The rule of thirds is a very useful tool for composing images in photography. And to top it off, it’s free! Doesn’t require any add on equipment to your camera, any shoe mounts, anything like that! This article will attempt to demystify the mysterious Rule of Thirds. Read More

Everyone says to use lines in your photos. I’m sure you have heard to use lines in your photos to lead the viewer to the subject. There are, however, a LOT more different ways you can use the lines. This article will attempt to give you new knowledge you’ve never before known about how powerful lines really are.

Everything in the world is made up of lines. Photos will have lines whether you like it or not. Using the lines right will make your photos much nicer. As mentioned before, one simple way to use lines is to have them lead the viewer somewhere. For example, roads have lines that lead the viewer to a point in the distant.

Lines, however, are also very effective in giving depth. A photo, when you think about it, is a two dimensional image. It has no depth at all. When you take a picture of stairs and you’re facing directly at them then the lines will give no sense of depth. It’ll look two dimensional. Now, those stairs…if you move and take a photo of the stairs at an angle so the lines go from the background to the foreground, this will create depth and lead towards somewhere.

The most effective way to use lines to lead somewhere is to use the depth effect. Have them lead from the background all the way to the foreground. This will make the photo look three dimensional.

Of course, using lines in that way described above is very dynamic and creates a sense of motion. If you take a photo of lines straight on and horizontal it’ll look very calm, relaxing, and peaceful. Think of landscape photos or shots of the beach.

Lines are a very powerful tool in photography. They’re powerful for ANY visual medium. Drawers have used lines for hundreds of years.

For more photography tips be sure to check out our free Photo 101 eBook, a complete beginners guide to how to use a camera and take better photos.

A photo that has balance can make for much more pleasing shots. A photo that is unbalanced can make your photos look ugly. Balance is a simple compositional technique that you can start implementing right now! And NO, it doesn’t require any extra equipment .All you need is an eye and a brain.

There are primarily two different types of balance.

Symmetrical Balance

This type of balance is seen very often. This basically means the same thing as Elle. Look at that word. It is balanced. El and LE are like mirror images of the same thing and create symmetry. If you cut the thing down the middle they’re the same.

You can use symmetrical balance in less obvious ways also. For example, you can make two people talking to each other and have them mirror each other. They, however, don’t look the same in detail.

The other type of balance is asymmetrical balance. This is balance that isn’t obvious or direct opposites of each other. Dog. Look at that word. It is asymmetrically balanced. Let’s use our imagination a little bit since I can’t put a photo in this article. The “D” is in the foreground and close to you. The “g” is in the background and is far in the distance. They balance each other out in the overall word.

You can use this in your image by having, for example, a rock in the foreground and it balanced by rolling mountains in the distance. You can also use this balance for balancing things from the left side and the right side.

For more photography tips be sure to check out our free Photo 101 eBook, a complete beginners guide to how to use a camera and take better photos.

When taking pictures with a point and shoot camera, you can be very limited with your creativity and flexibility. However, you can still take great shots as long as you follow the tried and true compositional techniques for visual images.

Compositional techniques are not only used for photography, they are used for videotaping, painting, and any other visual media. If you can master composition in photography, you can easily take any other field that is similar. A point and shoot camera is what? A visual capture device and although it doesn’t have the bells and whistles of SLR cameras, it still is very powerful.

Many people assume that because it’s a point and shoot camera they won’t take good pictures. People use this as a crutch and blame the poor images as the result of bad quality cameras.

Not True at all!

Think back in the day of the pin hole camera. They took nice photos and all they had was a hole that exposed the image. Nothing else.

Here is a very useful compositional tip that can help you immensely.

Keep it simple. Working on creating simple compositions means isolating the subject, reducing the background clutter, and making the subject of interest very easily viewable. The viewer should instantly be able to know what he or she is to look at.

You can achieve simpler photos by:

-Moving in closer

-Using the depth of field to blur the background

-Focusing on, for example, one flower instead of five

-Leaving unnecessary information out of the frames of the border.

You can take great photos whether you use a point and shoot camera or a digital SLR. The photo is not made by the equipment but by the eye of the photographer.

For more photography tips be sure to check out our free Photo 101 eBook, a complete beginners guide to how to use a camera and take better photos.

Traveling can be extremely exciting and can make for great opportunities to take amazing photos. Of course, you really need to be prepared. Problems can occur like blur and you are stuck with that photo until you go back to that foreign place. I used to take awful pictures when on vacation. It is because new places have new rules and you must be prepared for them.

Travel photos are very different from taking pictures in your back yard. Now you don’t know the schedule that occurs there and are left lost. The sun sets at a different time, the weather is different, monkeys can try to steal your cameras. To combat the unfamiliar place you visit, be ready for anything.

If you have never been to the place you are going to travel to then you really need to do some research on the area and find out some stuff. Find out what the forecast says and if you need a rain cover. Try and see if any particular event is taking place. Sometimes festivals or marches can be occurring that you can photograph. Another important thing to do is find out if your travel spot has strange unpredictable conditions There are some places in the world that always have low fog and other places that are always scorching hot. Lucky for you, having some equipment can save you lots of trouble. Some filters can reduce the sun and others can stabilize things that the weather messes up.

Organize your equipment before and be sure you have plenty of extras. Bring with you some spare batteries, cleaning containers for your lens, and possibility another camera as well! Do not simply say that you’ll buy more batteries at the location. Some places have different customs and may not use batteries that you like.

As I said before, research the place you are visiting. Not only that, research surrounding locations also. You do not want to come back and find out that you missed a tourist attraction that was five minutes away. Now I have to save up again and fly back there to take pictures of the location that I missed.
For more photography tips be sure to check out our free Photo 101 eBook, a complete beginners guide to how to use a camera and take better photos.

When it comes to shooting portrait digital photography, it can be much more different than taking photographs of inanimate objects or landscapes. With portrait photos no longer in total power over the shot. This makes your model in a group effort with you for the image and it is your responsibility to get them to look how you want them to.

People skills are highly valued when taking portrait shots. Some models will not be very fun to work with and can be a big hassle. Some will get annoyed quick and some will be annoying quick! There will be people you photography that will get on your nerves. In the end, your goal is to make the model as relaxed as possible.

When you take portrait pictures your main goal should be that described above. You want to take a photo of the person and have their personality be shown through the photo. Mostly portrait photos are of people smiling and happy looking. If you take a photo of a mad person a smile will look somewhat strange. Try for the more serious look. Be careful and make sure the background is right for the expressions. A smiling person with a graveyard as the background will not come out well.

When choosing backgrounds, do not limit yourself to the indoors. Outdoor settings can make very great settings as well. A great outdoor setting can make the photo look very nice. There are many wild places you can take great shots at. The beach is a great place as are forests, parks, and hills. Of course, you can also go for a more dramatic portrait and take them at landfills, parking lots, roof tops, alleys, and even graveyards.

Portrait photos should be lit as nice as possible. The better the lighting the better the person will look. Of the different lighting types available, front light is commonly used and great for people photos. It will reduce facial flaws and can render the person as much more appealing. Be careful though, this can reduce details too much if improperly executed.
For more photography tips be sure to check out our free Photo 101 eBook, a complete beginners guide to how to use a camera and take better photos.