Learn Photography to Take Better Photos.

This is the big one, yet many people don’t seem to understand that preparation is golden. A clear picture that say a million words

1.BE READY – MOMENTS COME AND GO QUICKLY

DECIDE ON A CLEAR CENTER OF ATTENTION

Each picture should have only one principal idea, topic, or center of interest to which the viewer’s eyes are attracted. Subordinate elements within the picture must support and focus attention on the principal feature so it alone is emphasized. A picture without a dominant center of interest or one with more than one dominant center of interest is puzzling to a viewer. Subsequently, the viewer becomes confused and wonders what the picture is all about. When the picture has one, and only one, dominant “point of interest,” the viewer quickly understands the picture. Grasp the Power of the Aperture Settings  Aperture is often the most difficult concept for people to grasp when they’re learning how their camera works, but it’s pretty simple once you understand it. If you look at your lens, you can see the opening where light comes through. When you adjust your aperture settings, you’ll see that opening get bigger and smaller. The larger the opening, or wider the aperture, the more light you let in with each exposure. The smaller the opening, or narrower the aperture, the less light you let in. Why would you ever want a narrow aperture if a wider one lets in more light? Aside from those situations where you have too much light and want to let less of it in, narrowing the aperture means more of the photograph will appear to be in focus. For example, a narrow aperture is great for landscapes. A wider aperture means less of the photograph will be in focus, which is something that’s generally visually pleasing and isn’t seen as a downside. If you’ve seen photographs with a subject in focus and beautiful blurred backgrounds, this is often the effect of a wide aperture (although that’s not the only contributing factor—remember, telephoto lenses decrease depth of field as well). Using a wide aperture is generally considered the best method for taking in more light because the downside—less of the photograph being in focus—is often a desired result.

2.Get in close

It was the famous photojournalist Robert Capa who once said “If your photographs aren’t good enough, you’re not close enough.” He was talking about getting in amongst the action. If you feel like your images aren’t ‘popping’, take a step or two closer to your subject. Fill the frame with your subject and see how much better your photo will look without so much wasted space. The closer you are to the subject, the better you can see their facial expressions too.

ose cousin to situational awareness, research and preparation prior to any photo work should become second nature and will pay huge dividends. It will also make you a faster shooter and help to prioritize your workflow, not to mention make you appear more competent as a photographer.

3.UNDERSTAND ISO SHUTTERSPEED AND APERTURE (EXPOSURE TRIANGLE)

ISO:  The funny thing about ISO is that it is an acronym, but nobody really knows what it stands for.  It is always just called ISO even though it really stands for International Organization for Standardization.  Every once in a while, you’ll hear an older photographer pronounce it “I-so”, but almost everyone pronounces it “I.S.O.” The ISO controls the exposure by using software in the camera to make it extra sensitive to light. A high ISO such as ISO 1,600 will produce a brighter picture than a lower ISO such as ISO 100. The drawback to increasing the ISO is that it makes the picture noisier.  Digital noise is apparent when a photo looks grainy. Have you ever taken a picture at night with your cell phone or your pocket camera, and noticed that it looks really grainy?  That is because the camera tried to compensate for the dark scene by choosing a high ISO, which causes more grain. What constitutes a “high” ISO is constantly changing.  Camera companies are constantly improving the ability of cameras to use high ISOs without as much grain.  A few years ago, only the highest-end pro DSLR cameras could achieve 2,000 ISO, and now even entry-level DSLR cameras can shoot at this level.  Since each camera is different, you would do well to do a few tests with your camera to see how high of an ISO you can shoot at without making the image overly grainy. Right now, you will commonly find new DSLRs that advertise expandable ISO ranges

4.PAY ATTENTION TO YOUR LIGHT SOURCES

It’s light. Or rather, the way the photographer uses light. A good photographer knows how to compose an image, how to angle her camera so the viewer gets a completely unique perspective of an object, how to capture an event in an interesting and unusual way – even how to capture an emotion. A great photographer does all of this in the right light. Light is pervasive, and because of this you may not always be consciously aware of it – unless it’s either blinding you or fading from view. Most of the rest of the time, light just is, so we don’t pay much attention to it. For this reason you may spend a lot of time just snapping photos without really thinking about the quality of the light. But it’s worthwhile paying attention because you’ll get some stunning results. Use a plain background

5.Shutter Speed

When you press the shutter button on your camera and take a picture, the aperture blades take a specific amount of time to close. This amount of time is known as your shutter speed. Generally it is a fraction of a second, and if you’re capturing fast motion it needs to be at most 1/300th of a second. If you’re not capturing any motion, you can sometimes get away with as long of an exposure as 1/30th of a second. When you increase your shutter speed—the length of time where the sensor is exposed to light—two important things happen. First, the sensor is exposed to more light because it’s been given more time. This is useful in low light situations. Second, the sensor is subject to more motion which causes motion blur. This can happen either because your subject is in motion or because you cannot hold the camera still. In general, you want to use the fastest shutter speed you can but there are plenty of circumstances where you’d choose a slower shutter speed. Here are a few examples.You want motion blur for artistic purposes, such as blurring a flowing stream while keeping everything else sharp and un-blurred. To accomplish this you’d use a slow shutter speed like 1/30th of a second and use a narrow aperture to prevent yourself from overexposing the photograph.

To be Continued…