5 Photography Techniques Everyone Should Know

Think about it: What is a photograph? It's a record of light, nothing more or less. Many amateur photographers take light for granted. In fact, judging and adjusting the light is the key to taking good pictures.

Diffuse light is better for picture-taking than direct sunlight, which creates shadows and glare that can ruin a photo. Photographers love to shoot in the early morning or evening when the sun is low. A cloudy day is better than a sunny one. If you have to shoot at midday, move your subject into the shade.

A flash can help if you use it properly. The pop-up flash on your camera is most valuable as a fill flash. Use it to light your foreground subject when the background is already bright. It will eliminate shadows and give the subject the correct exposure. Be careful when using a flash in low light: It bleaches colors and washes out your subject. And keep in mind that the light from most built-in flashes reaches less than 15 feet (nearly 5 meters).

You can shoot indoors without a flash. Just move your subject near a window. A bright, north-facing room is ideal. Use a piece of white poster board to reflect light onto the subject and improve your picture.

The autofocus feature that comes with most cameras makes picture-taking easy. But it can ruin your photos as well as improve them. The problem is that the camera usually focuses on an area in the center of the scene you're framing. If your subject happens to be off to one side, oops.

Learn how your autofocus works. On many cameras, you can adjust the setting, moving the focus area off dead center. Then experiment with a focus lock. Point the camera at your main subject and depress the shutter release halfway. Hold it there. Move the camera until you have the composition you want. Push the button the rest of the way. Your subject will remain in focus and will be properly exposed. If you become adept at this photography technique, you will avoid those pictures in which the background is sharp but your main subject is fuzzy.

Focus lock also speeds up picture-taking. After you press the camera shutter to take a picture, there's a slight delay while the camera adjusts the focus. Holding the button halfway down leaves you ready to take the picture instantly, which can be important with action shots. Make sure that you determine how far away the subject will be when you take the picture and lock the focus on that distance.

A tripod is one of the most valuable pieces of equipment for amateur photographers and because it means carrying around an extra piece of equipment, one of the most neglected.

Start using a tripod and you're almost guaranteed to take better photos. There are many lightweight and inexpensive models to choose from, including tabletop varieties and ones that are little more than a clamp with a camera attachment.

One reason that tripods are useful is that digital cameras are generally quite light in weight. That's handy, but it also makes them harder to hold absolutely steady when you press the shutter. And while some digital cameras can compensate for a hand shake, a tripod lets you take the clearest pictures possible.

Tripods are great for shooting in low light. They let you take long exposure photography. This gives you crisper pictures and means you can increase your depth of field, the area that's in focus, by narrowing the camera's aperture. Taking pictures in low light without a flash can give you dramatic results.

A tripod also comes in handy when shooting with a telephoto lens or when your zoom lens is on its maximum telephoto setting. A telephoto lens magnifies the image, but it also exaggerates any camera movement.

Tripods are essential for capturing certain effects where a slow shutter speed is necessary. For instance, to capture light trails created by moving cars at night, you would set a longer exposure time on your camera while it’s fixed on a tripod. A tripod allows you to experiment with motion blur, which can be helpful in sports photography to blur moving objects and give a sense of speed.

Another big advantage of a tripod is that it forces you to slow down and look at the composition of your picture. You can set up the picture then adjust the lighting, change the focus or rearrange your subject. A tripod even enables you to get into the shot yourself. Simply set the self-timer and move in front of the camera.

The rule of thirds is a technique that was developed long before photography was invented and is still used today in other visual arts, like painting.

It's a basic skill for improving the composition of your pictures. And a thoughtful composition is the main difference between amateur snapshots and professional-quality photographs.

Imagine a grid of four lines, two horizontal and two vertical, that divides the picture plane into thirds. You end up with nine equal sections. Try to place your main subject at one of the four spots where the lines intersect. That means not in the middle and a bit higher or lower than the center.

When shooting a landscape, put the horizon at one of the horizontal lines. Use the upper one if you want to emphasize the foreground. Place the horizon at the lower line to make the background more prominent. Align buildings or other straight objects with one of the vertical lines.

You need to be aware of the rule of thirds, not obsess over it. Sometimes breaking the rule leads to stunning images, too. However, knowing the principle lets you analyze pictures and see how they could be improved.

Reading the user's manual or guide may not seem like much of a technique. Most of us would rather run out and shoot pictures rather than wade through 150 pages of instructions. But reading about and understanding the features of your camera can make you a far better photographer.

For one thing, it will familiarize you with all those buttons, dials and menus. Most cameras today have a host of useful functions. You'll probably never use all of them, but many can be valuable for improving your picture-taking:

Remember that just reading the manual and understanding camera settings is not enough to develop your photography skills. You need to experiment with each of the features and see how they affect the pictures you take. But don't try to master the whole thing at once; read up on one feature and use it before moving on.

We updated this article in conjunction with AI technology, then made sure it was fact-checked and edited by a HowStuffWorks editor.