The advantage of manual exposure is that the settings do not keep changing as your scene changes. Let's suppose that you are taking close up photos of cars passing by. Some of the cars will be black or dark colors and some will be light colors or white. If you are filling the frame with almost nothing but car, the meter will be trying to render each car as mid grey. Although it will probably not...

In the shutter speeds and apertures are interchangeable as far as exposure is concerned, they each have their own unique effect on the picture. Let's take a look at shutter speeds first as their effect is easily understood.

ISO stands for 'International Organization for Standardization' and their film speed ratings are used to indicate the relative amount of light necessary to give a proper exposure. A normal film will be rated at ISO 100. A film rated at ISO 200 will give a proper exposure with only half the amount of light compared to the ISO 100 film, enabling you to shoot in lower light or with a smaller aperture...

Looking through past family photographs, I've realised that I often place the main subject smack dead in the middle of the photo. However, I've since learned that this is usually the failings of amature photography and that images are much more interesting if taken from a different perspective.

Most often people do their own pet photography. However, local pet stores also provide opportunities for you to get your pet clicked with Santa or for a more romantic effect, in front of a fireplace. A professional photography studio is also a place where you can get your pet photographed by professionals. This is also helpful if you need to get them to stay still long enough to be...

If your new to DSLR photography the first things you'll need to know when buying a new lens will be concerning the numbers and letters printed on the lens. You will need to know what they mean to ensure you buy the lens that suits your specific needs.

If you are able to choose the time of day to shoot your pictures, try to pick a time when the sun is low in the sky, either shoot in the early morning or late afternoon. Shooting pictures of people with the sun too high in the sky, tends to mean the subject's eyes will be in shadow and/or they will be squinting in the strong light, both of which tend to look horrible. A nice side effect of...

If you recall an earlier post on night photography, we talked about the importance of setting your camera's shutter speed to full seconds. This enables enough light in so your photograph doesn't end up too dark or black. Some camera's however, only allow you to set a shutter speed of up to 30 seconds maximum. Note, this means the camera will take a full 30 seconds to shoot the photograph. But what...

When you buy a digital SLR camera lens you will notice it has an f number on the box. For example, Canon EF 75-300mm f/4-5.6. It is the f number (f/4-5.6) that determines whether the lens is considered fast or slow. The f number is also know as its aperture value.

If you are just starting out in photography, you may feel a bit overwhelmed with the amount of information and advice that is available. The important thing to keep in mind is that photography is an art, so everyone you talk to will have a different method or approach.

In our modern world of automatic cameras, which focus for us and adjust the exposure in an ever more perfect way (most of the time), the biggest difference between a good photograph and a mediocre one is the compositon. In every photograph we take, we can decide where the boundaries of that photo will be, called the crop.. If we are taking pictures of people or movable objects then, often, we also...

One of the easiest ways to improve your photography is with careful attention to framing. Look into the corners of the viewfinder to see what is there. Do you need all that background? Can you get closer to your subject or zoom in? Would the picture look better as an upright or landscape?

Likewise, slow your exposure speed to 1/10 of a second or thereabouts. Be sure to hold your digital camera steady, or use a tripod, to avoid camera shake. That waterfall will now look like a stream of water flowing down. Try adjusting your digital camera's exposure time when recording pool balls, automobiles, or other fast-moving subjects for interesting effects.

With digital cameras turning everyone into "pro" photographers these days, you may want to learn how you can get started taking your own photos and getting your pictures printed and even framed.If you are keen to learn the basics of photography, you can do so online. There are learning articles and resources for beginners that make photography easy for anyone to learn.

Selecting your viewpoint, the position from which you photograph the subject, is a very important part of composition and one that some people pay very little attention to. When taking a photo of a group of friends, how often do you move around the group looking for the best angle?