Photographs Matter!

We can all tell well composed photographs from snaps taken on the hoof without much care and attention. A good photograph can truly tell a story and convey far more than just the subject matter.

Taking great photographs is a skill, an artform, a combination of years of practice, understanding and learning, combined with an artistic eye for composition.

Choosing interesting subjects, and capturing them isn’t easy. If it was, we would all take great photos every time.

How To Take Good Photographs Every Time

Once you have decided on your subject, you need first to choose the most important element of your image. Is your subject moving? Are you taking scenery? Still life? people? Depending on your subject, and whether it is still, moving, close or distant, indoors, outdoors, bright, dim, etc. you need to first settle on your primary camera setting.

For moving images, you need to set your shutter speed to freeze your subject or to allow a little blur if that is the effect you are looking for. Initial starting point for a crisp action shot is 1/250th of a second or faster.

Once you have a shutter speed, you need to balance the light level with your aperture setting. Conversely, if you are looking to take a depth of field image, you would open up your aperture first and balance the white balance with shutter speed.

For many images, you will then use your ISO settings to even out your light histogram (these are in different places for different cameras, but ideally, an even graph will result in a balanced image).

The higher your ISO number, the more sensitive your camera sensor is to light, so the lighter the image will be.