Photography Tips for Beginners

Taking good pictures is a great skill to learn, whether you are interested in taking pictures for your own family use, or whether you would like to enter the professional world of photography. Becoming familiar with some basic photography tips and concepts will help get you well on your way.

Composition

The most important element of a picture is its composition. If your picture has good composition you can learn to work with the lighting to further enhance it, but without solid composition you won't have a good picture. The term composition refers to the proportion of the elements in your photograph. Are you trying to capture one person or thing pitted by a backdrop? Or are you trying to capture a panoramic scene?

One of the most common mistakes that beginning photographers make is not focusing on the subject of their pictures. Pay attention to where you want the focal point of your picture to be, and be creative with how you angle your lens and how much you zoom in or out to let other elements in the scene frame your subject. Heeding composition first and foremost is the best photography tip for beginners.

Lighting

The second more important element of your picture will be its lighting. We've all seen pictures with over exposed flashes that give its subjects a deer-in-the-headlights feel. Avoid leaving your camera on an automatic flash setting. The general rule of thumb is that you generally want your source of light to come from behind you, not your subject, if you're using natural light to light your picture.

If you're taking a photograph outside, face away from the sun. If you're taking a photograph indoors, position added light installations behind or above you. Only use your flash when there is not enough natural light to properly illuminate the subject of your picture. A good photography tip regarding the use of your flash is that if any unwanted shadows are cast on your subject you'll need a flash.

Subject

The first two elements mentioned are important to think about to make a statement about the subject of your picture. The subject of your picture can be anything you want. People always make good subjects, and learning how to photograph people well can lend to great work as a photographer. To make your subjects interesting, and to create more artistic pictures, a good photography tip is to not group your subjects by thinking of then in terms of things. That means sometimes the best pictures are of little pieces of things, a corner of a flower petal positioned in a way that makes it seem like something completely separate from the flower as a whole.

The best photography tip for beginners is just to take pictures of things you like and try as many different approaches to your pictures as you can. Experiment with composition, lighting and subject matter to truly start seeing the world through the lens of your camera.