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How do I take better photographs? This question has been asked since photography began.

Photography has been around since the 1820’s when Niepce and Daguerre used a chemical mixture of silver and chalk to capture an image on glass. They have been credited in historical records as being the first inventors of modern photography. Since this time the changes in photography have been staggering, particularly in the last few years.

Better Photographs

A good photograph is affected by lighting, design, emotion, purpose and camera equipment. And these principles of photography are learned from reading and more important, from practice and experimenting.

A topic of much discussion today in photography is whether to use a manual camera or a digital camera. Both cameras have their advantages and disadvantages but again practice and knowing your camera of choice is the foundation of a better photographic image.

Your camera may be an older manual camera or the latest model with all the features available but if your photograph is too dark or is out of focus the image has little value.

You need to learn how to use your camera to its fullest advantage, whether it is a manual camera or a digital camera. And the first step in that process is to set down and read your camera manual from cover to cover. Sounds too simple doesn’t it? But it is a step often ignored, and one I admit I am guilty of.

One other area that is important in taking a better photograph and is often overlooked is emotion. Why is the photograph being taken? Is it a family event and capturing a family memory? Is it historical and creating a record of an event? Emotion in an image takes an average photograph and makes it stand out, be remembered and talked about.

Whatever the reason may be the emotion of the event should be important and show in the photographic image. You will also find that as you take photographs your emotion and personality will show in the photographs. This is particularly true if you carry your camera with you at all times.

Here at Better Photographs, information on how to take a better photograph will be covered for the beginner, intermediate and advanced photographer. And as I have discovered from my years photographing, no matter what experience you may have there is always a new process, camera or technique you can learn to make better photographs.

Chautauqua Institution, located in Chautauqua, NY., offers a weekly morning lecture series on topics of interest to many.

Week Two of their summer program highlights five National Geographic photographers that have worldwide recognition in their photographic fields.

The following photographers will be speaking at the Chautauqua Institution at 10:45 a.m. at the amphitheater.

Annie Griffiths Belt begins the National Geographic lecture week. Belts photography deals with the environment. She tries to hold the wonder of the world and capture it in her photography. She also is involved with fundraising events, which help communities or raise awareness for all to give back to the world.

Wade Davis is known for his strong interest in the environment. He wrote “In Search of One River” which was made into a film.  He also starred in “Grand Canyon Adventures” a movie about Davis and Robert Kennedy Jr., which follows their trip on the Colorado River. Davis, Kennedy and Kennedy’s children took a trip on the Colorado River and their adventure brought to attention environmental issues.

Kobie Boykins, an engineer at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, will be discussing the challenges and triumphs of mars exploration. In his lecture he will share images, current discoveries and his love for the Mars Exploration Project.

Ronald Johanson has a background in fossil exploration, which included the famous “Lucy” skeleton fossil”. This fossil is unique in the fact is has ape like qualities along with human qualities. Lucy, the 3.2 million year old skeleton is now being displayed throughout museums in United States.

Mattias Klum has dedicated 20years to flora and fauna of Borneo, He is a highly regarded natural history photographer with his work dealing with nature, culture and history. His recent trip to Borneo in 2008 documents the massive damage by man to the lowland rainforests.

Photography has been a way to share culture, history and images otherwise not available to millions of people. This series of lectures will carry you to far away places and make you aware of current environmental issues that shape our world.

If you are unable to catch the lectures tapes are available on their lectures at the Chautauqua Institution Kiosk or through the Chautauqua Institution.

I grew up in the Polaroid and manual 35mm film era. When the first digital camera came onto the scene I was not a fan. The imaging was not as clear and I wanted to look at my film and process my own prints.

But time has improved the digital image and now we have the question of which process is better, Digital or Print?

The truth is, it depends on why you are taking the photograph. Both photography styles have pros and cons and whether you photographs are being taken for a work related reason, to capture family events or for an artistic reason will influence the camera selection you use.

The Pros of a Digital photography

With the advances in digital cameras, these cameras are great for most people. By using use a digital camera, you can immediately see the picture that you just took. This will help you to decide whether you need to re-shoot that particular image. If the image was not properly centered or the background is distracting you know to retake the photo.

And with digital photos, you can easily download the images to your computer without the additional upfront cost of film processing. You can edit the photos, store the images that you like and enhance them and print them out on your printer. They can also easily be sent to your friends and family by computer and through email.

Digital prints are also easy to store and thousands of digital photographic images can be stored on a couple of disks.

The Cons of Digital photography

There are also many cons of using digital cameras and photography. One of the biggest problems with digital photography is that the images can be easily lost. If you do not unload your images from the camera you may forget and delete them.

You also need to back up your digital photographs on to a disk. All it takes is for your computer to crash and you may lose hundreds of pictures. So with a digital camera and images remember to back up your images every time you take new photographs.

Many people feel that digital pictures do not have the same look and feel as film prints, including me.  And certain circumstances seem to still look better on film than as a digital print. For this reason, most professional photographers still prefer to use film.

Digital images are cheaper when you are taking the photograph and sorting the images but digital pictures can also become pricey if you print them out at home. A good quality printer paper and color printer cartridge for your printer can add up quickly.

One other disadvantage is that all people do not have access to a computer and newer printing methods. This is changing in most homes but many images are either deleted or a regular photograph is not made.

The Pros of Film

If you take pictures for a hobby or as art, you can adjust your film camera to get the exact look that you want. This gives you the opportunity to experiment and take very unique and interesting images. This is not always the case with digital pictures.

Some people prefer to use a film camera, so it forces them to have their pictures developed right away.  They have an image that they can hold in their hands, place in a scrapbook or send to friends. To them it’s easier and more personal than leaving your memories on a disk and printing them out at a later date.

I am one of those photographers that feel black and white digital photography has not reached the quality that a black and white film image has. I think there is more of a tonal range in film that digital. But I admit the digital black and white image is improving.

The Cons of Film

Film cameras are losing popularity on a daily basis. Film is becoming more difficult to find and if you are traveling and run out of film this can create a problem. With a digital camera this is not a problem. If your memory card is large enough, you can take many photographs.

With a film camera you must wait to have pictures developed before you can look at them to see if all the photographs turned out. It is also expensive to have pictures processed. And with film all the photos are printed, even the ones that really did not turn out. With a digital you know if you need to retake a photo and you can delete an image that is not a good quality.

When I did photography as a profession, I always carried a Polaroid camera and would take a test sample of an important photograph. This would help me see a potential problem and would also be a backup image just in case something happened to the film.

In reality, choosing between a film camera and a digital camera all depends on your needs and personal preference. And with the cost of a smaller camera you may want to use both versions for different situations.

After all the bottom line is the photographic image that is produced. If it caught the emotion and moment you wanted you have a successful photograph.

The history of Photography began in the 1820’s. Niepce and Daguerre are credited with being the first inventors of modern photography. In simple terms, they used a chemical mixture made of silver and chalk, which they applied to glass. The glass was then exposed to light. The mixture would darken from the exposure to light and an image would appear.

It took many years to perfect the timing it took to create a good image, sharpness of an image and how to take photographs in different and often time difficult lighting. And photography in the early years was often dangerous and uncomfortable.

Uncomfortable? Yes! Early photographs often needed a very long exposure to create an image so in order to keep people from moving, neck and arm braces were used to hold people in place. You will also notice in vintage photographs many people were leaning on chairs. This was also a way to help people to stay still and not move during a long exposure.

Many advances have been made since the 1820’s, and even more changes have occurred in the last 10 years. It has been a challenge to keep up with new photographic equipment and ideas.

But light is still an important factor in photography, whether its film photography or digital photography. Poor lighting or washed out areas in a photograph can ruin an image and even with retouching or using Photoshop the image may not be able to be saved.

By studying the history of photography and understanding the process that master photographers used to create an image you will be able to apply some of their techniques and improve your photography.

A rule to follow when photographing is: The best photographic image is one that is the best quality at the time is it created.

And this brings forth a question that has been asked for many years. Is Photography an Art?

Many will say that photography is not an art because you just point the camera and take an image. And with the introduction of the digital camera where anyone can take a photo, “How could this be art?”

I am a firm believer that photography is art. Even a photograph taken at a reunion or picnic has artistic value. Image quality, meaning of the photograph that you are taking and knowledge of your photographic equipment is what will help you capture that moment in time and preserve it.

And by knowing design, the effects of lighting, the value of color or lack of color in an image will help you create a strong image that will be remembered.

Emotion also plays a part in a successful image. Emotion adds to the artistic expression that can be captured in photography. Joy, humor, sadness, are only a few of the feeling that can be stirred by a powerful photographic image and will make the photo stand out.

And by turning back to the history of photography and studying the advances in equipment and the extensive work of master photographers, you develop skills that are essential in creating a memorable image.

Whether you use a digital camera or a manual 35 mm film camera, Photoshop is a wonderful asset to help correct or add detail to your photographs. If you have a photos with a problem, such as litter or red eye, Photoshop will turn these images into better photographs.

Years ago if you wanted to fix a photo you either had to airbrush the image or use photo-retouching techniques applied with a brush and matching dye. Today we have Photoshop and other programs that can alter a photographic image. These changes may be made in a matter of minutes.

By far Photoshop is the more popular photo editing program, but its also the more expensive. So many photographers have to balance cost versus how much you will use the program. For the weekend photographer you may decide to use a cheaper program or retake the image. For the professional photographer, being able to fix or save an image is a “must” at times.

Using Photoshop is easier with a digital camera where you download the image to the computer and click on your photo-editing program and proceed to work on the image.

With a manual camera, you need to develop the film and get the images onto a computer. This can be achieved by requesting your images be put on a disk when being developed or by scanning the photographic image and adding it to your image file on your computer.

A few of the more common reasons to use photo shop is to crop an image, take out an item from the photograph, fix red eye caused from a flash or even combine two images. Many artists use it to creatively alter an image and turn it into art. And Photoshop is a graphic artists best friend.

Learning how to use Photoshop takes time and patience.

If you have a college close by that offers a photo shop class you may want to sign up. It will save you time and offer shortcuts in learning the program. There are also several books available on the subject and a few excellent you tube videos.

Below is a beginner’s tutorial video from you tube for Photoshop. It is extremely informative but this video is over 50 minutes long so grab a beverage, get comfortable and take notes. This video takes you from opening the program for the first time to explaining and showing you how to alter an image.

Photography has changed much in the last few years and with new cameras and computer programs it continues to change almost daily.

Photoshop will add a new dimension in fixing your photographic image. And having an understanding of what all Photoshop can do for you will make photography more exciting and add to the images you create.