Photography

The Amateur’s Guide to Better Pictures

Rules to keep in mind

• Hold your camera steady, or place it on a firm support. Hold it steady, hold your breath and squeeze the button gently. More pictures have been ruined by unsteady cameras than by any other single cause.

• Catch your subject when it isn’t moving. The closer a subject is, the less motion you can tolerate. But – you don’t have to ask a person to freeze. Don’t count or give warning. Watch for that moment when your subject is poised motionless – then squeeze the button.

Rules to keep in mind

• Shoot with the sun behind you. Light paints the picture in photography. In open sunlight let the light fall on your subject, not on your camera. Let the sun shine from behind you over your shoulder. But don’t make your subject squint directly into the sun – no one can look natural that way.

• For better portraits, shoot in open shade. Open sunlight makes harsh shadows. For the best pictures of people try shooting in open shade – as in the shade at the north side of the house, bright sky overhead.

Composition

The biggest fault with most photographs is failing to fill the frame with the main subject. The main cause of this problem is that people do not look at the complete scene through the viewfinder. As long as the main subject is there … somewhere, they just shoot. Many photos are a disappointment because the camera user does not take enough time to look carefully through the viewfinder at what they are about to take. The solution is simple, and can be done with any camera.

Composition

• Look into the viewfinder and make sure there are not wide open unnecessary spaces.

• Exclude detail that may clutter the image, taking attention from your main subject.

• Get as close to your subject as possible without cutting part of it out (unless that is your intention!).