The sharpest images have an f-stop of f5.6-f11

If you understand aperture, then you understand that the depth of field is determined by the f-stop. Wider apertures have a smaller depth of field where as smaller apertures have a greater depth of field. In theory stopping your lens…

Buy nice paper

If you’re not printing your work regularly you should be. Whether its on an inkjet printer, a print from the lab or even working in a darkroom – this is a means of critically viewing your own work and making…

Sticky: Make blurry photographs

Modern cameras are designed for perfection. From the lens glass, to the sensor to the software used in your camera – everything is designed to get you sharp, beautiful, color accurate images. While this is a nice technical ambition, it…

Your camera isn’t important

Getting good photos really doesn’t have much to do with what kind of camera you have. Nikon and Canon spend billions of dollars every year trying to convince us that we need to buy expensive stuff to be better at…

Learn to see before you shoot

How many times do you go out looking for something to photograph? When you find something interesting you fire away from random angles, move the zoom in and out and maybe step back a few feet and do it all…

Develop your own visual signature

In the words of the great photographer Ralph Gibson from this wonderful interview done in 2007… Gibson is a renowned photographer best known for his narrative, photographic books. Most recently he’s stretched his own medium to include music that he…

Lower ISO settings give you less grain

If you’re pictures are noisy, use a lower ISO setting. Modern digital cameras are getting better every year at lower grain at high ISO settings but it is still present – particularly with point and shoot cameras. Setting your ISO…

Underexpose your pictures for a darker mood

Traditionally, getting a “good exposure” means getting a picture that has a nice even spectrum of light from the dark shadows to the upper highlights. Sometimes you can create moods by intentionally underexposing your subject. The idea is not to…

If you’re shooting film and don’t have a light meter – use the Sunny 16 rule

This works for digital cameras too of course, but I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a digital camera with no meter. Anyway assuming its “sunny” outside, set your aperture to f16. Then match your shutter speed as close to the…

For an “artsy look” shoot with a plastic lens

Digital Cameras and the technology they use are wonderfully designed for precision, tack-sharp images. Sometimes though you might want to have your images look more primitive in nature if you’re going for a more artistic look. One way of doing…