Camera Features & Maintenance

1. Using your breath to blow off the lens can corrode its thin coating. Instead, use an air syringe, brush or lens cloth.

2. Use a lens shade or cupped hand in situations where light rays enter the lens too directly. This will help prevent "flare," intense light that shines off the aperture blades and causes unusual shapes or light bursts in your prints.

Composition

1. Envision your image area divided into thirds. A visually balanced composition is, for example, one with the scene's horizon line placed a third down from the top of the frame. If you want the sky to predominate, position the horizon line a third from the bottom. It is also interesting to place the main subject other than dead center. Try a third from the right or left of the frame.

2. The proportions of a negative are slightly longer than those of a photographic print. To compensate, provide extra margin space when framing the subject. You will have greater cropping ease when you make enlargements.

Exposures

1. Remember the "Sunny 16" rule. In bright sunlight, set your aperture to f-16 and your shutter speed directly to, or as close to, the film speed you have chosen. Example: If your camera is set at ISO 100, choose f-16 and a shutter speed of 1/100. If your camera is set at ISO 400, choose f-16 and a shutter speed of 1/500.

2. Shoot the same scene a second and third time using slightly different exposure settings than what the meter prescribes. This is called "bracketing." It allows you to choose the exposure that works best. For example, a darker exposure will create a more somber mood than a lighter exposure.

Informal Portraits

1. Keep the background simple. It is the main subject you want to emphasize.

2. A bright or boldly patterned shirt may take away from the most important feature, the face.

3. Use a flash to supplement daylight portraits. It will help you achieve a flawless look by minimizing wrinkles and harsh shadows.

4. When photographing a person, it is to your advantage as well as their's to turn them at a slight angle. They will look slimmer and you will have a shot with more interesting angles and modeling of light. You will thus avoid the "cookie cutter" shot.

5. Include props when shooting people: a parasol, guitar, tennis racket or favorite hat to name a few. Years from now you will appreciate their reference.

6. Take your time setting up group shots. Avoid having people put their arms around each other. Hands peeking over shoulders or around waists tend to look quite disturbing or dislocated.

7. An easy and dramatic portrait is one taken with the subject side lit from direct window light. The deep shadow on only one side of the face certainly creates a mood.

8. Avoid "mergers," distracting objects that appear in the background: tree limbs appearing to grow out of the subject's head, a horizon line appearing to shoot through ears, a foot or elbow jutting in from the frame edge. Do not take the background for granted. Always remember to study it very carefully. Reposition the subject or change your angle of view.

9. Chances are you will get a silhouette if the background is considerably brighter than the subject. To prevent this, walk up closely to the subject's face and take a light reading of it. Step back into position, refocus, reframe, and snap the shot.

Action Shots

1. To ensure action frozen in time, use your camera in manual mode and select a shutter speed of 250 or faster. Choosing a fast film speed such as 400 is most appropriate and allows for smaller apertures to be chosen, thus increasing the depth of field.

2. For images that provide a sense of motion, use your camera in manual mode and choose a shutter speed of 30, 60, or 125. The desired blur will be more subtle or intense depending on how fast the subject is moving. You may want to take several shots and choose one with just the right effect.

Animals & Still Life

1. It is a common mistake that people take pictures of their pets by shooting down at them. A more appealing and naturalistic shot is taken by getting down to their eye level. This may involve you crouching or laying down. An alternative is to prop the animal up on something like a box, stool, tree stump, or window sill. To make the animal look alert, whistle sharply as you snap the shot.

2. Incorporate the less obvious (shadows). Cast shadows add great interest by filling in areas with interesting shapes. They give us more information about the figure or object casting them.