How to Take Good Photographs

It's the holiday season, and many people will soon begin (if they haven't already begun) taking a large number of photographs depicting the season's spirits in their lives. Do you want this year's pictures to turn out better than last year's?

Through my own experiences of trial and error, I have discovered integral tips in taking better quality photographs. To help you with your photography endeavors, I offer the following advice:

1.) Keep the sun (or main light source) behind you. Of course, this can be tricky if your photograph subject is a person who is then looking directly into the sun light. You can skew the angle a bit, or even have them close their eyes until your count of three, when you will snap the picture right as their eyes open up.

2.) The more lights, the better. The simplest set-up for good shots in professional shoots includes three lights. The key light, the fill light, and the back light. The key light come as close to straight on as possible, while still managing to avoid sharp shadows on your subject. The fill light comes in at an opposing angle from the key light to further diminish whatever shadows appear. As its name implies, the back light is located behind the subject, to separate him/her/it from the background and give the photo a sense of the third dimension.

3.) Get close! The worst thing is to have a perfect set up, but lose the shot because you stayed too far away. There is no need for extra space in the corners of your photographs. Get as close as possible to fill the frame with the subject.

4.) Get on the same level as your subject. If you are taking a picture of a flower, lay down in the grass to see it straight-on. Likewise with children or anything that is a different height than you -- get down to the subject's level to get a clear perspective.

5.) Use manual focus. Some cameras don't allow this function, and in that case, make do with the automatic, or get a camera that has a manual focus feature. When you get into manual focus mode, zoom in as far as the camera allows on something with specific detail (such as an eye). Once you are focused on that, the focus will remain as you zoom back out.

6.) Avoid the zoom! Except when manually focusing. Pictures are much clearer and less pixilated if you alter your distance from the subject, rather than if you rely on the camera's zoom feature. Professional cameras are better because they have more powerful lenses for objects farther away, and the photographers switch between these rather than zoom in on the subject. Of course, sometimes the zoom is necessary, but keep in mind, the picture will be better if you move yourself closer.