by Amy Grennell

Created on: July 29, 2009

Having a digital camera doesn't make you a photographer but with a little knowledge you can improve your photos.

Find your instruction book for the camera and read it
I don't like reading directions but I think you should read the book or booklet your camera came with. There are probably a few features you didn't know you had. If you can't find your booklet go online to the manufacturer and see if you can get another sent to you or even download one

Exposure
A correct exposure is a combination of three important factors: aperture, shutter speed, and ISO. If you have an automatic setting on your camera it's generally good to use it unless there are special circumstances. If you have a camera that can be set on manual you will be able to see apertures or the lens openings of 4, 5, 6, 8, 11, 16 and 22 or maybe a few of them. This is the amount the lens opens and is called an f-stop. These control the amount of light reaching the media during a photo. The smaller the f- stop number the bigger the opening is.

Shutter Speed
The shutter speed on your camera is probably automatic. If it isn't and you need to or want to set it this is the area that controls the amount of time that the light is coming through the lens (determined by the aperture. If you are shooting in normal conditions outdoors it will be between 100 - 300 for the shutter speed I would venture to guess. If you are photographing sports the speed is of course higher because of the speed of what you are photographing.


ISO
Whether you shoot with film or use a digital camera, your choice of ISO has a direct impact on the combination of apertures and shutter speeds you can use. When there were film cameras only you wanted to use the lowest number of film you could get away with because the higher numbers would often lack the crystal clear quality.

Composition and Design
Obviously when you are taking a photo you have a subject. Often you might just need to mentally ask yourself what are you trying to capture? This is your subject or focal point. This also avoids cutting out things like heads that you mean to keep.

Simplicity: Keep compositions simple, try to avoid busy backgrounds that distract from a subject. If I am taking a photo of something moveable I can just move it a little bit to a nicer background.

There is a rule of thirds in photography which means you place the subject off center. Sometimes this is a good idea and sometimes you should ignore it. An example would be if you are taking a photo of something

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