Taking a Better Photo
Contributed by
Michele Lago

You don't have to be professional with an expensive camera to get a great photo. It does take a little planning and some practice but you can take great photos by following a few simple guidelines:

Film
If all your pictures will be taken outside on a bright sunny day 100 speed is your best choice. Use 400 only in low light. When in doubt, choose 200 speed.

Lighting
Whenever possible, shoot outside on an overcast day. Bright sunny days will create distracting shadows and make your subjects squint. When shooting indoors, use as much natural light as possible. Take your pictures in a bright room near a window with indirect lighting.

Flash
Check the range of your flash in the owner's manual. Shooting too close with a flash will overexposure your film and your photo will be washed out. Too far away and the picture will be too dark even with the flash.

Distance
Generally, you want to be as close as possible to your subject.

Composition
There are endless possibilities for taking an interesting photo. Until you are ready to experiment, you can get good results by choosing a single strong subject for your picture. Your subject can be one person or a group of flowers but make sure you have something that stands out in the picture.

For more interest, try placing your subject off center or shooting with something in the foreground.

This composition would be improved by moving the boys closer together.

This photo has a pretty background and nice composition but getting closer to the subject improves the photo as shown below.

Michele is a freelance photographer who specializes in children and the music industry. Her work can be seen throughout this site and on several current music CDs.