Picture Taking, advice? Options

[bojangles_8686]

I have a Canon Powershot A520. The quality of the picture is pretty good but I think it can be better. Can I get some advice from all of you camera savvy people on taking better pictures and changing camera settings?

[lil_lissa]

ooooooh, i asked this same question to a buddy of mine not too long ago when i was taking pics... i'm going to copy and paste what he said to me okay?? it's long, and has examples of pictures that i took in it, so you can see

Melissa, one thing I notice about all these photos are the lighting and shadows are bad.

They can totally ruin a good, or possibly great photo.

Examples:

Shadow on rear of car.



Shadow covering entire car. If this was the only photo I saw of your car, I wouldn't have a clue as to what exact shade of red it is. So what's the point of the photo???



Shadow covering corner of car.



Sun on wrong side of the car.



See the difference between looking for proper lighting and shadows is the difference between a "snap shot" and a "photo".

Also, there's the rule of thirds. Draw 2 lines horizontally one-third and two-thirds across the photo. Then do the same thing vertically. If the subject of your photo is not on any of those lines, throw the image out, it's a bad photo. Some of your photos use that rule, some don't.

Good use of thirds:



Bad use of thirds:



Then as Tim and Kyle both pointed out about backgrounds. You have examine what's around your subject very seriously. Make sure there isn't any debris on the ground, try to stay away from the parking lot lines or cracks on the ground. And look for balance.

For example, this background would have been really nice is there wasn't that grille up on the wall. It draws your eye away from the car and up onto the wall.



Lastly, again as Kyle said, u have to close in on your subject more. What do u want to show us, a tow truck in the background or your car??? We don't choose what to look at, your photo makes us look at specific things.

What u did do well was change the angles of the photos. You also experimented with different things and backgrounds. This is the only you'll really learn. Good job with that. :thumbup: