Photography Tips and Techniques

Framing your shot
Handy tricks for great results

01. Avoid messy backgrounds
Nothing will ruin a shot more than a cluttered and messy background. Even professional photographers have at one time taken a picture with lampposts or branches appearing to grow out of people's heads. It looks awful. Have a good look around the viewfinder before you take a picture - if you spot a distracting branch, shiny car or bright reflection, move your camera to hide it.

02. Tidy up portraits
Pictures of people are a situation where you'll need a totally clean and unfussy background. All the attention should be on the person's face and their expression. Shooting with a small aperture setting on your camera, such as f/18 or f/22, will keep both the person and the background in focus and give messy results. Try switching to a wide aperture, such as f/4 or f/5.6. This will help blur the background and make the person 'leap' out of the photo. Zoom in with a longer lens to increase the effect.

03. Watch the horizon
A very common mistake most of us make is to leave a cracking landscape shot with a wonky horizon that's sloping to one side. It can look like a mistake and the image ends up with an awkward feel. Make sure you hold the camera straight - a tripod with a built-in bubble level can help.

04. Don't chop at the knees!
It's important not to take pictures of animals and people where they look like they're cut off at the knees or ankle by the edge of the shot. Give them a little bit more room to create more natural photos. However, sometimes a 'wrong' crop can create lots of impact.

05. Change your viewpoint
The simplest way to tidy up your pictures is to move and change your camera angle. It can really help with cleaning up backgrounds and getting rid of unwanted distractions. All it takes is a tiny movement up, down, left or right, to get rid of clutter and tighten up your shots. Have you ever wished you could hide some pylons in a landscape? Why not get a little higher and shoot less of the horizon. Are you disappointed about an ugly horizon cutting your pictures of people in half? How about getting lower and using the sky as a backdrop.

06. Move the subject off-centre
Putting your subject in the middle of the picture can create lots of impact, but there are tricks to make your pictures look more artistic. The 'rule of thirds' is the photographer's best weapon. Imagine a noughts and crosses grid placed across the shot - put your main subject where the lines cross for more balanced pics. Many compact cameras allow you to display this grid across the image on the back of the camera.

07. Boost your action shots
If you're shooting action pictures, always try to leave a little extra room in front of the subject. Leaving space where the action's heading fools the brain into playing out the rest of the movement, making more dynamic photos. If you leave the subject in the middle, or with more space behind them, the effect isn't as strong.

08. Look for odd numbers
The phrase 'three is the magic number' is particularly true when it comes to photography. If you want to compose your pictures perfectly, try reducing the amount of subjects to three. Three people, three buildings or even three colours - the list goes on. Framing for odd numbers means that you can have one central figure, which can be perfectly balanced on each side.

09. Get low
Everyone takes pictures from head height. Make your photos stand out from the crowd by crouching down and shooting low. Bending, kneeling or even lying on the ground can add a new dimension to everyday images. If you're photographing animals, get down to their eye-level to add extra impact to your shots.

10. Have fun
Find a subject you love and have some fun. Use the full range of your zoom and move around your subject to take every possible angle. Not only will you learn a lot about composition, you could end up with the best picture you've ever taken!

Get more from your camera
Know how to change settings and improve your pictures

01. Set up your camera for best quality
Choosing the right file format, ISO and white balance settings will help to ensure top quality results. With ISO sensitivity it's best to stick with a low setting such as 100 or 200 where possible, because higher values introduce 'noise', which leads to lower quality pictures. You can leave the white balance on Auto, but it's important to know how and when to change it.

02. Understand exposure
Most cameras are programmed to produce 'mid-tone' pictures. So, shots with lots of grass, road and other 'middle' tones - not too bright not too dark - are perfectly exposed. However, cameras want to make all pictures this middle tone. So, pictures of very bright scenes (such as snowy landscapes) can end up being made too dark and scenes with lots of dark areas (such as black cat against dark trees) can look too grey. You may have to use the exposure compensation feature of your camera to either add more light (in the case of snow) or take it away (as in the cat shot).

03. Get to grips with the histogram
Don't trust the picture on the rear screen alone to judge how bright or dark your picture will be. The 'histogram' provides a much more accurate guide. You should aim for the shape to stop before it reaches the left or right edges of the graph - if it's 'clipped' on the left it means you'll have dark areas with no detail; if it's clipped on the right, you'll have overexposed highlights. It's always good practice to slightly underexpose an image to retain detail in the bright areas - 'blown' highlights can ruin an image.

04.Experiment with aperture and shutter speed
Aperture and shutter speed are the two most important settings on your camera. The combination you select controls not only the amount of light let into the lens to expose your photographs, but can also be used to change the way in which your subject is recorded. Aperture plays a big role in how much of a scene appears in sharp focus (higher numbers such as f/16 and f/22 increases this), while shutter speed makes the subject (or camera) movement appear frozen or blurred.

05. Get the important bits in focus
If you're photographing people or animals, make sure that you get the eyes sharp. A classic problem is where a camera has focused on the nose, rather than the eyes. To solve this, place the camera's focus point on your subject's eye, half-press the shutter button to lock the focus and, keeping it half-pressed, reframe the shot to give the best picture. Then fully press the button to take the shot.

06. Support your camera
When you're shooting with the lens zoomed right out towards a subject, you need to make sure you hold the camera very steady. Even better, support it on a wall, chair or tripod, so you don't accidentally wobble it. Otherwise, any slight shake of the camera will be magnified by the long lens and can lead to blurred pictures.

07. Choose the right drive mode
Your camera's 'drive' mode allows you to choose whether pictures are taken one at a time or continuously. In 'single frame' mode, the camera will only take one shot each time you press the shutter button. Use it for static subjects, such as portraits, landscapes and buildings. In 'continuous frame' mode the camera will keep taking pictures as long as the shutter button is held down. It's ideal for increasing your chances of capturing 'the moment' during action and sports.

08. Choose the right focus mode
The autofocus mode you choose depends on whether the subject is moving or stationary. In 'single' AF, your camera focuses once and stays locked as long as you keep the shutter button pressed halfway. If either you or your subject moves then you'll have to re-focus. In 'continuous' AF, your camera focuses when you press the shutter halfway, but continues to re-focus as long as you keep the shutter button pressed halfway. It's therefore ideal for tracking moving subjects.

09. Use the white balance presets
In most situations, the automatic white balance setting on your camera will give you excellent colours. There are times when it won't be so accurate though (especially during indoor shoots), introducing orange, blue or greenish colour casts where you don't want them. Camera makers know this - that's why they include the preset options. If you're shooting indoors, try switching the white balance setting the lightbulb symbol. Just remember to change it back to the sun (daylight) symbol when you head outdoors again. To make sunset pictures more orange, trick your camera by using the cloudy white balance setting.

10. Take test shots
The viewfinders of most digital SLRs don't show you the whole picture, so your actual image will include slightly more of the scene than you see during composition. So it's important to playback the shot on the rear screen before moving on, looking out for distracting objects lurking around the corners of the frame and behind your subject. It's also a good idea to check sharpness by zooming in and ensure that the exposure is correct using your histogram. If you're unhappy with anything, adjust your settings and take another test shot.

Be creative
Stuck for inspiration? Try these ideas out for size…

01. Mix up colours
Look for colour combinations that work. Mix up complementary colours to create harmonious pics or clashing colours to create a sense of tension. Experiment with your camera's white balance settings too. Sometimes the "wrong" setting can add mood to a scene.

02. Get creative with a computer
Use the power of digital photography and photo software and you'll be able to create virtually any image you can think of! Try changing the colours in a picture for funky effects, or stripping out the colour altogether and going black and white.

03. Think about style
Once you've chosen your subject, it's important to think about the way you are going to shoot it. There's more to a good photograph than simply finding an interesting subject - think about what you want to say about it. For example, would the picture work better in black and white? If you're taking a close-up of a pink cupcake, it's likely that the colour is the most important thing and a black and white photo wouldn't work. However, if you're shooting an old carpenter busy in his workshop, a black-and-white treatment could bring your shot to life.

04. Pick a subject you love
If you understand the subject you're photographing you'll find it easier to pick the right moment to take a picture. For instance, you're more likely to get a good shot of your pet rather than a wild animal, simply because you're more familiar with how it moves, where it likes to sit and how to attract its attention, so you can plan your perfect shot. If you're photographing a subject that you don't understand, spend some time watching it before taking a shot.

05. Look for details
Pick out interesting details of a big scene instead of trying to squeeze everything in. For instance, modern buildings that have been designed with sharp lines, cool curves and striking shapes using materials such as glass, metal and concrete are a photographer's dream, especially when it comes to abstract shots. Try zooming in to just show certain parts of a building, or get up close with a wide lens and twist your camera for a cool and dynamic effect.

06. Experiment with lenses
Try using different lenses or zoom settings in the 'wrong' way to give your photos an unusual twist. For instance, use the widest setting on the lens and get in close to people to create distorted portraits. Or try zooming out to the longest setting and shooting rows of buildings or trees so that they form a pattern.

07. Always carry your camera
If you've got a compact or camera phone with you at all times, you'll be able to capture any surprising or special moments. Even if you simply use it as a rough way to record a potentially good photograph, you can always go back and photograph the scene again when you've got a better camera or the light is better.

08. Practice, Practice, Practice
As with many things in life, practice makes perfect when it comes to photography. With action and sports photography for instance, where reactions must be quick, techniques such as moving the camera to follow the subject are essential, but difficult to get right. So get out there and shoot, shoot, shoot until you start getting results you're really proud of.

09. Break the rules
Some of the most exciting images happen when you throw away the rule book. Why not place a horizon right in the middle of the frame? It might not follow the 'rule of thirds', but there are some fantastic images that do just that. Ditch the tripod and try hand-holding your camera for a one-second exposure. The results might not be pin sharp, but they will have a wonderful sense of motion or artistic blur.

10. Be inspired by music
If you find yourself stuck for ideas, try looking at other art forms for inspiration - you might find that listening to your favourite music or reading a poem does the trick. Ask yourself how you would illustrate the music or poem using photography.