Photography
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Positioning
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Breaking up symmetry results result in a more interesting and artistic photo.
The weakest place to put your subject is in the middle of the picture; placing it off the centre can really bring it to life.
Place an imaginary noughts and crosses board over your prospective shot and position the subject on or near the intersections of that grid; this is called the 'rule of thirds'.
To focus on something off the centre you should: centre your subject; press the picture taking button half way down; re-frame your picture (whilst still half holding down the button); press the button all the way down.
If you don’t like the way a shot is looking through the camera, move your whole body, not just the camera.
Don't shoot everything from eye level; lie on the ground, crouch, hold your camera above your head etc.
Move around your subject until you find an angle and distance that you’re happy with.
Normally, better pictures will be had by moving a few steps closer to your subject; if you’re too far away from your subject then you’ll lose its detail.
Choose one aspect of your subject that particularly appeals to you and make it the focus of the photo.
If a subject has particular detail, try letting it fill the whole shot; with no background showing.
A plain background will emphasize your subject whereas a cluttered one will be a distraction.
Keep horizon lines level and don't put them across the middle of your shot.
Lighting
A standard lighting technique is to position yourself so that the sun is behind you to one side.
Light from the side brings out shapes, textures and structures.
It's difficult to take a good photo if the light is directly behind your subject; however, if done properly it can result in a great picture.
Never look directly at the sun, especially through the viewfinder of your camera.
Sunrise and sunset are called the 'golden hours or 'magic hours'; this is when lighting is at its photographic best.
Photographing at midday will make your subject look ‘flat’.
Colour affects the way people see pictures; try to use it creatively.
Photos containing contrasting colours or shades of the same colours look particularly attractive.
Experiment with taking photos in black and white.
If the colours in a picture are turned into shades of grey; shape, lighting, contrast, texture, and tone, become the dominant elements.
Experiment with incorporating shadows into some of your pictures.
When using your flash, take a few extra steps back from your subject and use your camera's zoom feature.
Most flash features on standard cameras are only effective for about eight to ten feet.
Avoid using your flash indoors because it mutes colour and casts unappealing shadows.
People
Nature and landscapes can look beautiful but photos of people are often the most fascinating.
When photographing people, keep backgrounds and other distractions to a minimum.
Try letting a person's face fill the whole shot; do this by zooming in on them.
Zooming in flattens perspective which generally produces a more flattering shot of your subject.
When taking pictures of people, their eyes are generally the best feature to highlight.
To give peoples eyes an extra edge, get them to close their eyes until you say ‘open’, then take the photo as you say it.
Red-eye is the result of a camera recording light that reflects off of the retinas a persons eyes.
The most effective way to reduce red-eye is to avoid using a flash; it also helps if the person isn’t looking directly at the camera.
Portrait shots of people look best when the subject isn’t paying full attention to the camera.
Taking a second, unexpected, picture immediately after the first will often result in a more natural looking shot of someone.
Talking to people whilst taking their photo makes them feel more relaxed.
Giving your subject something to do makes a picture look more natural.
Props (anything a person can hold or stand next to) really add to a photo.
When photographing children or animals, crouch down so that you're shooting at their eye-level.
With large group photographs, have some people sitting, some kneeling and some standing.
The best setting for photographing people is outside on a cloudy, overcast day.
Ideas / Inspiration
What the subject is doesn’t matter as much as how you shoot it.
Interesting colours, tones, patterns, shapes or textures make great photos.
Get a variety of interesting shots of the same subject by using different combinations of angles, positioning, distances and lighting.
Subject categories that you could photograph include: people; animals; nature; buildings; weather; technology; art; sport.
Work through various topics and create a portfolio for each.
Places where lots of people gather for fun are perfect for photographing; try festivals, funfairs, circuses and parades.
Go to a city centre, wander the streets, and take pictures of the sights and scenes that you come across.
The countryside is perfect for landscape and nature shots; explore it on yourself, with a hiking club or as a family day trip.
Zoos and botanical gardens are ideal locations for interesting and unusual photos.
Museums and art galleries contain a variety of fascinating photographic subjects in one place.
Rain, fog and storms create fascinating natural photographic effects.
Take pictures of things around your house, things you see everyday, and see what a photo highlights in them.
A good photographic exercise is to take 100 photos in one hour; it encourages you to take photos of things you would normally overlook.
Go outside, choose a random spot, and take 100 photos of anything without leaving a 10 metre radius of that spot (you can shoot things located inside or outside of this area).
An exercise called ‘twenty steps' involves going out for a walk, and every time you walk twenty steps, stopping, looking around, and taking a picture.
Look at pictures in magazines, newspapers and books, and try to recreate what you like using your own camera.
Browse online photo galleries for inspiration.
Lots of experienced and creative photographers share their experience and ideas on online photography forums.
Set-up a free online photo album to share your best shots with your friends and family.
Entering online photo competitions / contests gives extra motivation and incentive.
Editing
The most common method of transferring images from a digital camera to a computer is by connecting the two with a USB cable.
Some memory cards can be removed from a digital camera and inserted directly into a computer.
Digital cameras normally come with a free computer program that performs basic photo editing functions.
‘Picasa’ is a free computer program (available for download from ‘Google’) that integrates photo editing with online photo hosting.
‘Adobe Photoshop’ is the most popular commercial photo editing program.
Editing photos is not essential but often a click of the mouse can improve a picture.
Most editing programs have easy to use menu / icon systems; they will likely also come with tutorials that teach you how to use them.
A basic photo editing program should let you crop, resize, remove red-eye, and adjust brightness, sharpness and contrast.
‘Crop’ refers to a tool on photo editing software that lets you remove unwanted or distracting areas from around the edge of a picture.
Enlarging a photo will likely reduce the print quality of it.
Make copies of photos before editing them; this allows you restore the original if you make a mistake.
You should aim to back-up all of the photos on your computer at least once a month.
On average, you can save around 300 photos onto a standard CD.
You don't have to be a computer expert to edit photos; however, if you feel uncomfortable doing so then professional photo editing services are reasonably priced.
Printing
The 2 options for printing photos are to print them yourself at home or to have them printed professionally.
To have photos processed professionally, you can either take your memory card into your local photo processing shop, or email your photos to an online processing website.
Many companies will let you send your image files to them via their website and will return the finished prints to you by post.
Photos are printed in standard sizes; 6”x4”, 7”x5” and 8”x6” being the most common.
To print at home all you need is an photo printer, ink-jet cartridges and photographic paper.
Photographic paper is available in a variety of styles; some can really improve the look and feel of a picture.
Glossy printer paper is treated with a special finish to produce sharper images; this makes is well-suited for photographs.
Matte printer paper is suitable for photographs; it’s cheaper than glossy paper but of a lower quality.
If printing yourself, you can use your pictures to create postcards, greetings cards and calendars.
Photos printed at home can be of the same quality as those printed professionally; this is dependent on the quality of ink and paper used.
If printing many photos, it can be cheaper to get them processed at a shop rather (either high street or online) than printing them yourself.
Links
www.digital-photography-school.com : Learn how to improve your photos. Photography internet forums.
www.photosecrets.com : Advice and tips for taking better photos. How to sell your photos.
www.photo.net : Photography tutorials. Photo galleries. Photography internet forums.
www.picturecorrect.com : Photography tips.
www.whatdigitalcamera.com : Camera reviews. What to buy and how to use it.
www.fotoflexer.com : Free online photo editor. Upload photos from your computer, make changes to them, then save them back to your computer.
www.flickr.com : Free online photo sharing service. Let Friends and family see your photos.