Shaniya

what kind of camera do you have ?

always shoot in Manual. Learn how these 3 things affect your photos and exposure… ISO, Aperture, Shutterspeed

Learn everything there is about lighting.

Gael

A common mistake is buying and shooting with a point and click camera. While you can practice composition, you will never have control over your exposure, which is the most dramatic way to create a photograph. Check for some good advice.

Jamie

pick theme
lighting
and adobe

Elijah

1. you don’t always need the flash on. it can really make some pictures look like crap.
2. least depth of field pictures (pictures that have one thing in focus and everything else is blurry) are really interesting. they can be taken in many different ways.
3. never have your subject in the center of the shot. those pictures are boring.
4. sunny days aren’t always the best to take pictures on. the sun can really mess up your exposure and cloudy days have different lighting with different shadows and everything.
5. use your pictures to portray emotions and feelings without having to show someone’s face. that’s talent.

Brett

Well you want to buy a nice camera, and if not and if you have a digital camera then mess around with the settings to get it clear and where you like it to be. To make your pictures the best they can be i would downlaod a photoshop, there is a free 30 day trial of Adobe photoshop that you can download, just type it in on Google and when the 30 days are up, re download. Or you can buy it for a pretty high cost.

As for the basic techniques and tips just click the links on the following site and learning how to use your camera properly and different angles and lighting, etc.

Laney

Take lots and lots and LOTS of pictures. Then take more.

Study a bit about composition. Just basic stuff, “rule of thirds”, that sort of thing. A bit about lighting. Don’t worry about “everything” yet.

Study pictures you like. Try to find out what you like about them. Look at the composition, the lighting, the depth of field. Then go out and consciously try to imitate what worked for you in those pictures. You can worry about creatively coming up with your own techniques later - for now you are developing (sorry) the ability to control the image, to get what you want into it.

The best pictures tell a story. The standard tourist pic of a group of tourists in front of some monument says only “we were here.” Boring. Think of what story you want to tell about a scene, other than “I want to remember what this looked like”.

Then take more pictures, and more, and still more. Pros figure they’re doing well if they get one really good shot out of every 20 or 30 (about one picture per 35mm roll). The best thing about digital photography is that taking lots and lots and lots of pictures is now dirt cheap. On the other hand, some really nice 35mm SLRs are now dirt cheap…

Orion

The book “Object & Image: An Introduction To Photography, Third Edition” by George M. Craven has a wealth of information. Although written when film was all there was, photography is photography whether you’re using film or digital. These books will also help you:

“Hands-On Digital Photography” by George Schaub

“How Digital Photography Works, Second Edition” by Ron White

“Understanding Exposure: How To Take Great Photos With A Film or Digital camera” by Bryan Peterson

Avoid what I call the “machine gunner mentality” - that’s where you take 300 pictures and hope 10 are worth keeping. If you take 300 bad pictures and you don’t know why they are bad, what have you learned other than how to take bad pictures?

Develop what I call the “sniper mentality” - one exposure, one good picture. In other words, learn to slow down and actually think about the picture you want to make and how to make it.

Don’t fall into the “Oh I can fix it in Photoshop” mentality. Learn to get it right in the camera so any editing is kept to a minimum. Seriously, would you rather be out with your camera or sitting at your computer trying to make a mediocre picture into a marginally acceptable one?

Use a tripod whenever possible.

Keep your horizons horizontal.

Buy a circular polarizer. Choose from B+W, Heliopan, Hoya, Tiffen, Singh-Ray. Never buy cheap filters.

Keep a UV/Haze filter on your lens at all times except when using your polarizer. A scratch or acidic fingerprint on the front element of your lens spells disaster - for your lens and budget. Its more economical to replace a $30 filter than to replace a $1,000 lens. I own lenses that are 35 years old and their front elements are still perfect because they’ve been protected with a UV or Skylight filter.

Buy a quality lens cloth to keep your filters clean. In 37 years I have never used a liquid lens cleaner. A stubborn smudge on your filter can be removed by simply breathing on the filter.

Visit your library and read every photography magazine they have. Get a subscription to the one you like best. My personal favorite is Shutterbug but that’s just me.

Julian

Along with some excellent suggestions already proposed ***Study your camera manual***