Photography 101

Compostion is one of the most important parts of a photograph. How you frame your shot affects the visual appeal of the image. There are several techniques which fall into the category of composition including the rule of thirds, leading lines, focal points etc. I will go further into some of these in the next few points.

The rule of thirds is a simple rule that helps you to compose your photographs better. If you were to draw lines across the thirds of an image both vertically and horizontally (as pictured) you would have a grid with four intersection points. When you are taking a photograph try to imagine this grid over the image and then use it to help compose your photo.

Think of what is the most important part of your photograph (the focal point/s) and then place it either on one the intersection points of the grid or along one of the lines of the grid. So, for example, if you are taking a portrait of someone the focus will usually be their eyes. If only one eye is visible then compose the photo so that the eye is on one of the top intersection points, if both eyes are visible then place both eyes so that they lay on one of the horizontal lines (usually the top line). If you are taking a landscape photograph then you might place the horizon on one of the horizontal lines.

How you use the rule of thirds will vary from photo to photo, but as long as an important part of your image lies somewhere on the imaginary grid then you should be using it correctly.

Image used under Creative Commons from unleashingmephotography.

Try taking your photographs from a more unusual angle to potentially make the image look more interesting and eye catching. This could mean anything from: taking your photograph from a low angle; turning your camera at an angle; climbing up a tree to take your photograph.

You're not going to know if changing the angle will improve your photograph until you try, so it's always a good idea to spend a little time trying out some different angles to take your photograph from to see what you think works best.

Image used under Creative Commons from Neil Armstrong2.

Whenever a person sees lines or curves in an image they will (usually) instinctively follow them. This can be used greatly to a photographer's advantage. When framing your photograph look for interesting lines or curves to try and incorporate into your image. This could include rows of vines in a vineyard, a curve where a lake meets land, or the lines created by a fence for example.

If you can lead the viewer's eyes through your photograph using leading lines/curves then you are using them effectively, but it is also an idea to use leading lines/curves to lead up to your focal point. This should enforce the focal point as the focus of the photo for its viewers.

Image used under Creative Commons from josemanuelerre.

Aperture is controlled by the photographer by specifying an f-number which in turn effects how much light is exposed to the camera's sensor by moving the lens's aperture blades. Don't worry, you don't need to understand the mechanics, you just need to know what it affects.

On your camera switch to Aperture Priority mode. This will usually be represented by either an 'A' or 'Av' on the camera's dial. (If you are using a compact camera you may or may not have Aperture Priority mode so if you cannot find it you would be best off looking at the camera's manual.) On this mode you will be able to control the f-number. This will be shown as f/(number), for example f/11 or f/3.4. Changing the value will affect the depth of field. Depth of field changes the focus of a photograph.

If you set the f-number to a high number (such as f/22) then you are creating a small aperture value which makes most/all of the image in focus. This is great for landscapes or seascapes where you will usually want the whole image to be in focus. On the other hand, if you set the f-number to a low number (i.e. f/3.4) then you are creating a high aperture value which would result in the background being blurred. This is great for portraits or macro photography where a blurred background can help bring focus to the subject, blur out distracting surroundings and add visual interest to the image. A fairly high aperture value will have been used in the image of the sheep, which resulted in a blurred background.

The focus on an image is known as the depth of field. If the image is shot with a low f-number then the image will have a 'shallow depth of field', whereas if the photograph is taken with a high f-number then the image will have a 'deep depth of field'.

When the aperture value is decreased (higher f-number), the shutter speed (I will speak more about this in the next step) will also need to be increased otherwise you will end up with overexposed (too bright) photography. If you are shooting in Aperture Priority mode however, your camera will automatically change the shutter speed to keep the photo correctly exposed (not too bright or too dark).

Image used under Creative Commons from Hamed Saber.

Shutter speed is how long the lens shutter stays open for after you have pressed the button (called the shutter release) to take a photograph. This is determined by the photographer in seconds, for example 1/200th of a second or 30 seconds.

Switch to Shutter Priority mode on your camera which will most likely be shown as 'Tv' or 'S' on the camera's dial (again, if you are using a compact camera you might need to check the manual to see if you can use Shutter Priority mode). Here you will be able to change the shutter speed.

If you set the shutter speed to a high amount such as 1/200th of a second, the lens shutter will shut 1/200th of a second after pressing the shutter release. This will result in a photograph that is in focus. You might want to use a fast shutter speed when photographing moving objects for example.

Using a slow shutter speed however, such as 30 seconds, will result in a more blurred (which can be used artistically) image. For example, if you use a slow shutter speed on a seascape, as long as you keep the camera still you will end up with almost cloudy looking water with a 'moving' sky. In order to keep the camera still for using a slow shutter speed, it is generally advised to use a tripod.

If you use Shutter Priority mode your camera will automatically change the aperture to create a well exposed image.

Image used under Creative Commons from Mariano Kamp.

ISO affects how sensitive the lens's image sensor is to light. ISO is determined by a number or phrase such as: 50, 100, 200, 400, 800, 1600, 3200, High 1, High 2. Your camera might not have all of these options or it might have more, but that doesn't really matter.

By increasing ISO you are making the image sensor more sensitive to light. This means that instead of increasing shutter speeds or lowering the aperture, you can increase ISO to make your image brighter. This is not without disadvantages however, as by increasing ISO you adding artefacts to the image which is called 'noise'. Noise is essentially coloured grain and so is usually undesirable in an image (unless it is an effect you want to add to the image), however in dark settings it is often necessary to use a high ISO. You can see an example of noise here. Always use the lowest ISO possible to avoid adding noise to your photos (100 is high enough for a well lit environment).

Image used under Creative Commons from Rik Goldman.

JPEG and RAW are two image files. JPEG compresses your images whereas RAW does not, so you have more control over RAW files. You will usually have the option when taking photographs of either shooting in JPEG or RAW.

Shooting in JPEG creates a compressed image file that has been automatically sharpened and edited by your camera. They are smaller in size to RAW images however they are lower in quality and you have less control over the look of the final image.

Shooting in RAW on the other hand saves the image as you took it without any automatic in-camera editing. The image files are slightly larger than JPEG files, however shooting in RAW gives you full control over the final look of the image and also give higher quality images.

It is always advised to shoot in RAW so that you can control the look of the images. In order to edit your images you will need to use an image editor that supports RAW editing.

Using your camera's built-in flash directly at the subject is usually not recommended. It will often make your image poorly exposed or washed out.

If there are surrounding surfaces (such as a wall) to your subject then you can bounce the light off of these surfaces and onto your subject. Hold either glossy paper or a mirror in front of your flash and position it to bounce the light off the surrounding surface and onto the subject.

If there are no surrounding walls or similar surfaces then another tip is to put some plain white cartridge paper in front of the flash. This will create a softer, more flattering lighting than if you used direct flash.

Another option is to buy an external flash for your camera. This will allow you to freely move the flash around which can mean you can use the flash from different angles and also bounce the light of surrounding surfaces much easier than with your camera's built in flash.

Image used under Creative Commons from seanmcgrath.

High Dynamic Range (HDR) is a post processing method of merging a selection of images with the same composition but different exposures into one image with a wide range of tonal detail. To do this when taking your photograph look for something on your camera called 'auto-exposure mode', 'auto-bracketing mode' or something similar to this. On this choose to take images at -2 exposure, 0 exposure and +2 exposure (to work out how to do this either play around with it until you get it or consult the camera's manual). You will then take three separate images at different exposures.

When you have your three images it's time to take them into your software program to turn them into HDR images. It is possible to create HDR images in Adobe Lightroom 3, Adobe Photoshop Elements 9 and Aperture 3, however for the greatest HDR merger there is a software program called Photomatix Pro. Photomatix Pro was created especially for HDR and gives you lots of control over how your HDR image looks.

Image used under Creative Commons from Lost In The RP.

Now my best advice for you would be to go out and practice what you've learned, further study different aspects of photography and most importantly, have fun.