While you can’t obviously learn everything in one photo article, this article gives you five basic tips to start using right away. Whether you have a point-and-shoot camera and rely on preset modes or you are now the proud, albeit confused, owner of a professional SLR camera, there are certain basics that once understood will send you on your way towards taking extraordinary pictures. Here are five important and easy to use tips that you can start using right away.

1) Resolve to Have Enough Resolution

Although a low resolution setting saves space on your memory card, it doesn’t make suitable prints. You can easily resize for a smaller picture, even in free programs like Picasa (“resize” is hidden there under “export”), but making a picture larger usually brings awful results. When you enlarge the picture, the pixels that make up the image are spread thinner.

If you like printing your images, choose medium or high resolution. Depending on your camera, 3 megapixels should give you high quality 4×6 images and sometimes even a very nice 8×10. For superb 11×14s, go for 6 megapixels.

2) Let There be Light (but Make it the Right Kind)

Natural lighting is almost always best so don’t worry if you don’t have a flash or any fancy equipment. If your only flash is the built-in one, that’s all the more reason to opt for natural light. Built in flashes can make a subject look flat. That is why professional photographers use an external flash and bounce light off photo umbrellas. There are inexpensive tricks you can do like wearing a white shirt or taping foil to the camera to bounce the light off the ceiling, but if you want an easy way to get professional quality photos without extra equipment it’s best to go outdoors.

When taking pictures outdoors, consider the position of the sun. With the exception of sunrise and dawn, the lower the sun is in the sky the better. You should also try to avoid noon as this time brings the harshest shadows. Unless the sky is an important part of your picture, bright overcast produces the best light.

3) Compose a Perfect Picture

Getting a great snapshot without any thought mostly depends on luck. But by first learning how to compose a photo, you will end up with more pictures that look good and are suitable for framing. The photos you take will look more like what you pictured when you clicked the shutter release.

There’s enough to the Photography 101 subject of composition to fill several articles, but for starters, here’s the number one rule. Fill the frame of the viewfinder. First, decide on what is the most important subject in your photo and then move close enough (or zoom-optical zoom is best) to fill the viewfinder with the subject. For example, if the subject is your grandmother watering her petunias then that’s the subject not her entire yard. Many make the mistake of losing their subjects in the landscape.

4) Steady Now

It doesn’t take much camera movement to create a blur, in fact most times, you’ll never even notice the movement until you see the blurry picture. For sharp photographs, keep your elbows down, feet apart and hold the camera steady while pressing (not punching) the shutter release. Continue holding still until the camera’s light has indicated it is done taking the photo. When you are taking a photo that needs a slower than usual shutter speed, like a fireworks display, use a tripod to steady the camera. You can even use a bunched up coat on a wall with a remote shutter release. A good rule of thumb: use a camera support for shutter speeds slower than 1/60.

5) Share Your Creations

If your photos are digital, use a photo editor to bring copies (save originals) of your photos down to the appropriate size for your website, email, photo album or picture frame. You should use photo paper that is compatible with your printer model for best results. If you are using a film camera now but want to email pictures or post them on a website, use a quality scanner or have a CD made when the film is developed. 

Save your best photos for displaying in a well made wooden picture frame. A photograph framed in a classic silver picture frame also makes a very welcome gift, especially when the subject is a portrait. Remember a portrait can be of a single person, family, multiple friends or a beloved pet…the portrait can be of anyone and can make a lovely framed gift.

By using these 5 tips you’ll help to expand your photography knowledge so you can continue to take even better looking photographs.