Photography Techniques

This ever-growing series of photography techniques and tips includes the following topics:

1. Beginning Photography Tips 10 bite-sized photography tips for beginners who have bought their first camera and are just setting out. Basic advice to help you get started.
2. How to Take Good Pictures General tips for people who understand the basics of the camera controls and are looking to improve their photos. There are 10 tips altogether, all bite sized. They go a bit beyond the basics - but not too much so!
3. Photographic Composition Photographic composition is probably the single most important aspect of photography. It is not difficult to learn, it just requires an awareness of certain principles, and lots of practise! Once the guidelines are part of your thinking, they will become second nature to you. Then you can trust to your instincts and strong composition will come naturally to you.
4. Black and White Photography Techniques Black and white photography tips including converting colour photographs in Photoshop, monochromatic colour, and desaturation.
5. Outdoor Photography Tips Outdoor photography tips for photographers who want to get the most out of their street photographs of people in urban settings
6. Photography Lighting Tips Tips for using diffuse light and direct light; dealing with low-level light; taking picturesw in the middle of the day when shadows are hard; taking pictures at dawn and dusk when shadows are long.
7. Photography Lighting Techniques Tips to make the best of natural lighting by becoming aware of the direction it is coming from: front lighting; top lighting; side lighting; back lighting.
8. Exploring Color Photography How to create harmony through the use of a single colour; how too many colours in a single picture can be confusing; contrast and complementary colors; primary colours in photography.
9. How to Photograph Buildings How to create a sense of scale when photographing buildings; the use of a polarizing filter to enhance the sky when photographing buildings; how to use lines, forms, patterns and rhythms found in buildings to make abstract photographs.
10. Aperture & Depth of Field The use of aperture to create shallow or large depth of field; what is bokeh?
11. Moon Photographs How to photograph the moon; problems of vignetting; ISO settings, shutter speeds and f-stops; telephoto lenses and tele converters
12. ISO Film Speed Explanation of ISO settings and how to use film speeds effectively; compares digital and film and explains about digital noise or film grain and how to deal with it in your photographs.
13. Photo Essay Ideas Are you looking for photo essay ideas or want to know how to create photo essays similar to those in magazines? Just follow these guidelines and you will be making your own photo essays in no time.
14. Maternity Portrait Photography The main problem with shooting maternity portrait photography out of doors is that it may be very difficult to find privacy but the reward is that you will be able to place your model in a natural setting and this always enhances the final image. Natural lighting can work very well in maternity photos as it enhances beautifully your model's glowing skin, something that would be difficult to do with studio lighting.
15. Digital Night Photography Tips Low light digital photography is so much easier than low light film photography because long exposures are needed which often require a lot of trial and error to get right. With digital of course, all your shots can be reviewed and the exposure adjusted accordingly...
16. Film & Digital IR Photography Infrared Photography (IR), whether digital or film, has the capacity to create images that have been described by many as dream-like or ethereal, serene, often bordering on the surreal and having a magical beauty of their own. IR photography can be equally successful with wedding or landscape photography, street photography or portraits...
17. B/W Night Photography To make successful shots at night it helps to think in black and white because the eye perceives things differently at night to during the day and you need to compensate for that.
18. Photographing Children If you are stuck for ideas on how to photograph children and want to get some natural, fun-filled shots, just go to the park! Since children move constantly, and speedily...
19. Macro Photography Tips These macro photography tips will help beginners to get some wonderfully original shots. Your humble point-and-shoot camera has some very sophisticated features including macro mode. Come with me and discover whole new realms of color and creativity.
20. Disadvantages of Digital Photography It is important to know what the disadvantages of digital photography are as in today's high-tech world the advantages are pushed at us through advertising and the media. This list is not designed to put you off but to make you aware before you buy so you can make an informed decision.
21. Landscape Photography Tips These landscape photography tips will inspire you to get out of the city, away from the crowds and back into nature.
22. Landscape Photography Tips Part 2 More great landscape photography tips. Once you've read through these tips and looked at the amazing photos, check out the great landscape photography of Ansel Adams and Fay Godwin.
23. Free Photo Montage Software The free photo montage software listed on this page is a selection I have put together to tempt you. Some of them are completely free, others offer trial downloads of 30 days or so - long enough to get started on your journey to becoming a photo montage artist.
24. Photo Montage Ideas A selection of photo montages and a video tutorial on object extraction to help turn you into a photo montage artist.
25. Rainbow Photographs I love rainbow photographs and thought I would share some of mine with you from my trip last year to the Shetland Isles (the northern most point of Great Britain) plus some great shots by photographers in other parts of the world.
26. Food Photography These food photography techniques and tips are for those just getting started with food photography. It's a great area to get started in as you have complete control over the set-up and you don't need any fancy lighting or specialist camera equipment to get going.
27. Underwater Photography Getting the right underwater digital photography camera settings will give you the power to conquer one of the most challenging of all forms of photography. If you bear a few things in mind you will find that you can take great shots without having to buy expensive equipment.
28. Weddings These wedding photography lighting tips demonstrate what you need to know and do to ensure the creation of wonderful, memorable images.