Points to keep in mind for amature photographer

These are some of the notes I took few years back... still I forget these points quite often. I guess practice is the key. Sharing with others,

1) Automatic is OK
While you can get some great results by changing your camera’s settings, remember to set it back to automatic mode especially when you are new to photography or if the camera is supposed to be used by others. Taking a great photograph is often about capturing a moment, so don’t lose it!

2) Spot metering for vivid backgrounds
If you’re shooting a person against a bright background (the sky, for instance), set your exposure meter mode to “spot” and focus on the person. This prevents the subject being under exposed. If the background is of particular interest, try using a standard metering mode and turning on the flash to light up your subject.

3) Get closer
In photos of people, the subjects can often be lost amidst too much background. Get close to your subject to make sure they are the focus of your shot, and position them to one side of the frame, not dead center. This will give your frame a non-amateur look.

4) Use the rule of thirds
For landscape shots, try to fill the frame with one third sky and two thirds land. Or if the sky is really interesting, do it the other way. Half-and-half never looks quite right.

5) Shutter Speed
Play around with shutter speeds. Anything slower than 1/60th of a second will give some blur (depending on the speed of the action) -- and blur conveys a sense of movement. Try 1/30th to capture the movement of car wheels.

6) Taking portrait
If nothing else, the person’s eyes should be sharp, as they’re the first things we look at. If your subject is off-center, choose the focus point nearest their eyes. Blurry eyes don’t make for great pics.

7) Shooting in sun
Don’t shoot pictures with the sun directly behind you: first, you might cast a shadow across the frame, and second, the person in the shot will probably be squinting.
If you have to shoot into the sun, put the flash on so you don’t get a dark subject – this is called “fill flash.”