Category — Basics of Photography

Fixing Common Photo Problems
Regardless of experience or skill level, there are always a few common problems that plague photographers. Here are some ways to help correct these problems.
Preventing Dark (underexposed) Photos
What Causes a Dark Photo?
Photography is the art of recording light. Whether you shoot digital or film, you are recording light. The tricky part comes in [...]

How the Color Wheel Can Help You Improve Your Photography
An often overlooked part of photography is choosing your color palette. Just like a painter, a photographer should be aware of the colors in a composition. Unlike a painter, a photographer does not have complete control over the colors of our palettes. When we shoot in [...]

Fill Flash
What is Fill Flash?
What is Fill Flash?
Fill flash generally means that a photographer has used a flash to “fill in” shadowy areas of a composition. When used along with good techniques for preventing dark images, fill flash is a very effective tool for improving your images. To be truly effective, fill flash should be used with [...]

Using Reflectors in Photography
Reflectors in photography are simply any item used to reflect light towards your subject. Reflectors can be used with a flash or in lieu of a flash. If you do not have the option of using an off camera flash, or a flash with swivel head, reflectors are an excellent way to achieve [...]

Understanding Photography Exposure
Photography is the art of recording light. In order to record light you need to know how to tell your camera how much light to record. Understanding photography exposure allows you to give correct instructions to your camera. After all, your camera is just a tool, you are the artist.
There are several items that [...]

Photography Lighting
Photography is all about light. Our photographs are recorded light. How we control the available light and add additional light when needed is basis for all photography. There are numerous controls and methods for controlling light available to today’s photographer.
Understanding Your Camera’s Light Meter
Your camera’s light meter is your link to understanding how your camera [...]

Subject Must Look At Camera
Somewhere in time it became a common admonition to make subjects look at the camera for portraits. However, this “rule” can cause a lot of grief and ruin photographs. Having a person looking at the camera and smiling can make a nice image. But if the subject continually wrinkles their forehead, [...]

What Are Horizontal and Vertical Photogaphs?

Horizontal photographs are photographs that are wider than they are tall. Vertical photographs are photographs that are taller than they are wide. Cameras are designed to take one type of photograph, horizontal. This follows the way that human beings see the world. Our eyes are set horizontally across from each [...]

Centering Your Photographic Subjects

Centering your subject is taboo in some photographer circles. It is seen by many as an amateur mistake. However, while you should never just automatically center you subject without thinking, there are times and situations where centering your subject makes perfect sense.

Depth of Field
Depth of Field is the amount of your image before and beyond your focus point that will be in focus. Depth of field tells you whether or not your subject and background can be sharply focused at the same time.
Depth of field is determined by several factors:

Aperture/F-Stop
Lens
Subject Distance

While the camera can actually only focus [...]