I do not claim any credit in writing this but I found it very very useful and I thought others may benefit from the info. I hope it helps others as much as it has me.

Exposure is the amount of light collected by the sensor in your camera during a single picture. If the shot is exposed too long the photograph will be washed out. If the shot is exposed too short the photograph will appear too dark. Almost all cameras today have light meters which measure the light in the given shot and set an ideal exposure automatically. Most people depend on the light meter which is fine, but if you know how to control your exposures you can get some creative and sometimes better pictures.

The two primary controls your camera uses to for exposure are shutter speed (the amount of time the sensor is exposed to light) and aperture (the size of the lens opening that lets light into the camera). Shutter speeds are measured in seconds and more commonly fractions of a second. (1/2000 of a second is very fast and 8' seconds is extremely slow). Apertures are measured in something called f/stops (a very wide aperture is f/2.8 and a very small aperture is f/19).

You might wonder why there isn't just a constant shutter speed or a constant aperture so that you would only have to worry about one control. The reason is that even though they both control the amount of light getting to the sensor they also control other aspects of the picture. Shutter speed for example can be used to freeze subjects in midair with a fast speed or it can be used to blur water with a slow speed. Aperture controls the depth-of-field which is what is in focus in the picture. Aperture can be used to draw attention to one subject by blurring the background with a wide aperture (low f/stop). Aperture can also be used to focus everything in a picture with a narrow aperture (high f/stop).

On most digital SLR's (Single Lens Reflex) cameras today you can even change the sensitivity of the sensor when collecting light which is called the ISO speed. The common span of ISO speed is 100 to 800. The higher the ISO speed the faster the camera collects light but it also adds more noise to the photograph than the lower speeds. For example if your trying to take pictures in dim light without a tripod you might want to raise the ISO speed in order to get a picture that's not blurry. Most of the time you should keep it at a lower ISO speed if there is enough light, but it makes a big difference when there isn't.

The best way to learn how to use shutter speed and aperture is to just keep experimenting with them.


Composition is the combining of distinct parts or elements to form a whole. In photography that thought is very important in taking good pictures. The following guidelines are just to be thought about though, it is not necessary to try to use them with every picture you take or there wouldn't be any creativity in your work. Once you learn these rules and strategies you will be more prepared to find great picture spots and opportunities.

Before you just step up and take a picture you should consider what you want your fans to look at and how you should display the interesting parts of your picture. You should ask yourself, what is the main subject? What angle should the light be hitting in my picture? Is there anything that could accentuate the main subject? Where should the main subject be in the frame? These are all important things you should consider, but that doesn't necessarily mean you need to follow the rules exactly.

The Rule of Thirds has been used for centuries and is probably the most important of all the composition techniques. The Rule of Thirds means that the frame can be divided into three horizontal sections and three vertical sections and therefore, where the horizontal and vertical lines intersect makes an ideal location for the more important parts of your picture. By locating your main subject at one of the four intersections you give the subject more emphasis than if it was right smack in the middle of the picture. This is also a good technique if you have more than one important subject, the intersections can still work even if there's a subject on more than one. The divisions can also be helpful in setting up a picture, they can for example, help you determine how much horizon you want. Most famous photographs or paintings in the world today have the rule of thirds applied to them in some way.

Simplicity is the method of keeping the information in a photograph relatively simple. If your main subject is close, then your background should be very simple to avoid distractions. You should try to keep everything not important much less interesting than what's important in the frame. Especially avoid lines or objects that lead the eye away from the subject.

Framing is the tactic of using natural surroundings to add more meaning to your subject. It could be anything such as bushes, trees, a window, or even a doorway like in the picture at the top of this page. In the process of doing this you need to be careful that you don't only focus on what's framing your subject. Make sure you focus on the main subject, and also it is a good idea to use a narrow aperture (high f/stop) to achieve a high depth-of-field. It also wouldn't hurt if the part of the picture framing the subject was darker so make sure you take your light reading on the main subject.

Texture can add a significant amount of interest in any picture. When people see texture in pictures they start imagining what it feels like to touch what's in the picture. Texture is a good idea when your taking pictures of rocks, walls, surfaces, someone's hands, or leaves. In order to make a picture reveal a texture you must make sure the light is coming almost exactly from the side of the surface so it creates shadows in places key places.

Leading Lines are used to lure the eye deeper into a picture or to an important subject. Straight, curved, parallel, or diagonal lines are all good at promoting interest. Good examples could be roads, rivers, streams, bridges, branches, or fences but there are endless things that could be used.

Colors are what add heart and emotion to your pictures. Certain color configurations can inspire awe and amazement in onlookers. Colors can be used to add all sorts of accents and effects, but you must be careful to not draw attention away from the main subject.

It might not be a bad idea to keep these key terms with you when you practice taking pictures. The best way to learn and improve your composition is just lots of practice and experimenting.

The use of light in a photograph can be the deciding factor of whether that picture will be spectacular or terrible. When you use your camera to automatically chose aperture and shutter speed, what your camera is actually doing is using the built in light meter and measuring how much light is being reflected to the camera.

But that doesn't mean that's all there is to it. You should also think about the angle of the light entering the frame, what kind of shadows you want, and whether you want to use fill-in-flash (using flash to light the subject if you have a really bright background).

The angle of light should be taken into careful consideration whenever you feel like you want to create a specific effect. Shadows can be very powerful when cast over half of someone's face. In this photo on the left the light is striking the statue's face from the rear right of the camera and this adds more depth to the picture. It also adds more coloring because if front-lighting was used his face would likely be over exposed, and if back-lighting was used his face would just be black like a silhouette.

The effect of rays of light indoors and outdoors. can be very spectacular. A brilliant part of some great photographs is the ability to see actual rays of light. Whether it be in the setting of a brilliant sunset, light pouring through a window or from artificial lights it can look very impressive. Usually the only way to obtain something like this is a narrow aperture (high f/stop) and a very slow shutter speed.

Silhouettes are another interesting example of using light. The way to create a silhouette is to have significantly brighter light coming from behind the subject. In doing this it is important to take your camera light reading off of the background instead of the subject in order for the camera to adjust for an exposure based on the backlight. If you do this the subject will be successfully underexposed.

If you keep experimenting with different ways of using light you will find that you can get very interesting results. The longer the exposure, the more fascinating the results with light most of the time.

Photography at night can be used to create amazing pictures. For this kind of photography a tripod is almost a must. If you want to get a clear exposure with a great depth-of-field, then you will need a tripod. Usually when we take pictures of sunsets or bright lights we just center all the coloring and shoot the picture.

But something that you should think about doing is adding some foreground item to frame and then shooting which will create a greater depth to the picture, and most of the time make the results look even more brilliant.

When photographing sunsets you should not only include foreground items but use the rule of thirds, specifically the horizontal section of thirds so you get a good perspective on the scene. Also, when you take the light reading with your camera make sure you don't point it directly at the sun, if you do your picture will be underexposed. Take the light reading from the coloring around the sun so you get an exposure that is ideal to accent all the colors.

When trying to photograph fireworks or lightning you will definitely need a tripod. There are different techniques to doing this but probably the easiest is just setting your camera up pointed at a good range of sky and setting the aperture narrow (high f/stop) and setting the shutter speed very long or just by using the "bulb" function of shutter speed (the "bulb" function allows you to open the shudder and close it manually, so its not on a set time). Many people try this in different ways so its just good to experiment and try different things.


In portrait photography there are a few guidelines that you should review and think about when you take pictures of people. The three general types of portrait photography are: close-ups or facial shots, upper body shots, or environmental portraits (where you focus on the subject and the surrounding environment that gives the subject character).

Some of the best portraits are where the subjects look completely comfortable like their not looking at a camera. When people try to smile or make a certain kind of face for the camera it usually doesn't seem very genuine. The trick is to capture the image when the subject(s) aren't necessarily focused on the camera. The main purpose of portrait photography is to capture the essence of the subject(s). Different people have different techniques for doing this, one of which is taking a picture while the subject is planning on smiling and then take another couple while they are recovering. Or another way would be to tell a funny joke where they can't help but genuinely laugh and smile. But probably the best way is just to catch them off guard by waiting for the right opportunity and snapping a picture right when they look at you not expecting a camera.

Close-up portraits usually have the subject's shoulders and head or less. They are basically framed around the face. These are the best to capture expressions and glamour shots. It is very important to have the light coming from a good angle for these. If you want to accent wrinkles or small details you should have the light coming from the side or from the top. If you want flattering pictures you should take these on a day that's cloudy so there is a lot of diffused light and therefore no shadows.

You will get the best results if the subject is brighter than the background so there is not much distraction. For these you should use a wide aperture (low f/stop) to make the background out of focus and less of a distraction. Professionals usually use a fixed telephoto lens that's 90 mm or a little higher for portraits for the reason that it de-emphasizes the subjects nose or any other unflattering feature because at that far away the nose or any other significant feature doesn't seem closer to the camera than the rest of the face.

Upper body shots or midrange portraits are a little less personal than close-ups. These are easier to get satisfactory results from mainly because your subject is probably more relaxed plus you can include a little of the background. These are probably the most commonly used for single subjects and multiple subjects. The ideal lens would be around a 90 mm fixed telephoto lens but if there's many subjects in your frame you will need more of a wide-angle lens. These are usually used to mark occasions such as graduation, school yearbook, birthdays etc...

Environmental portraiture are portraits that let us into the life of the subject. These usually include the whole subject in a scenario or partaking in some hobby that they enjoy. These are best for telling a story to the viewer about the subject in the pictures. Photojournalists almost always use these to look into the lives of interesting people. These also work very well in Black and White.