When to use a tripod

It never hurts to use a tripod, but when do you need one? If all your photography is outdoors during the day, you probably don't need one unless you use telephoto lenses. If you are inside under normal household lighting, and you don't want to use a flash, then a tripod becomes necessary. As a general rule, if you don't like the look of flash, use a tripod where ever your camera would decide to use the flash.

If you want to have pictures showing blurred motion, like having people walking appear as a blur, a tripod is required, and a slow shutter speed on the camera. Another cool thing to do if you have a tripod is nighttime photography, where the shutter is left open for a number of minutes, and the ambient light illuminates the subject. This works well on a night with a full moon.

Anytime you're going to get really close to something, a tripod is a good idea. This picture was taken in fairly low light in a forest, less than a foot from the moss. Without a tripod it would have never turned out well.

Finding great locations to photograph

If you're like me, you're always looking for new things to photograph. Sometimes it might seem hard to find a good photogenic location. To get something unique, you need to think outside of the box. Here's some ideas to get you going:

Old buildings
Public land, such as parks, forests, and the like
Events like car shows, carnivals and parades
Farm markets

Also remember, what to you may seem uninteresting may be very interesting to others. I live in a town with a beautiful historic lighthouse, but I had never photographed it until just last winter. When I finally did venture out there with my camera, I took this:

Try looking around your house for interesting images. I took this picture in my grandmother's house:

You never know where you'll find your next great image!

Auto focus vs manual focus

Knowing how to use all the features on your camera is really, really helpful when it comes to creating interesting images. The most important one to learn is how to use the manual focus. Manual focus lets you decide exactly what you want to be in focus, and what you want out of the focus. When there are a lot of different objects at different distances, some cameras can't figure out what to focus on.

You probably have a button labeled focus, or AF/MF that switches the auto focus on or off. If you don't see anything like that, check your camera's manual. Once you get it into manual focus, experiment with focusing on things that are only a few feet from the camera. You'll see how some things are in very sharp focus, and the background gets blurry. This is how you can control what the viewer sees when they look at your pictures.

Here's a picture I took that would have been impossible without manual focusing:

When I pointed my camera at this cactus, the camera wanted to focus on the thorns, the ground, everything BUT the flower. I switched it to manual and I could focus precisely on what I wanted to. Neat, eh?

Take your time

Whn you are getting ready to push the shutter button, stop and really look at your image. Is it exactly what you want to see in your picture? A common mistake most people make is trying to include too much in their pictures. Try to isolate the most interesting part of what you are seeing. This way, the viewer knows what to look at. You want to draw the viewer into an image, and have their eyes travel through the image. Many images are more interesting when it isn't immediatley obvious what the picture is of. Check out this picture I took of some interesting ferns:The focus of the image is more on the individual leaves than the entire grove of plants, which is what initially drew my attention. There is really a lot more to look at in this picture than having taken a picture of all the fern plants together. There are plenty of diagonal lines and details to keep the viewer's eyes moving around.

Try taking this approach to all your photos - not just artistic pictures, but portraits too. Who says a picture of your friend has to be a face on, centered image? Don't be afraid to get up close and really isolate the most interesting part of your subject. Happy shooting!