Photography Basics: 5 Tips To Get You Started

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Photography Basics: 5 Tips To Get You Started

Friday, March 12th, 2010 Subscribe To Our Feed

While you can’t of course learn everything in one article about photography, this article provides 5 tips on the basics. Whether you have a point-and-shoot camera and rely on preset modes or you are now the proud, albeit confused, owner of a professional SLR camera, there are certain basics that once understood will send you on your way towards taking extraordinary pictures. Here are five important and easy to use tips that you can start using right away.

1) Resolve to Have Enough Resolution

Yes, a low resolution setting saves space on your memory card, but it doesn’t make for suitable prints. You can easily resize for a smaller picture, even in free programs like Picasa (”resize” is hidden there under “export”), but making a picture larger usually brings awful results. When you enlarge the photo, the pixels that make up the picture are spread thinner.

If you plan to print your pictures, choose medium or high resolution. Depending on your camera, 3 megapixels should give you high quality 4×6 images and sometimes even a very nice 8×10. For superb 11×14s, go for 6 megapixels.

2) Let There be Light (but Make it the Right Kind)

Natural lighting is usually best, so don’t worry if you don’t have a fancy flash and reflectors. If your only flash is the built-in one, that’s all the more reason to opt for natural light. Built-in flashes can make subjects look flat. That’s why the pros use an external flash and bounce light off the umbrellas. There are inexpensive tricks you can do like wearing a white shirt or taping foil to the camera to bounce the light off the ceiling, but if you want an easy way to get professional quality photos without extra equipment it’s best to go outdoors.

When shooting outdoors, consider the position of the sun. The lower the sun in the sky the better, except for sunrise and dawn. You should also try to avoid noon as this time brings the harshest shadows. Unless the sky is part of your photograph, bright overcast days produce the best light.

3) Compose a Perfect Picture

Getting a fast snapshot of something without any thought mostly depends upon luck. But by first learning how to compose a photo, you will end up with more pictures that look good and are suitable for framing. The photos you take will look more like what you pictured when you clicked the shutter release.

There is a lot to learn about photo composition, but for starters, here is the number one rule. Fill the frame of the viewfinder. Decide on what the most important subject in your photo is and move close enough or zoom (optical zoom is best) to fill the viewfinder with the subject. For example, if the subject is your mother watering her roses then she is the subject not her entire rose garden. Many people make the mistake of losing their subjects in the background.

4) Steady Now

It doesn’t take much camera shake to create blur, in fact it takes so little that you will likely not even notice the movement. For sharp photographs, keep your elbows down, feet apart and hold the camera steady while pressing (not punching) the shutter release. Continue holding still until the light indicates the camera has finished taking the picture. When you are taking a photo that needs a slower than usual shutter speed, like a fireworks display, use a tripod to steady the camera. You can also use other items as props to set your camera on as long as you have a remote shutter release. A good rule of thumb: use a camera support for shutter speeds slower than 1/60.

5) Share Your Creations

If your photos are digital, use a photo editor to bring copies (save originals) of your photos down to the appropriate size for your website, email, photo album or picture frame. You should use photo paper that is compatible with your printer model for best results. If you’re using a film camera but want photos for email or a website, use a quality scanner or when dropping off film to be developed, request a CD.

Save your best photos for displaying in a well made wooden picture frame. A picture framed in a classic silver picture frame also makes a very welcome gift, especially when it is a portrait of someone special. Remember a portrait can be of one person, family, two friends, a beloved pet…the list is endless, and again, these make lovely gifts, especially when framed nicely.

By using these five basic tips you’ll help expand your photography knowledge so you can start taking even better and more professional looking pictures.

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