affect your team members' performance. For example, when you doubt that someone will succeed, you can make her feel undervalued and you undermine her confidence. The Pygmalion Effect is useful because it reinforces the idea that you can encourage people to perform better at work by having and communicating high expectations of them.
• Of course, money does matter, and Understanding Strategic Compensation can help you structure your team's extrinsic rewards. Whether you reward people with increases in base, performance or group-performance pay, understanding the differences between them, and their inherent benefits, can help you structure financial compensation in a more motivating way.
Step 4: Use Transformational Leadership Motivation is vital in the workplace, but this will only take you so far, and then leadership takes over (click here to visit the Mind Tools leadership section). Once you've used the motivational approaches we've discussed above, you need to take the next step towards becoming an inspirational, transformational leader .
When you adopt this leadership style, you can motivate and lift your team to new heights, and help it to achieve extraordinary things. Transformational leaders expect great things from their team members, and they spark feelings of trust and loyalty in return.
To become a transformational leader, you need to create an attractive, inspiring vision of a meaningful future, encourage people to buy into this vision, manage its delivery, and continue to build trusting relationships with your team members. Set aside time to develop your own leadership skills, and focus on your own personal development, so that you can become an inspiring role model for your people.
Learn ways to build your self-confidence both personally and professionally.
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“To establish true self-confidence, we must concentrate on our successes and forget about the failures and the negatives in our lives.” — Denis Waitley
I know what you’re thinking … easier said than done, right?
Nobody is born with high or low self-confidence. Confidence is a feeling that people develop and work on over time. For most people, confidence is something that comes and goes.
Think about it in terms of a cycle: When someone is at the top of the cycle, they are focused on their successes and accomplishments, meaning they might feel confident and strong. But when they are at the bottom of their cycle, they are focused on their failures and may feel low self-confidence or even defeat.
If you can identify with the feeling I’m referring to at the bottom of the confidence cycle, know you’re not alone. Everyone struggles with self-confidence every now and then. The key is realizing that confidence is like a muscle — the more you work on it, the easier it will become for you to use and maintain.
This article will teach you why everyone should work on their self-confidence, and it’ll provide you with ways to build your self-confidence.
But first — what is self-confidence?
What Is Self-Confidence Self-confidence is the feeling you have when you strat into a job interview knowing you’re going to impress the hiring manager. A person feels confident when they believe they can successfully do something by applying their judgement, knowledge, and prior experiences.
How Does Self Confidence Impact Your Life?
Think about a time when you felt extremely confident in your ability to do something.
Did you feel an adrenaline rush? Did you feel strong and powerful? Did you feel as though you could conquer the world?
Self-confidence does a lot of things for us. It boosts our self-esteem, diminishes stress, and often pushes us to act. But most importantly, it makes us feel good about ourselves.
Let’s dive into a few more ways self-confidence impacts our lives:
Your happiness and self-esteem will increase
Self-esteem is closely related to confidence but has a slightly different definition — it is a person’s evaluation of their self-worth and value.
There is a direct correlation between confidence and self-esteem. When you believe in yourself — your talents, capabilities, worth, and potential — both your self-esteem and confidence increase.
When your self-esteem increases, you believe you are worthy of the life you dream of and the success you desire. Not only will you become more confident, but you will more easily accept your failures, give yourself the credit you deserve, accept new challenges, and become happier.
In fact, self-esteem always exists with happiness — and there are studies to prove it. In almost every instance, people who feel good about themselves are significantly happier than those who lack self-worth. When self-confidence increases, your self-esteem and happiness do the same.
Think about it in terms of the following chart. Most people would feel high self-esteem, sure about their abilities, and good about standing up for their beliefs when behaving confidently — as listed in the left column. They are doing what makes them happy.
Your stress and anxiety will decrease
Did your math teacher ever randomly call on the students who weren’t the strongest mathematicians to complete a problem in front of the entire class? Mine did.
Could you sense the stress and anxiety fuming from those students (yes … I was one of them) as they reluctantly walked to the front of the classroom?
My palms were sweaty and my right hand would shake while writing on the chalkboard — the pressure was on!
When a person in a situation like this doubts their abilities, they are down at the bottom of that confidence cycle I mentioned earlier. Due to increased stress and anxiety, they start to believe they don’t have the knowledge or experience to complete a task (or in this situation, complete a math problem correctly), even if that isn’t truly the case.
The feeling of low confidence and not being good or smart enough often manifests as stress or anxiety. And in extreme cases, it can even turn your body’s fight or flight mode on, which isn’t ideal unless you’re being chased by a hungry lion (or are experiencing another life or death situation).
Stress and anxiety on a regular basis can be detrimental to your self-confidence. These feelings cause excess release of cortisol and norepinephrine in the brain — making our bodies feel out of control and overwhelmed.
Unless you are actually trying to avoid becoming the lion’s lunch, there’s no reason to feel these feelings. And you certainly don’t want them just because your math teacher called you up to the board to complete a problem. Stress and anxiety can cloud your judgment and prevent you from thinking logically.
When stress and anxiety fade away, the excess release of cortisol and norepinephrine in the brain come to a halt. You are able to believe and trust in your abilities again, think logically, and feel as though you are ready to tackle new challenges that come your way — you’ll jump back to the top of that confidence cycle.
You’ll feel more motivated to act
If someone is confident in their ability to successfully do something, they’re more likely to volunteer to complete a task than someone who is less confident.
For example, imagine your manager coming to your team and saying, “Is anyone able to help me design a logo?” Chances are, the person with the background in design, or the most knowledge in the field, would volunteer their expertise … versus another person without any experience whatsoever.
This is called the power of certainty. When you’re more certain of — and confident in — your knowledge and abilities, you’re more likely to act.
If you’re confident in your abilities, not only will you feel more motivated to act, but the people around you will also want to trust you more … which takes us to our next section:
People will trust you
If you’re the one with the design background, do speak up about that logo and successfully follow through with a fantastic result. You’re not only going to feel a boost in your self-confidence (“Yay! I did this, and I did this well”), but your manager and team will also trust you more. They’ll think of you next time they have a design project.
When you are confident in your abilities, people are more likely to trust you, listen to you, and follow you.
For example, imagine you’re working on a group project, and you need to elect a leader. One person in the group says, “I know I can lead us to success, and I already have a few ideas I’d like to share with you on how to accomplish this.” Another person in the group says, “I don’t really like leadership roles, but I guess I could try if you all really want me to.”
The first person seems a lot more convincing, right? They also sound significantly more confident in their abilities to complete the job ... and succeed.
When you are confident, more people are likely to follow your lead.
You have a greater potential for success
There are several studies that show a strong positive correlation between high levels of self-confidence and success. That’s not to say that people who struggle with confidence won’t be successful. However, research shows that people with higher levels of self-confidence achieve greater success in multiple areas of life.
There are a couple reasons for this:
• People who are confident have self-efficacy — a belief that they have the innate ability to achieve their goals, overcome challenges, and succeed
• When someone believes in their abilities, they are more likely to try until they succeed. They then have the experience that creates self-efficacy — it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.
Now that you understand the benefits of having self-confidence, you may be asking yourself how you can work on your own self-confidence.
How to Build Self-Confidence
As I said earlier, self-confidence is like a muscle — you need to work it in order to improve. This means anyone can become more confident. Try these exercises to work on your self-confidence:
Get to Know Yourself Knowing yourself means you understand your strengths and weaknesses. That also means you know exactly which areas of your life you are confident in and which areas you need to work on.
It’s clear why you would feel confident about your strengths. If you are good at something, you are much more likely to share your knowledge or act on that strength rather than a weakness or vulnerability of yours.
Take advantage of these strengths and use them to exercise your confidence. If you know how to do something, be the first person to raise your hand and demonstrate your skill or teach others. If you are confident in research you did, share your expertise. This will make you feel good and boost your confidence.
Then, work on some of your weaknesses. A confident person is not only aware of their weaknesses and vulnerabilities, but they embrace and use them as motivation.
Whether it’s studying a little harder, practicing more, asking for help, or spending a few extra minutes re-reading something, you can always push yourself out of your comfort zone to improve — and become more confident — in areas in which you typically lack confidence.
For example, if you’re someone who freezes up and gets anxiety while speaking publicly, sign up for a class or two. Practice in front of your family and friends. Then, when you have to give that speech, not only will you impress the audience, but you will impress yourself. This will help you develop the self-confidence you’re striving for an area in which you typically struggle.
Be Prepared
When you are prepared to do something, you’re more confident in your ability to accomplish a task successfully.
“One important key to success is self-confidence. An important key to self-confidence is preparation.” — Arthur Ashe
Preparation is a simple way to boost confidence. Think about it in terms your co-worker presenting at a big conference. This presentation is a reflection of your fellow employee’s work and knowledge, and it also requires them to speak alone in front of 50+ people — managers, directors, and other people of great influence included — for 30+ minutes. Sweating yet?
Your co-worker can prepare to the point that they are able to walk into that conference on presentation day excited to get started. By avoiding procrastination, knowing the information like the back of their hand, preparing for questions — or even technical difficulties — and working on their public speaking skills prior to the due date, they will feel confident and ready to give their presentation.
Think About Your Appearance
People can tell a lot about you and your level of confidence by the way you physically present yourself. That includes your overall dress and body language.
Imagine you’re conducting a job interview, and you have two equally qualified candidates. The first candidate is slouched over the entire interview, not making eye contact, and looks slightly disheveled. The second candidate gives you a firm handshake, is sitting up straight, looks you directly in the eyes, and is wearing a nice suit. Who would you choose for the job?
The second candidate seems significantly more confident, prepared, and impressive — and you can probably gather all of that about a person without even talking to them.
It’s proven that people feel greater self-confidence and esteem when they feel good about their appearance. So use appearance to your advantage — not only will you radiate confidence for the people around you to notice, but you will also use your appearance and body language to make yourself feel more confident in any type of situation.
Stay Positive
Positivity is a key component to building self-confidence. It’s what keeps you from beating yourself up after a setback or mistake.
By not accepting failure and staying positive, you’ll actually help yourself become a more confident person.
Here’s an example: If you’re trying to learn a new software at work, and you’re continually making mistakes, sure, you might be frustrated, but I’d bet you’re also learning a lot throughout the process.
Once you’re finally able to iron out these issues and understand how to use the new software, you have proven to yourself that you can get through a challenging time. This should not only get you excited and make you feel confident about this specific situation, but it should also make you feel confident in your abilities to tackle another difficult project.
It’s not always the stuff that comes naturally to you that makes you super confident. Instead, it’s usually the stuff you have to work really hard to get through.
Resources to Help You Build Confidence
Whether it’s a book, podcast, or TED Talk, there are a number of resources to help you build self-confidence.
Pick Up a Book
There are hundreds of books on building self-confidence and how to use it to your advantage. Here are few options::
You Are a Badass
This humorous bestseller is a self-help book that contains a guide on how to create a life you love. It’s filled with inspiring stories, advice, and applicable ways to incorporate aspects of the guide in your life.
This book will help you build confidence in everything you do, love yourself, and achieve your biggest goals.
The Confidence Code Research, gender, behavior, and cognition are all discussed in The Confidence Code. The book — which is targeted at women — talks about the reasons why men are typically more confident in the workplace and gives female readers advice on how to close this gap.
This is a great option for any woman who wants to learn how to develop more confidence at work and achieve their dream careers, whether or not they’re in a male-driven field.
Daring Greatly
This New York Times #1 bestseller dives into the ways that vulnerability can help measure courage.
This book — written by Brené Brown — teaches individuals how to use their vulnerabilities and challenges to their advantage. According to society and culture, vulnerabilities are weaknesses. But according to Brown, they are a way to build courage and confidence.
Listen to a Podcast
Maybe you need some audio inspiration before your next confidence challenge? Here are a few podcasts that will help you build your self-confidence:
Earn Your Happy
This podcast gives you insight and advice on ways to work through your fears, boost self-esteem, and build your confidence in both your personal and professional lives. It’s great for those who need the occasional reminder to stay positive and take life a little less seriously.
Daily Meditation Podcast
Meditation pushes individuals to look inward, reflect, and determine what changes they can make to improve their lives.
With daily meditations on confidence, self-esteem, anxiety, confidence, and stress reduction, this podcast will help you work towards the healthy and happy lifestyle you’re looking to achieve.
Your Motivational High 5
All you need is five minutes to enjoy this podcast.
This podcast will take you through five minutes of meditation and help you develop good mental health practices. This podcast is quick, effective, and forces listeners to take a short break during the day to focus on their happiness, well-being, confidence, and strength.
Conclusion
Self-confidence is not always easy to achieve or maintain, but it’s something that everyone deserves to experience. There are many reasons why confidence is essential in our personal and professional lives, but most importantly, it plays an integral role in our happiness.
Try boosting your own confidence and self-esteem in some areas of your life that need a bit of attention or work. Give a few of the steps mentioned above a try and learn what works for you.
Source :- wekipedia/mindtool/ my personally experiences/youtude /experts
Beginners guide to Mobile Photography- how to take breathtaking photos without a professional camera (Framing and Snapseed)
With the tremendous increase in people inclined towards social media and image sharing apps, better mobile cameras have become a key selling point for most mobile phones. There’s a huge demand for Camera Smart Phones and companies have come up with dual, triple camera setups, telephoto lenses, bokeh modes, portrait modes, AI selfies, and a lot more.
But honestly, any 2017 smartphone’s camera is more than enough in most conditions (except night time). So what is that makes the difference? Why is that some people get amazing photos from their mobile cameras and some just can’t? Trust me your phone camera can do a lot more than you think it can and so can you after reading this article.
It comes down to two simple things- Framing and post-processing.
This article is mainly aimed at naive users without any prior knowledge about photography. I’ll try and keep it as simple as possible and you’ll definitely become better after going through this and post better photos on Instagram, Snapchat, etc.
A lot of people have asked me about how I achieve such images using my phone and coincidentally I've been preparing for my Digital Image Processing semesterexam and learned a lot about the technicality of photography, so I thought it’s high time I materialize it.
Before diving into the actual process, let me show you few photos I’ve shot with my Phone (Mi Redmi 4- 13MP, f/2.0) a ~100$ phone and processed in Google’s Snapseed app. All the photos in the article are shot using the same phone unless otherwise mentioned.
Disclaimer 1: None of the devices and apps mentioned in this article have paid me to do so, they’re solely my personal choice and opinion.
Disclaimer 2: I’m partially colorblind (Deuteranopia), which basically means I have trouble distinguishing between closer tones of colors(especially red-green). Excuse me if there is any error while talking about colors
You don’t need a Pixel 2 XL or an iPhone 10 (obviously they have better hardware and software, but you’re paying a premium), the best camera is the one which you have with you. Let’s dive into the process now.
Framing
Framing is the key to any photo, it is how you want people to see your photo but it is very subjective and can take a lot of time to understand and improve. Nonetheless here are a few tips on how to frame your photo better.
1. Symmetry:
Symmetry brings a lot of beauty to a photograph but can be quite challenging sometimes. The Taj Mahal photo shows some degree of symmetry, with the fountain places in the middle of the photo. To make it easier to find symmetry turn on grid-lines on your camera app. It basically divides the frame into 9 boxes (3x3).
Pro tip: Place the subject of interest on one of the intersections (where horizontal and vertical lines meet) as our eyes tend to focus first on these points. This is known as the rule of thirds.
2. Background and foreground:
Most smartphone cameras today have the ability to blur the background (even the ones with a single camera lens setup) which gives us more flexibility to differentiate between the foreground and the background. To do so, tap on the screen where the object is located in the frame.
Shooting a time-lapse, Here, after opening my camera app, I tapped on the DSLR which appeared on the screen to change the focus on to it, the background was then blurred. Note that most cameras have a minimum focus distance and cannot focus on objects that are placed too close, in that case, move back a bit.
This pops the object in the foreground and gives it a nice look.
3. Shoot from a different angle:
Shooting from a new angle gives a whole new perspective and meaning to a photo, even if it’s of the same location. It is what makes a difference. It is something most people tend to not see.
For example, look at the below images: The one on the left is what most people see and click, but if you just point it upwards and try to shoot, you get a different (and most of the time, better) image. In case you are having trouble framing it, switch to the front camera (like I did to click this) and shoot it.
Don’t be lazy and try different positions ;)
Miscellaneous tips
If you’re shooting anything other than humans, always shoot in HDR (most camera apps have these options, just dig in your settings). HDR stands for High Dynamic Range. It is the ratio of the brightest light (“whitest white”) to the darkest shadows (“blackest black”) in a shot.
HDR mode basically shoots 3(or more) photos of varying exposure- one underexposed, one normal, one overexposed, and combines them to give a better image and a lot more details, an image closer to what the eye sees.
All of the above are quite subjective and depend majorly on the scene and your eye. But keep them in mind next time you shoot and trust me, you’ll have better-framed photographs.
Let us now look into a less subjective part- Post-processing.
Post-Processing
Oh wait, here’s the part which most people think is cheating, manipulating, etc. TL;DR, it’s not. Most cameras (especially phone cameras) are physically incapable of capturing exactly what you see(yes, there is the camera’s inbuilt post-processing algorithm, but at the end of the day, it’s an algorithm- a set of predefined instructions) so we have to change a few basic properties of the image to make it look like what it’s meant to be.
There are a ton of image enhancement apps available for both Android and iOS, personally I prefer Google’s Snapseed (snapseed apk download touch here)
It has a very neat UI, simple to use yet extremely powerful with loaded features. You can use any other app, what I am about to discuss are common and basic post-processing techniques that do the same thing to an image( Even Instagram has an inbuilt image editor). They only differ in the presets they have inbuilt. I’ll be using Snapseed for this tutorial.
Next @
Click on Tools->Tune Image
Here, you’ll have a lot of options to play around with. I’ll be briefly explaining most of them.
1. Brightness
It is the overall lightness or darkness of an image. Adjusting it would make the image more bright or dark. Use this when the image is dark or too overexposed.
Left to right: Original image,brightness increased, brightness decreased
2. Contrast
Contrast is the difference in color and brightness which makes an object distinguishable. As you can see below, increasing the contrast increases the separation between dark and bright parts of the image, and decreasing does the opposite.
Left to right: Original image, contrast increased, contrast decreased
3. Saturation
Saturation is the amount of white light mixed with a hue( dominant color as perceived by an observed). Increasing saturation increases the separation between colors and vice versa. You get a punchier image if you increase the saturation.
Left to right: Original image, saturation increased, saturation decreased
4. Highlights
Highlights are usually the bright elements of an image, changing this property increases or decreases the intensity of these bright areas. Don’t confuse this with Brightness- which applies to the whole image, whereas Highlights only modifies specific parts.
Notice how the Hills are now more visible when the highlights have been decreased.
Left to right: Original image,highlights increased, highlights decreased
5. Shadows
Shadows are the exact opposite of highlights. When increased, they uncover the areas which were previously dark due to real shadows. Increasing shadows too much can introduce noise, since the image doesn’t contain much information about what is there.
Pro tip: If your camera supports shooting RAW format, which captures a lot more information ( like information about the image in shadows and highlights), use it, but it comes at a cost of larger image size (usually 5–6 times more)
“You don’t overcome challenges by making them smaller but by making yourself bigger.” – John C. Maxwell
When it comes to getting results, it takes motivation and ability.
Motivation makes things happen.
Where there’s no will, there’s no way. One of the best ways to improve your personal effectiveness is to master your motivation and find your drive.
If you can master motivation, you can deal with life’s setbacks, as well as inspire yourself to always find a way forward, and create new experiences for yourself, and follow your growth.
In this post, I’ll demystify motivation and give you the motivation tools that really work.
1. Connect to your values.
This is the ultimate secret. If you can connect the work you do to your values, even in small ways, you can change your game.
One of my values is learning and growth.
I find ways to grow my skills in any situation. For example, I don’t just “call back a customer.” I “win a raving fan.” I don’t just “do a task.” I “master my craft.” I don’t just “get something done.” I “learn something new.”
2. Find your WHY.
Figure out a compelling purpose. Turn this into a one-liner.
For example, when I fall off the horse, I remind myself I’m here to “make others great.” This gets me back on track, sharing the best of what I know.
3. Change your WHY.
Sometimes you’re doing things for the wrong reason. Are you doing that task to get it done, or to learn something new? Just shifting your why can light your fire.
4. Change your HOW.
You can instantly find your tasks more enjoyable by shifting from getting them done, to doing them right.
I think of it as mastering your craft. Make it artful.
Sometimes slower is better. Other times, the key is to make it a game and actually speed it up. You can set time limits and race against the clock. Changing your how can get you out of ruts and find new ways to escape the mundane.
5. Remember the feeling.
Flipping through your head movies and scenes is one of the fastest ways to change how you feel.
Remember the feeling. How did you feel during your first kiss? What about laying on the grass on a sunny day?
When you feel good, you find your motivation faster.
6. Shift to past, present or the future.
Sometimes you need to be here, now. Sometimes, the right here, right now sucks. The beauty of shifting tense is you can visualize a more compelling future, or remember a more enjoyable past.
At the same time, if you catch yourself dwelling on a painful past, get back to right here, right now, and find the joy in the moment.
You’ll improve your temporal skills with practice.
7. Find a meaningful metaphor.
Find a metaphor that fuels you. Maybe you’re the “Little Engine that Could.” Maybe you’re “in your element.”
The most powerful thing you can do is find a metaphor that connects to your values. This is why I turn my projects into “epic adventures.”
8. Take action.
Here’s a secret that once you know it, can change your life. Action often comes before motivation.
You simply start doing an activity and then your motivation kicks in. Nike was right with “Just do it.” For example, I don’t always look forward to my workout, but once I start, I find my flow.
9. Link it to good feelings.
Find a way to link things to good feelings. For example, play your favorite song when you’re doing something you don’t like to do.
It has to be a song that makes you feel so great that it overshadows the pain of the task. It’s hard to tell yourself you don’t like something when it feels so good.
A similar approach is to find your theme song.
10. Impress yourself first.
This is how people like Peter Jackson or James Cameron or Stephenie Meyer inspire themselves. They make the movies or write the books that impress themselves first. They connect their passion to the work and they don’t depend on other people setting the bar. Their internal bar becomes their drive.
11. “CHOOSE” to.
If you tell yourself you “HAVE” to do this or you “MUST” do that or you “SHOULD” do this, you can weaken your motivation.
The power of choice and simply reframing your language to “CHOOSE” to can be incredibly empowering and exactly the motivating language you need to hear. Choose your words carefully and make them work for you.
12. Pair up.
This is one of my favorite ways to make something fun. One person’s painful task, is another’s pleasure. Pair up with somebody who complements your skill or who can mentor you and get you over the humps.
13. Change your question.
Sometimes you need to change your focus. To change your focus, change the question.
If you ask yourself what’s wrong with this situation, of course you’ll find things to complain about. Ask yourself what’s right about the situation and you can quickly find the positives and get your groove on.
14. Fix time for eating, sleeping and working out.
Sometimes your body or emotions are working against you because you’re not giving them a break or fueling them the right way.
One simple way to improve results here is to find a routine for eating, sleeping, and moving or working out that supports you.
15. Play to your strengths.
Spending too much time in your weaknesses wears you down. Spending more time in your strengths helps you renew your energy and find your flow.
Strengths are the place where you can grow your best. Find the things that you can do all day that you really enjoy and find excuses throughout your day to do more of that. Success builds on itself and this helps you build momentum.
Try out the motivation techniques to see what works for you.
At the end of the day, all motivation really comes down to self-motivation, and you get better at motivation by building your self-awareness.
Learn how to push your own buttons from the inside out.
👑 "Self-belief and hard work will always earn you success." 👑
🔰As entrepreneurs, leaders, managers, and bosses, we must realize that everything we think actually matters. If we are seeking success, we must think successful, inspiring, and motivating thoughts.
🔰Read on to find the words of wisdom that will motivate you in building your business, leading your life, creating success, achieving your goals, and overcoming your fears.
Motivational Quotes That Will Inspire Your Success:
1. "If you want to achieve greatness stop asking for permission." --Anonymous
2. Things work out best for those who make the best of how things work out." --John Wooden
3. "To live a creative life, we must lose our fear of being wrong." --Anonymous
4. "If you are not willing to risk the usual you will have to settle for the ordinary." --Jim Rohn
5. "Trust because you are willing to accept the risk, not because it's safe or certain." --Anonymous
6. "Take up one idea. Make that one idea your life--think of it, dream of it, live on that idea. Let the brain, muscles, nerves, every part of your body, be full of that idea, and just leave every other idea alone. This is the way to success." --Swami Vivekananda
7. "All our dreams can come true if we have the courage to pursue them." --Walt Disney
8. "Good things come to people who wait, but better things come to those who go out and get them." --Anonymous
9. "If you do what you always did, you will get what you always got." --Anonymous
10. "Success is walking from failure to failure with no loss of enthusiasm." --Winston Churchill
11. "Just when the caterpillar thought the world was ending, he turned into a butterfly." --Proverb
12. "Successful entrepreneurs are givers and not takers of positive energy." --Anonymous
13. "Whenever you see a successful person you only see the public glories, never the private sacrifices to reach them." --Vaibhav Shah
14. "Opportunities don't happen, you create them." --Chris Grosser
15. "Try not to become a person of success, but rather try to become a person of value." --Albert Einstein
16. "Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people." --Eleanor Roosevelt
17. "I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work." --Thomas A. Edison
18. "If you don't value your time, neither will others. Stop giving away your time and talents--start charging for it." --Kim Garst
19. "A successful man is one who can lay a firm foundation with the bricks others have thrown at him." --David Brinkley
20. "No one can make you feel inferior without your consent." --Eleanor Roosevelt
21. "The whole secret of a successful life is to find out what is one's destiny to do, and then do it." --Henry Ford
22. "If you're going through hell keep going." --Winston Churchill
23. "The ones who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do." --Anonymous
24. "Don't raise your voice, improve your argument." --Anonymous
25. "What seems to us as bitter trials are often blessings in disguise." --Oscar Wilde
26. "The meaning of life is to find your gift. The purpose of life is to give it away." --Anonymous
27. "The distance between insanity and genius is measured only by success." --Bruce Feirstein
28. "When you stop chasing the wrong things, you give the right things a chance to catch you." --Lolly Daskal
29. "I believe that the only courage anybody ever needs is the courage to follow your own dreams." --Oprah Winfrey
30. "No masterpiece was ever created by a lazy artist." --Anonymous
31. "Happiness is a butterfly, which when pursued, is always beyond your grasp, but which, if you will sit down quietly, may alight upon you." --Nathaniel Hawthorne 32. "If you can't explain it simply, you don't understand it well enough." --Albert Einstein
33. "Blessed are those who can give without remembering and take without forgetting." --Anonymous
34. "Do one thing every day that scares you." --Anonymous
35. "What's the point of being alive if you don't at least try to do something remarkable." --Anonymous
36. "Life is not about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself." --Lolly Daskal
37. "Nothing in the world is more common than unsuccessful people with talent." --Anonymous
38. "Knowledge is being aware of what you can do. Wisdom is knowing when not to do it." --Anonymous
39. "Your problem isn't the problem. Your reaction is the problem." --Anonymous
40. "You can do anything, but not everything." --Anonymous
41. "Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower." --Steve Jobs
42. "There are two types of people who will tell you that you cannot make a difference in this world: those who are afraid to try and those who are afraid you will succeed." --Ray Goforth
43. "Thinking should become your capital asset, no matter whatever ups and downs you come across in your life." --A.P.J. Abdul Kalam
44. "I find that the harder I work, the more luck I seem to have." --Thomas Jefferson
45. "The starting point of all achievement is desire." --Napoleon Hill
46. "Success is the sum of small efforts, repeated day-in and day-out." --Robert Collier
47. "If you want to achieve excellence, you can get there today. As of this second, quit doing less-than-excellent work." --Thomas J. Watson
48. "All progress takes place outside the comfort zone." --Michael John Bobak
49. "You may only succeed if you desire succeeding; you may only fail if you do not mind failing." --Philippos
50. "Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear--not absence of fear." --Mark Twain
51. "Only put off until tomorrow what you are willing to die having left undone." --Pablo Picasso
52. "People often say that motivation doesn't last. Well, neither does bathing--that's why we recommend it daily." --Zig Ziglar
53. "We become what we think about most of the time, and that's the strangest secret." --Earl Nightingale
54. "The only place where success comes before work is in the dictionary." --Vidal Sassoon
55. "Too many of us are not living our dreams because we are living our fears." --Les Brown
56. "I find that when you have a real interest in life and a curious life, that sleep is not the most important thing." --Martha Stewart
57. "It's not what you look at that matters, it's what you see." --Anonymous
58. "The road to success and the road to failure are almost exactly the same." --Colin R. Davis
59. "The function of leadership is to produce more leaders, not more followers." --Ralph Nader
60. "Success is liking yourself, liking what you do, and liking how you do it." --Maya Angelou
61. "As we look ahead into the next century, leaders will be those who empower others." --Bill Gates
62. "A real entrepreneur is somebody who has no safety net underneath them." --Henry Kravis
63. "The first step toward success is taken when you refuse to be a captive of the environment in which you first find yourself." --Mark Caine
64. "People who succeed have momentum. The more they succeed, the more they want to succeed, and the more they find a way to succeed. Similarly, when someone is failing, the tendency is to get on a downward spiral that can even become a self-fulfilling prophecy." --Tony Robbins
65. "When I dare to be powerful, to use my strength in the service of my vision, then it becomes less and less important whether I am afraid." --Audre Lorde
66. "Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect." --Mark Twain
67. "The successful warrior is the average man, with laser-like focus." --Bruce Lee
68. "There is no traffic jam along the extra mile." --Roger Staubach
69. "Develop success from failures. Discouragement and failure are two of the surest stepping stones to success." --Dale Carnegie
70. "If you don't design your own life plan, chances are you'll fall into someone else's plan. And guess what they have planned for you? Not much." --Jim Rohn
71. "If you genuinely want something, don't wait for it--teach yourself to be impatient." --Gurbaksh Chahal
72. "Don't let the fear of losing be greater than the excitement of winning." --Robert Kiyosaki
73. "If you want to make a permanent change, stop focusing on the size of your problems and start focusing on the size of you!" --T. Harv Eker
74. "You can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something--your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life." --Steve Jobs
75. "Two roads diverged in a wood and I took the one less traveled by, and that made all the difference." --Robert Frost
76. "The number one reason people fail in life is because they listen to their friends, family, and neighbors." --Napoleon Hill
77. "The reason most people never reach their goals is that they don't define them, or ever seriously consider them as believable or achievable. Winners can tell you where they are going, what they plan to do along the way, and who will be sharing the adventure with them." --Denis Waitley
78. "In my experience, there is only one motivation, and that is desire. No reasons or principle contain it or stand against it." --Jane Smiley
79. "Success does not consist in never making mistakes but in never making the same one a second time." --George Bernard Shaw
80. "I don't want to get to the end of my life and find that I lived just the length of it. I want to have lived the width of it as well." --Diane Ackerman
81. "You must expect great things of yourself before you can do them." --Michael Jordan
82. "Motivation is what gets you started. Habit is what keeps you going." --Jim Ryun
83. "People rarely succeed unless they have fun in what they are doing." --Dale Carnegie
84. "There is no chance, no destiny, no fate, that can hinder or control the firm resolve of a determined soul." --Ella Wheeler Wilcox
85. "Our greatest fear should not be of failure but of succeeding at things in life that don't really matter." --Francis Chan
86. "You've got to get up every morning with determination if you're going to go to bed with satisfaction." --George Lorimer
87. "A goal is not always meant to be reached; it often serves simply as something to aim at." -- Bruce Lee
88. "Success is ... knowing your purpose in life, growing to reach your maximum potential, and sowing seeds that benefit others." --John C. Maxwell
89. "Be miserable. Or motivate yourself. Whatever has to be done, it's always your choice." --Wayne Dyer
90. "To accomplish great things, we must not only act, but also dream, not only plan, but also believe." --Anatole France
91. "Most of the important things in the world have been accomplished by people who have kept on trying when there seemed to be no help at all." --Dale Carnegie
92. "You measure the size of the accomplishment by the obstacles you had to overcome to reach your goals." --Booker T. Washington
93. "Real difficulties can be overcome; it is only the imaginary ones that are unconquerable." --Theodore N. Vail
94. "It is better to fail in originality than to succeed in imitation." --Herman Melville
95. "What would you do if you weren't afraid." --Spencer Johnson
96. "Little minds are tamed and subdued by misfortune; but great minds rise above it." --Washington Irving
97. "Failure is the condiment that gives success its flavor." --Truman Capote
98. "Don't let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do." --John R. Wooden
99. "You may have to fight a battle more than once to win it." --Margaret Thatcher
100. "A man can be as great as he wants to be. If you believe in yourself and have the courage, the determination, the dedication, the competitive drive and if you are willing to sacrifice the little things in life and pay the price for the things that are worthwhile, it can be done." --Vince Lombardi
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