{"id":274504,"date":"2026-02-09T00:33:11","date_gmt":"2026-02-09T00:33:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/274504\/"},"modified":"2026-02-09T00:33:11","modified_gmt":"2026-02-09T00:33:11","slug":"5-photo-cliches-that-every-photographer-should-have-in-their-arsenal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/274504\/","title":{"rendered":"5 photo clich\u00e9s that every photographer should have in their arsenal"},"content":{"rendered":"

Everyone loves to moan about photography clich\u00e9s, but there’s a reason they became clich\u00e9s in the first place – they just work!<\/p>\n

Here are five techniques so overdone that they\u2019re a clich\u00e9. Despite that, they deserve a permanent place in your toolkit.<\/p>\n

1. The Golden Hour Glow<\/p>\n

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(Image credit: Sean McCormack)<\/p>\n

Yes, everyone shoots at golden hour. That’s because the light is genuinely gorgeous and flattering. Instead of avoiding it to be different, master it. Learn to work with backlight, side light, and that magic blue hour transition. Your audience, clients and even your ego, will thank you for it.<\/p>\n

You may like<\/p>\n

2. Lens Flare<\/p>\n

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(Image credit: Sean McCormack)<\/p>\n

Everyone’s trying to avoid it, but sometimes that sun star or deliberate flare adds intense atmosphere and a sense of place. From J.J. Abrams to commercial product photography, controlled flare creates mood and emphasises the light source. The key is control \u2013 knowing how to create it when you want it, not just accepting whatever your lens gives you. If you\u2019ve missed it, great tools like Boris FX Optics<\/a> allow you to create your flare after capture.<\/p>\n

3. Bokeh Backgrounds<\/p>\n

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(Image credit: Sean McCormack)<\/p>\n

“Shoot wide open” gets slagged off endlessly, but shallow depth of field is a fundamental tool for isolating subjects. The real skill isn’t avoiding bokeh<\/a> \u2013 it’s knowing when f\/1.8 versus f\/5.6 serves your image better. Master the full aperture range. I\u2019m very guilty of shooting at f\/8 in studio, when I could just use an ND filter to help tame the light power for a more dreamy look. I do use High Speed Sync with outdoor flash to get creamy backgrounds, which has a beautiful look, better than the normal f\/16 you\u2019d need with flash outdoors.<\/p>\n

4. Leading Lines<\/p>\n

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(Image credit: Sean McCormack)<\/p>\n

Roads, paths, fences converging to your subject – yes, it’s Photo 101. It’s also how we see as humans.. We follow lines naturally. Instead of rejecting this technique as basic, study how the masters use it subtly – in architecture, street photography, and landscapes. Add these to your photos along with your normal tools to master it for yourself.<\/p>\n

5. Black and White Conversion<\/p>\n

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(Image credit: Sean McCormack)<\/p>\n

“Just shoot it properly in color” misses the point entirely. Black and white isn’t a fix for bad colour – it’s a different language that emphasises form, texture, and tonal relationships. Every serious photographer should be fluent in both color and monochrome. By doing more conversions, you start to understand where black and white is the better choice.<\/p>\n

The best camera deals, reviews, product advice, and unmissable photography news, direct to your inbox!<\/p>\n

Using these clich\u00e9s doesn\u2019t make you a hack or a pro. Knowing why and when to deploy them is what makes you a better photographer.<\/p>\n

Photographic clich\u00e9s become extremely useful tools when you understand what makes them effective.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Everyone loves to moan about photography clich\u00e9s, but there’s a reason they became clich\u00e9s in the first place…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":274505,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[442,498,499,500,501,156,111,139,69],"class_list":{"0":"post-274504","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arts-and-design","8":"tag-arts","9":"tag-arts-and-design","10":"tag-artsanddesign","11":"tag-artsdesign","12":"tag-design","13":"tag-entertainment","14":"tag-new-zealand","15":"tag-newzealand","16":"tag-nz"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/274504","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=274504"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/274504\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/274505"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=274504"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=274504"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=274504"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}