• Know your camera. Read your camera manual and refer back to it if you have any problems. It is very important you know what all the buttons, selections, and features are and what you do to use them. Cameras have settings that help you take better up-close portraits or far-reaching landscapes. Cameras have buttons that adjust for available lighting, from a cloudy day to bright midday sun. By using the available technology, you will be rewarded with better photographs. Once you know how to use your camera, the best advice I can give is to practice as much as you can. This means keeping that camera handy for any and all photo opportunities.
  
  
• Create the scene. Do more than aim and click your camera. Take charge and get the photo you want. As you look through the viewfinder, take time to really see what’s going on. Ask people to move closer together for a better shot. Tell Grandpa Ralph to lean slightly to the left or right. Add a prop. Remove a hat. Do whatever it takes to make the photo better, tell a story, or, better yet, make you smile.
  
  
• Light might. The most vital part of every photograph you take is the light. It affects the appearance of everything you photograph. Harsh light can make your human or animal subjects squint and grimace. Not enough light results in shadowy darkness in which details can be lost. If the lighting is not right then move yourself or your subject. Check the settings on your camera and adjust for bright light, cloudiness, incandescent, or florescent light and moonlight.
  
  
• If you are using a camera with film, film speed also affects the resulting exposure. Knowing you will have a day in bright sun photographing running children calls for a different film speed than a day of indoor flash photography capturing posed family groups.
  
  
• Learn when to use your flash to fill in with light and when you should use your red-eye reducer. According to Kodak, the number one flash mistake is taking pictures beyond the flash's range. Photos taken beyond the maximum flash range will be too dark. As a general rule most cameras have a maximum flash range of less than 15 feet. You can find your flash range in your camera manual.
  
  
• Digital cameras will give you options to select indoor and outdoor lighting. It’s important that you select the correct lighting to get the best results.
  
  
• Eye to eye. One-on-one eye contact can bring a photograph to life. When taking someone’s photo, remember to get to that person’s eye level. This is especially important when photographing children. You may have to kneel, bend, or hunch, but the effort is worth it. Your subject doesn’t always have to look directly at the camera because by being at eye level you create a personal and warm feeling to the photo.

Maria Nerius is a Professional Crafter, Author, and Contributing Writer and Columnist to industry trade journal, Craftrends.