Photography Basics

A photo is just light recorded by a sensor. Exposure is how much light the sensor collects. Too little and the photo is dark and muddy (underexposed). Too much and bright areas turn pure white with no detail (overexposed, or “blown out”).

Photographers measure light in stops. One stop more means twice as much light. One stop less means half. Every camera setting below moves exposure in stops, which is why they can trade off against each other.

• Auto mode picks all the settings for you. It's fine most of the time.
• Learning the settings lets you choose how the photo looks: a blurry background, a frozen splash, or a silky waterfall.
• Your camera's light meter aims for a medium brightness. That's why snow often looks gray and a black cat looks washed out. You may need to nudge exposure up for bright scenes and down for dark ones.

Rule of thumb: it's easier to brighten a slightly dark photo later than to recover a blown-out sky. When in doubt, protect the highlights.

Three settings control exposure. Each one also changes something else about the picture. That side effect is how you choose between them.

Aperture

Written as f/1.8, f/2.8, f/4, f/5.6, f/8, f/11, f/16. The numbers feel backwards: a small f-number is a big opening. Each step in that list is one stop.

• f/1.8 to f/2.8: lots of light, blurry background. Great for portraits and low light.
• f/8 to f/11: less light, most of the scene sharp. Great for landscapes and groups.

Shutter speed

Written in seconds: 1/1000, 1/500, 1/250, 1/125, 1/60, 1/30. Each halving or doubling is one stop.

• 1/500 or faster: freezes sports, kids and pets.
• 1/60 to 1/125: everyday handheld shots of still people.
• Slower than about 1/60: risk of blur from shaky hands. Brace yourself, or use a tripod.
• Seconds long: on a tripod, turns waterfalls silky and car lights into streaks.

ISO

Usually 100 to 6400 and up. Doubling the ISO is one stop brighter. Use the lowest ISO that still lets you get a fast enough shutter speed. Raise it in dim light rather than getting a blurry photo; a little grain is better than a smeared one.

Pick a lighting situation, then move the three sliders. Watch the brightness, the runner's motion blur, the background blur, and the grain. Try to get the meter to the middle with a sharp runner.

Things to try: On “Night street,” set 1/30 s and watch the runner smear. Now raise ISO instead and see the grain appear. That's the trade-off every night photo makes.

Composition is how you arrange things in the frame. A few simple habits make photos look intentional instead of accidental.

Rule of thirds

Imagine the frame split by two lines across and two lines down, like a tic-tac-toe board. Put your subject on one of the lines, or where two meet, instead of dead center. Put the horizon on the top or bottom line, not through the middle. Leave space in front of a person's face or a moving subject, so they have somewhere to look or go.

Leading lines

Roads, fences, rivers, railings and shorelines pull the viewer's eye through the picture. Stand so a line starts near a bottom corner and runs toward your subject. Diagonal lines feel more energetic than straight horizontal ones.

More composition habits

• Fill the frame. Step closer. Most beginner photos have the subject too small.
• Check the edges. Before you press the shutter, look around the border for trash cans, half-people and poles growing out of heads.
• Simple background. Move a few steps so the background is plain: sky, a wall, distant trees.
• Framing. Shoot through a doorway, window or branches to put a natural frame around the subject.
• Change height. Get down to eye level with kids and pets. Shoot from low for drama, from above for food.
• Keep it level. A tilted horizon is the quickest way to make a nice photo look off.

Rules are starting points. Centered works great for symmetry (a doorway, a reflection) and for bold, simple subjects. Break the rule on purpose, not by accident.

The same subject can look flat or stunning depending on the light. Pay attention to three things: how much light there is, its direction, and whether it's hard or soft.

• Front light (sun behind you) is safe but flat.
• Side light shows texture and shape. Turn your subject toward a window at a slight angle.
• Back light (sun behind the subject) gives a glowing outline but can make faces dark. Tap the face to expose for it, or use fill flash.
• Built-in flash straight on looks harsh. Use it outdoors to fill shadows, and turn it off indoors when you can use window light instead.

Never look at or point the camera at the sun through an optical viewfinder or long lens. It can damage your eyes and the camera sensor.

Your phone handles exposure automatically, but you can still steer it. These work on iPhone and Android, though menu names vary.

1. Wipe the lens. Pocket smudges cause most hazy, glowy phone photos. Use a soft cloth.
2. Turn on the grid. iPhone: Settings > Camera > Grid. On Android, look for “Grid lines” in the camera app's settings. Use it for the rule of thirds and level horizons.
3. Tap to focus, slide to brighten. Tap your subject to set focus and exposure, then drag the brightness control (the sun icon on iPhone, a slider on most Android phones) up or down. Press and hold to lock it.
4. Use the lenses, not pinch zoom. Tap 0.5×, 1×, 2× or higher if your phone has those lenses. Pinching between them crops the image and loses detail. Better yet, walk closer.
5. Hold still. Tuck your elbows in, breathe out, and tap gently. In low light, Night mode keeps the shutter open for a few seconds, so hold steady until it finishes or lean on something.
6. Try Portrait mode for people and pets. It fakes the blurry background of a wide aperture.
7. Take a burst for action (hold the shutter or swipe it, depending on your phone) and keep the sharpest one.
8. Edit lightly. Straighten, crop, and adjust brightness first. Heavy filters date quickly.

A 7-day practice plan

• Day 1: 20 photos with the grid on, subject on a third every time.
• Day 2: Find 5 leading lines in your neighborhood.
• Day 3: Same object by a window at 3 different angles.
• Day 4: Golden hour walk.
• Day 5: Freeze motion: a pet, a kid, water from a faucet.
• Day 6: Low light without flash. Brace the phone.
• Day 7: Pick your 5 best and ask why they work.