How do I Start to Take Photographs? .

How do I start taking photographs is one of the first questions many new photographers ask. There is no right or wrong answer to that question but there is some basic information that can set you on the right path to quickly taking good quality photographs. Let's get started with an introduction to photography.

The rule of thirds is one of the most basic composition guidelines in photography. The rule of thirds explains what part of an image the human eye is most strongly drawn towards first. An imaginary tic-tac-toe board is drawn across an image to break it into nine equal squares. The four points where these lines intersect are strongest focal points. The lines themselves are the second strongest focal points. Take a look at these images to see some images that use the rule of thirds.

Photographer's use a light meter to measure the amount of light needed to successfully capture an image on film/sensor. Light meters can be hand held or integrated into your camera. The most common light meters are integrated into cameras. They tell the camera whether or not there is enough light with the current shutter/aperture settings.











Depth of field determines how much of an image is in focus in photography. Sometimes abbreviated "DOF", depth of field is an important tool to master. DOF allows the photographer to have control over what is in and out of focus within their image.

A camera's lens is arguably the most important part of the camera. A good piece of glass will allow you to take great images. A poor quality piece of glass will ruin even the best professional's images. Once you have a great piece of glass (a high quality lens) you'll need to protect your investment by taking good care of it.

Ok, now we know how to care for a lens and why they are important. But what lens do I need? What lens you need depends in large part on what subject you want to photograph and under what conditions. Low light and night photography call for fast lenses what allow for very large apertures. If you want to take landscape images you will need a lens with a wide field of view. If you want to take wildlife photography you will most likely need a strong telephoto lens. The strength of a lens is measured in millimeters. This is marked as "mm" on lenses. Take a look at this gallery of images to see what the "mm" markings really mean in terms of magnification.