There’s a lot you can learn when it comes to photography, and you could spend years learning the craft. However, just knowing a few key tips can mean taking great shots with your camera. This article contains some sound advice on how you can start taking shots you are proud of.

With the ease of cameras today, it is very easy for a novice person to take some great pictures without a lot of knowledge. Having a high quality camera is the first step. Make sure that the camera, lens and equipment are all from a reputable company who makes quality photographic equipment.

Change the direction of your camera’s flash to avoid the appearance of red eye. When a flash goes off directly in line with someone’s eyes, the result can be red eye. Reducing red eye will improve the quality of your pictures and give your subjects a more realistic appearance.

Choose what you want to have in your photograph. Great pictures are like tiny windows highlighting specific things about your subject. Don’t try and show too much within each picture. If you want a better impression of a subject, take as many photos as you can.

It takes experimentation to learn which shutter speed works best in different settings. Photography lets you capture a single moment or show motion over time by adjusting shutter speed. Traditionally, fast shutter speed is used for motion while a slower speed is used for still scenes.

Make sure you hold the camera correctly. Holding the camera correctly reduces the chance that an inopportune movement ruins your shot. Hold the camera with your arms close to your body and the palm of your hand under the camera to prevent the camera from falling or shaking.

Consider purchasing a dSLR in order to take professional style photos. The relatively new camera utilizes a single lens, yet allows you to preview the images right away. Look for a DSLR that is full frame, as this provides the largest image sensor, and therefore yields the most detailed images.

Learn about composition rules. Practice and experiment with these rules to create unique pictures. For instance, organizing a picture around diagonal lines gives an impression of depth. You can also play with colors and gradual nuances to give an impression of movement to a picture. Do not follow the rules blindly, but learn when to use them.

Drop the background focus when you are photographing people. If you focus less on the background and more on your subject, you’ll find that the focus will be directly on them. If you put some distance between your background and your subject, it helps viewers focus on the subject of your photograph.

Although it may seem obvious, but know how to handle your camera and what happens when you press the buttons on it. Understand what happens when the shutter button is pressed and the timing of the shutter. It really depends on personal preference and there is no right or wrong way, but some things do not vary like keeping the camera perfectly still while taking a photo.

When photographing young children, time and patience is your best friend. Children are taught to “say cheese” whenever a camera is focused on them, inevitably creating artificial, fake smiles – or worse. Ideally, a child will become comfortable being photographed when the pressure to “perform” is removed. Simply encourage them to go about their normal activities and then follow them around with your camera, clicking when they naturally smile or are obviously enjoying their surroundings.

Pay attention to the symmetry in your pictures. A picture that is supposed to be symmetrical and isn’t will appear much worse than if it were and frustrate your viewers. Make sure you’re standing in the dead center of a symmetrical object if you are trying to create a symmetrical composition.

Consider your photo angles before you shoot. Look through your cameras view finder to see how the background and foreground interact. Check for odd shapes, or things that will detract from what you were thinking when you decided to take the shot. Taking a second to compose your craft will improve your pictures.

Try bracketing the exposure on your camera when you are in the middle of shooting landscapes to help get more lighting. You need to shoot, then you need to stop up, and then you need to stop down from the first shot. There are some cameras that allow automatic bracketing of three shots.

Like any science or art form, photography is something you could study and read about for a good portion of your life. Or, you could just apply what you have read in this article and improve your photography immediately. Keep these tips in mind the next time your camera is in your hands and you’ll see better images quickly.