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Photo Basics I'm going to add more subjects and content here little by little, as I think of things to add and have time to add them. In the meantime, if you have questions, feel free to contact me.
Taking Pictures
Scroll down or use these quick-jump links: The rule of thirds - Many people tend to always take pictures with the subject centered. Be different and try putting the subject off-center. 
The rule of thirds says to divide the photo in 3 horizontally and vertically, then try to position your subject on one of the red circles (intersections) or one of the blue lines. It can change the whole perspective of the photo. Just try it next time. If the subject is a spot in the picture, or if the picture has a spot of interest, try to position it on one of the red circles. If the picture has a line in it, like a sunset, beach, horizon, or a tall building, try to position it on one of the lines. Pick the one that gives the most pleasing background and overall effect.
Google search for more details and samples Angle of view - Do you always take your pictures just standing there and pointing the camera at the subject? Try something different. When taking pictures of children, get down to their level instead of pointing the camera down to them. When taking pictures of teens, adults, or any other type of subject, experiment a little and try pointing down or up to the subject, or off to the side. Don't always shoot straight at the subject. Make your shots unique. Combine the angle of view and the rule of thirds and you can get pictures that are worth showing off. You will also find that the angle and position can sometimes have an effect on what the picture says.
Google search for more details and samples Lens focal length - If you are using a camera that comes with a zoom lens, or better yet, interchangeable lenses, experiment with distance and focal length combinations. Many people think a telephoto lens is to get a picture of something too far away and a wide angle lens is to get a group shot without having to get farther away. They're right, partially. The focal length of a lens (or zooming in or out) also changes the appearance of the subject. If you take a picture of someones face up close with a wide angle lens, they're going to have a fat nose. If someone has a very small nose, you could always make it look normal by doing that. A wide angle lens makes closer things appear larger. A wide angle lens has more depth of field than a normal one, and a telephoto lens has less (shallower) depth of field. When taking close-up shots of a person, it will look more natural if you use a slightly longer than normal lens, or zoom in a bit. It also gives more blur to the background to put emphasis on the subject because of its shallower depth of field, and it lets you get a close-up shot without having to breathe on the subject.
Google search for more details and samples Depth of field - Depth of field is how much range of distance is in focus. It's determined by a lens' focal length and aperture. (f-stop) If your camera lets you change the f-stop, you have control of your photos that you probably didn't even know about. A smaller f-stop number means the lens has a wider opening. This lets more light in, which allows for faster shutter speeds, or shots in darker situations. This also lowers your depth of field. That means things in front of or behind the main subject will be more out of focus (blurry) and also means the focusing has to be more accurate. With a shallow depth of field, you can make 1 person in a crowd stand out better. A larger f-stop number means the lens has a narrower opening. This lets less light in, which means slower shutter speeds, or shots in brighter situations. This also increases your depth of field. You can take a picture of a crowd and have everyone in focus. It also means the focusing can be off a bit and still make a good picture.
Google search for more details and samples Exposure - This is how much light hits the film (or sensors in digital cameras). The film or sensors require a certain amount of light to properly record an image. The total amount of light that reaches the recorder (film or sensors) is determined by 2 things. How much light gets through the lens, (aperture or f-stop), and how long the light is allowed to go through, (shutter speed). When an image is properly exposed you get the most accurate rendition of the subject, and you get the widest range of detail possible. Most of the time, this is what we want, but not always. Have you ever shot silhouette images? Is the main part of the picture a brighter or darker part of the whole picture? Do you need to capture details in a darker or brighter part of the picture? Some cameras have spot metering. This lets you pick what part of the photo is properly exposed instead of going by the average. You can also just take a guess or experiment. Try a little experimenting and you will be surprised what you come up with.
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Aperture - This is the size of the lens opening, or how much light can get through the lens. It's referred to as the f-stop. The larger the f-stop number, the smaller the opening and the less light that gets through. The f-stop number is a comparison of the lens opening and focal length. The aperture or f-stop has an effect on the exposure and the depth of field of a photo. Some cameras don't let you adjust this, and in most of those cases it's because the camera has a fixed lens with a fixed f-stop. They require fairly small openings to give a good depth of field so you can take pictures anywhere from 4' to infinity. All cameras with interchangeable lenses, and most higher priced cameras, give you control of this. If your camera lets you set the aperture, play around a little and get the hang of what it can let you do.
Google search for more details and samples Shutter speeds - This is how long the film (or sensors in digital cameras) gets exposed to light. Not all cameras let you control this, but most SLR's and higher priced cameras do. Shutter speed is one thing everyone should understand. Quite often, it determines whether or not the picture will work out. Many cameras show the shutter speed as just one number, like 60, 125, 250, etc. Those numbers are actually the reciprocal of the shutter speed. 60 means the speed is 1/60 of a second. 500 would mean 1/500 of a second. The shutter speed has an effect on the exposure and the sharpness of a photo. Most cameras with interchangeable lenses, or higher priced cameras without, give you control of this. Shutter speed determines sharpness of a photo in 2 ways. It determines how much shake you can have when taking the picture and how much motion there can be with the subject. If a shutter speed is too slow, camera shake will ruin a picture. As a general rule, the average person can hand hold a camera at shutter speeds equal to the reciprocal of the lens focal length. With a 50mm lens (standard for 35mm cameras) shutter speed should be 1/50 (1/60) of a second or faster. With a 200mm lens (telephoto for 35mm cameras) shutter speed should be 1/200 (1/250) of a second or faster. If you have to, or prefer to, use a slower shutter speed, you should use a tripod or brace the camera against something. By playing around with the shutter speed, you can have different effects. You can freeze action with a fast shutter speed, or you can show motion with a slower speed. If your camera lets you set the aperture, play around a little and get the hang of what it can let you do. Take several pictures of a waterfall, or a race car in motion, at a range of shutter speeds. Try shooting a race car at slower speeds but follow the car with the camera as you shoot.
Google search for more details and samples Film speed - Now that we know about exposure, aperture, and shutter speeds, let's move on to film speeds. With 35mm cameras, you buy the film speed you want. With digital cameras, they don't use film. The better ones let you play with an apparent film speed. With both types, the film speed has an effect on how much detail the photo can contain. With film cameras, this is grain. With digital, it affects how much resolution can be captured. Slower film speeds (lower numbers) capture more detail but require more light or exposure to record the image. Faster speeds work with less light, but can't record as much detail. Pretty much any film speed will give decent 4x6's or photos to display on the monitor, but if you plan to print posters, you need to use slower (lower number) films, or much higher resolution on digital cameras. For an idea of printing limitations, see our printing limitations chart. To take pictures in darker situations or without a flash, you generally need a higher speed film. Higher speed films also give you greater distance when using a flash. Usually the best thing to do is use the highest speed you can that will give you the detail you need. In brighter situations though, like outdoors in the summer, you can't go too high or you won't be able to take pictures. If the film is too sensitive, even a fast shutter speed and small aperture may cause over-exposure.
Google search for more details and samples Using a flash - Ever use a flash when taking pictures? Pretty much everyone has, yet most people don't really know much about using one. If it's a little dark, turn on the flash, right? Yes, but there's a lot more to it than that. Ever use a flash when there's more than enough light, as a fill flash to reduce the shadows a little? With the right camera and/or flash, you can set it to have the flash provide some light (1/4 to 1/2 of what's needed) to lighten the shadows a little. In direct sunlight or any harsh lighting, sometimes there is far too much difference between the main subject and the shadows. If there is any detail in the shadow areas to see, they can easily be gone (blacked out) in the final picture. There's just far too much contrast. Cameras, film or digital, can't capture the range of detail that the human eye can, partly because the eye is just so much better, and partly because the eye quickly adjusts as we change the part we are looking at. Ever use a flash and wonder why there's no picture? It's all black. A flash isn't magic. It has limits. The main method of determining a flash's limits is its guide number. The guide number is how much light the flash can put out. The guide number divided by the lens f-stop is how far the flash can go and still give proper exposure. A flash with a guide number of 80 and a lens at f2 can be used up to 40', (80/2 = 40), but a flash with a guide number of 40 and a lens set to f8 can only go to 5', (40/8 = 5). The next time you try taking a picture in a low lighting situation from 100' away with a flash, remember, for that to work, you'll need very fast film, an f2 lens, and a very high power flash. Most of your basic camera/flash setups won't work beyond 40 or 50 feet.
Do you ever get pictures with red-eye? Those small (hopefully) red spots in the middle of a persons eyes? That's from a flash being fired right at the persons eyes. The light enters the eye and reflects off the back of the eyeball, the retina, and records the red color of the retina. There are 2 ways to prevent this:
Google search for more details and samples Cropping - Have you ever had 4x6's printed and could barely see the subject you were taking the picture of because there was too much background? Getting in on the subject and removing unwanted background is called cropping. If you can remove some or all of the unwanted background when taking the picture, either by zooming in, or by getting closer, do so. A picture can only record a certain amount of detail and if you enlarge the picture later to crop it, you won;t have as much detail as you could have had. Don't overdo it though because you can't get back what wasn't recorded, but don't leave too much waste around the subject if you can help it. Sometimes you can do a better job of cropping by shooting vertically. Have you ever tried that?
Google search for more details and samples The background - When taking pictures, do you pay attention to the background? Of course, the subject is the main thing, but the background can make or break a good photo. Some backgrounds can be very distracting, cause exposure problems, or alter the effect of the photo. Sometimes all you need to do is move a few feet one way or another to change the background. You don't want a tree growing out of a person's head, do you? You don't want an "active" background that makes the viewer focus on that. When taking a picture, unless it's a Jaguar (car or cat) flying by, take a few seconds to look at the whole picture. Sometimes you may not like what you see. It's usually easier to change BEFORE you take the picture.
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Try vertical - Turn your camera sideways for a change. Most cameras will still work sideways. If your camera is a square format, this won't make a difference, but most cameras give rectangular photos and not all photos are meant to be horizontal. You must have seen vertical pictures or posters somewhere. What did they do? Crop the sides? Probably not. They were probably taken vertically. If what you want to capture is more vertical than horizontal, like a full length portrait, turn your camera sideways and you can get in closer and get a better picture.
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More Subjects To Come
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