Beginner Photo Tips and Techniques (By Nick Estrada)

This article will show you some easy beginner photo tips that will improve your photos in no time. Getting good at taking pictures is somewhat easy. Getting great is a lifetime journey. I will give you the tools necessary to get good and what you'll need to get great.

The Look of a Photo

When you take a photo you are probably most concerned with the way it looks. One of the most important aspects of the way a photo looks is the way it is composed. A photo that is composed nicely will look much nicer than a photo that isn't.

Composing 101:

Here are three simple techniques to compose better photos. I will give you no more right now because I want you to really master these three.

1. Keep it Simple. Avoid complex shots and try to make your photo as easy on peoples eyes as possible. Don't use bright colors for everything, pick the main subject and use bright colors only on that. Isolate the subject.

2. Divide Your photo up into three parts vertically and three parts horizontally. Now, you'll see that you have three sections on the top, middle, and bottom. The middle box is the center and this is what you want to avoid. Take your pictures with the subject in any of the boxes but the center box.

3. Use Lines Effectively. Sure you've probably heard to use leading lines, however, use them properly. Use them to lead to the subject of most importance. If it leads to a trash can you don't even care about the photo will become confusing and people's eyes will be directed at the trash can even if you want them to be directed at the monkey dancing with a hula skirt.

Ok, now you're going to want to use these three techniques in your photos as soon as possible. Not only that, you are going to want to get as many photos in your hands as possible. Look through magazines, books, galleries, etc and analyze them to death. Look for these three techniques and note how the photographer uses them.

Taking Great Photos

The key to taking great photos is only partly compositional. A lot more of it has to do with

-Technical Expertise

-Your Message

-Your Style

A great photo makes you think, it makes you stare, it makes you want to go out and take a picture just like that.

Nick Estrada recommends a Free Photo course that teaches beginners digital photography. He also recommends a free five day video e-course on how to Sell Your Pictures Online

Beginning Photography Tips - A Simple Technique for Better Photos (By Lonnie Kunkel)

Keeping your lens clean is one of the most important and one of the most overlooked steps for better photos. Although you don't want to do it too much, because you can damage the lens, there are things you can start doing to keep it clean.

Using a lens cover is one of the simplest things you can do. Covers protect the lens and can be removed easily when you're ready to start shooting. Most cameras have a string attached to the lens so you don't lose the cover.

You can use canned air, but be sure to keep the nozzle about 12-14 inches away from the lens and at an angle. Avoid pointing it straight at the lens. Ear syringes work just as well and something I recommend keeping in your camera bag.

Microfiber cloths can be used to wipe the lens, consult the manufacturer for recommendations, and remember to use a gentle circular motion when using a cloth. Never, under any circumstance, use any kind of solvent on your lenses.

Some useful tools you should keep handy in your camera bag at all times are a microfiber cloth, an ear syringe and lens cleaning fluid. Ask the manufacturer of your camera to recommend cleaning fluids.

A final tip for times when you are shooting in dusty or wet environments is to keep a B+W UV filter on the lens, which is a lot cheaper than buying a new lens.

Again you don't want to have to clean your lenses too often so taking steps to keep them clean is your best defense.

Lonnie Kunkel is a photographer and a graphic/web designer. You can discover more beginning photography tips at FisheyeZen.com

Basic Techniques for Digital Photography (By Weis Ow)

There are a few basic techniques for digital photography that you have to bear in mind. Getting your basic composition right is very important. You can start from shooting on the level. Once you accumulate experience, you can start learning to shoot angle shots, which will give impact to your photos. Although you are focusing on your subject when taking the shot, you have to keep an eye on the happenings both in front and back of the composition. Try to grab a nicer background by adjusting your camera angle around. Opt for a plain looking background rather than a messy one. If you can't avoid ugly backgrounds, try to zoom in to make the background less obvious while still keepiing your subject in frame.

Another basic techniques for digital photography is choosing the correct mode of shooting. Try not to set your camera to a full auto mode so that you can have control over your shots. You can defocus a bit of your background by going to the portrait mode on the camera. Alternatively, you can set your aperture to a reading of about f4 to f5.6. This setting will make your background out of focus too! But you have to be careful of what the focus is on!

Switch to landscape mode if you are taking scenery shots. This setting will focus on distant subjects and will give your landscape shot a sharper look. For action or sports shots, there should be a setting call the sports action mode, which gives more control to the photographer. If you set to high shutter, you may face the problem of low lighting in your picture. In this case, you should set your ISO to about 200 or 400.

Setting you Camera to full auto mode will leave you with no control over your camera shots. If you want to master the basic techniques for digital photography, you should start with the program auto setting instead. This setting enables you to override the auto settings if you want your pictures to look better, for example, more contrast, brighter, etc. Using the optical viewfinder is helpful because it block out the reflections from the sun and you can have a better idea on what your picture will turn out to be like. Composing your shots using the LCD is prone to shakiness. Using the optical viewfinder is the best way to take your shots.

Weis is a media developer, keen to explore things from all walks of life, thus penning them down into articles. She like to do research on a lot of different topics and currently, she's exploring on how to get make money doing simple photography! For more information on the researches, visit http://www.earncameradollars.com