Taking Great Photos – Part 1: Introduction

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Part 1: Introduction

I’ve had many people ask me over the years, “Teachinfourth, how are you able to take such great photos?”

Wow, how much time do you have?

While many may claim that natural ability and ‘the eye’ are key elements (which they are) there is no reason why the common man (or woman) cannot take great pictures of their family, friends, people they stalk, and beauty of the world around them.

By the way, I was just kidding about the stalking part. Please don’t think that I condone stalking – that is, unless you’re stalking me, and the main reason thereof is to shower me with lavish gifts, heaps of money, and summa cume laude.

If that were indeed the case, please feel free to stalk…

I digress.

To help those who’ve asked (and those freeloaders who didn’t), I have decided to start a series of photography hints and helps. This will be a collection of posts to help you understand just what photography is, how to compose a great shot, and a little bit about all of those buttons and dials on your camera that you never seem to touch. I feel the reason we don’t mess with these buttons is that they are so deliciously scary that we believe that the camera just might explode if we touch them.

Don’t worry, your camera really won’t explode; well, that is unless your camera is a bomb. If this is case, then this is not the tutorial for you; I would suggest consulting the MacGyver series.

Now, just understand that you shouldn’t get too excited; in this series I will not be explaining everything. I do not consider these mini-lessons to be ‘explain-it-all’ tutorials, but rather small helps and hints which will (hopefully) be of assistance to those of you out there who want to do just a bit more with your camera other than just point, shoot, and hope for the best.

*Kapish?

Thanks for reading the introduction. In a sense I feel that this is like those pages in the novel we all skip because we don’t feel that it is important to the overall story, and we want to get on to the good part. I’m flattered that you felt it important enough to read in its entirety.

“So, when do we start, Teachinfourth, today?”

Patience my young padawan, patience.

I look forward to creating this series, and hope that you are able to walk away with something of value. If not, you might just want to consider taking up bomb diffusing as a pastime instead.

Until next time; shoot ‘til you get it.

Part 1: Introduction
Part 2: About Your Camera
Part 3: Aperture
Part 4: Shutter Speed
Part 5: White Balance
Part 6: ISO
Part 7: The Breath


* This is a term used to say something to the affect of, "Ya feel me?", "Ya get the overall gist of what it is that I’m saying?" , or “Do you understand the extent of what it is that I have just told you?" Also used to ask the person being spoken to whether he or she would like to add to the statement.