10 Basic Tips about Photography for Beginners

I am sure you have already taken hundreds, more like thousands of photos with your camera. Here are some tips to take it to the next level.

When taking the photo of a beautiful landscape try to keep the horizon line ( the line that separates the earth from the sky) as straight as possible. There is nothing more annoying in a photograph than a little tilt in the horizon line. Another good tip for more interesting photos is to place the horizon line in the upper section of the photograph. Don't worry about your old photographs, a small tilt can be corrected in photo editing.

Be aware of the sun. Not only can it burn your skin due to overexposure, it can also burn your photographs. Also depending on the position of the sun, you can have multiple and different results of the same landscape. The golden hour, which is often defined as the first and last hour of sunlight in the day, is a great time to go for a photoshoot because the light is softer at those hours. Try it, it will really help you understand a lot about the use of light in photography.

The most basic and important thing in photography isn't the most expensive and newest gear in the market or more megapixels. The most important thing is the composition. There are many rules about composition but I don't want to tire you so I will give you the basics for now to have a great start in photography. The saying "the more the merrier" doesn't apply in photography at all! The more noise in your photo the more confusion it provokes to the viewer. Keep it simple and remember less is more!

If you are like me when I first started photography most of my photos have the subject placed in the center of the photograph. Rookie mistake! The composition is basic in photography and to help you with that there is a simple and very easy to follow rule. The rule of thirds. Look through your screen and imagine it is divided into thirds both horizontally and vertically just like a grid. For better and more interesting photos you should place your subject on the intersection of these lines.

It is really important to know where to focus your camera to get the best results. When taking a portrait, remember to always focus on the eyes. Even if they are shut. Cause you know what they say " Eyes are the windows of the soul".

When you photograph a model try for a more natural pose. Say a knock knock joke or something funny to make your model smile naturally. Cold jokes don't work for a beauty picture. You should aim for beautiful and relaxed pictures so don't make your model nervous. You should be both having fun during the photoshoot!

It's the biggest temptation of all photographers! Ok, it's a great photo but what if I did a little photo editing to enhance it etc. It's alright, you can do a little photo editing but use it wisely. If the original photograph is unrecognizable, wouldn't it be easier to just take a new photograph? On the other hand, if you are more into artistic and conceptual photography the limit in photo editing is as high as your imagination.

What can make a gorgeous photograph even more outstanding? A reflexion of course! Water is the key element. The sea, a lake, a river even a puddle after a heavy rain can be used to create the reflexion of your subject. If you feel more creative you can experiment with mirrors or window glasses.

When you are in a photography "rampage", remember to always keep in your bag extra batteries and memory cards. You wouldn't want to miss on that award-winning photoshoot because of a low battery signal. Would you? And another thing I learned the hard way, was to always keep backup files of your photographs. You can never know when your computer is going to crash.

Learn all the rules and then break them! After you developed your basic skills then you can add some creativity in your photos and experimentation by breaking the rules.

Read the manual of your camera, it's going to be your bible from now on, especially if you are using a DSLR camera. I have read it so many times and still I find it very useful.