leading on from mrt post about the  Telegraph doing a mini seris on photography advice I thought we could make our own by posting tips that we have seen or used etc.


would be good if tips are kept on tek rather than just a link




(none of photos below are mine, most are clicky to original location)

Rule of thirds

As our eyes like space to move placing an object away from the middle can greatly improve a photo, if you can imagine a tic-tac-toe grid over the image and place on one of the lines, this is the Rule of thirds (Rot)
Centered Vs Rule of thirds
 

Same applies to the horizon, if its  a 50-50 line across the frame it can make photos look bland fill placing the division 1/3 or 2/3 gives a more natural look

Go lo, or High for a new view

We all see the world from with in about one and a half foot of each other due to eye level, so we tend to think of it as mundane,  puting the camera low or high changes a view you are used to into a new scene
Standad Vs Low Level



Leading lines

I leading line can take you into the frame, make you look at a object,



in the above notice that your eye is drawn up the frame, or along the wires to the top of the pylon (note the top is a rule of thirds point)


not only drawing water, it draws the eye


Too much in or, no Focal object

Photos should try to have a single object to look at making one thing the main attention of a photo can help it look far better

looking at the train or the people?

almost no question here though




Danger in Red
Due to the way our eyes see red, red can be a very strong element of a photo. Our eyes have to re-focus to see a red object, this is subliminal.
When a strong red object is in a photo it will draw the eye, this can be used to emphasize a point, like in schindlers list, but if it can be a distraction

do your eye drift to the side?


Combination of Red and a leading line.


Notice in the third picture the gravity the red fence and girls pants have compared to the tree or the man in front of the blue door





Leaky Pictures


check you horizon is level, even one or two degrees out can make water look like its about to poor out the side of your screen

Nice and Level at loch lomand


DSE Falls






please add any tips you can think of too

 
 

It would be nice to see a guide as to how to actually use a camera properly, for things like the apeture sizes, f-stops and iso/asa numbers.
Ive got a couple of SLRs (A Fujica STX-1 and a Canon Eos Rebel) I wouldnt mind knowing how to use.

What is ASA DIN and ISO?
in Photography ASA, Din, GOST and ISO are all names for standards defining the sensitivity of a film, for a digital sensor only ISO is usualy used  .

Sensitivity of a film?
Sensitivity is how much light the film or sensor can recored in a given time.
less-------------------------------------------------------->More
25, 50, ,100, 200, 400, 800, 1600, 3200, 6400, 128000, etc

as with a lot of photography its its doubles and halves for example

assuming same shutter and aperture for all ,  a 1 second exposures at ISO 100 is equal to the following…

ISO 25 =  4 sec
ISO 50 = 2 sec
ISO 200 = 1/500th
ISO 400 = 1/250th
ISO 800 = 1/125th
ISO 1600 = 1/60th

ISO Vs Shutter speed Vs Aperture

ISO, Shutter speed & Aperture are all related to each other in deciding the exposure

all the shots below have the same exposure value.

ISO same, Aperture & Shutter speed change

100@f/1.4@1/125
100@f/2@1/60
100@f/11@1/2

Aperture same ISO & Shutter speed change
100@f/1.4@1/125
400@f/1.4@1/500
1600@f/1.4@1/2000

Shutter speed Same ISO & Aperture change
100@f/1.4@1/125
200@f/@2/125
800@f/4@1/125


every time you double one of the three (ISO,  Shutter speed or Aperture)  half one of the remaining
every time you halve one of the three (ISO,  Shutter speed or Aperture)  double one of the remaining




[edited for correction as pointed out by jamieL ]

its a good point but there doesnt seem to be an easy way to express an f-stop

just for compleateness
Full stops
half stops

1   1.2   1.4   1.7   2      2.4   2.8   3.3   4      4.8   5.6   6.7   8      9.5   11   13   16   19   22   32   45   64   90   128

Great work guys, enjoying reading and making sense to me keep em coming

With a digital camera dont just take one picture of things, look around, change your position, think of where you want to take the picture from. This can help eliminate stuff like telegraph poles and waste areas but also might lead to better composition.

Take lots of photographs, they cost nothing with a digital camera and even if you ditch most of them it adds to your experience.

The rule of thirds works, but not always, usually good with buildings and built up areas. You can also use it sideways, third sky, third foreground, third background, this breaks the area up into nine squares, like an oxo grid. Some cameras have the option of putting a grid on their screen to show this during live view. Some SLRs have a replacement screen for it, worth asking about. It works much better on larger images than little ones. When you are taking a portrait use think of using two thirds, right or left, for the subject.

Think before you take a photo of someone looking straight at the camera, often getting them to face very slightly off slightly to the side improves the shot.

Use fill in flash if your subject is backlit, or take multiple pictures and combine them so the lighting is right.

Dont use a flash setup thats too low, it should be above the lens. For that matter dont photograph someone from a low level unless you want to look up their nose.

Just because a woman looks pretty to you doesnt mean shes photogenic.

There are plenty of people about, men included who are suitable for being a model, dont leave them out.

Use a long telephoto lens for taking candid photographs of people, the further away from them, within reason, the better. I found this out with my mother who hated anyone taking her photograph, she wouldnt relax. The best photos of her were when she didnt know you were doing it.

ISO Vs Shutter speed Vs Aperture

ISO, Shutter speed & Aperture are all related to each other in deciding the exposure

all the shots below have the same exposure value.

ISO same, Aperture & Shutter speed change

100@f/1.4@1/125
100@f/2@1/250
100@f/11@1/15 [/color]

Aperture same ISO & Shutter speed change
100@f/1.4@1/125
400@f/1.4@1/500
1600@f/1.4@1/2000

Shutter speed Same ISO & Aperture change
100@f/1.4@1/125
200@f/@1/125
800@f/.4@1/125


every time you double one of the three (ISO,  Shutter speed or Aperture)  half one of the remaining
every time you halve one of the three (ISO,  Shutter speed or Aperture)  double one of the remaining

Am I right in thinking this is wrong? Surely using f/2.0 compared to 1.4 would need a longer exposure than a shorter?


A great read here Everything is short, straight to the point and informative! Im also tempted to make an animated GIF out of that example of the different aperatures..