(this article is in progress)
I'm not going to talk about Photography as art. I'm just going to give a few tips on how to make good clear pictures.
You're going to need pictures for Ebay, for Criagslist, ffor Facebook, and for many other sites on the Internet. We want those pictures to look as good as possible.
New cameras come out all the time, so I'm not going to pick out a specific model. I'll just give some guidelines on choosing a good camera.
Don't try to take pictures with your phone. It's good for convenience, but phones don't have lenses that focus very well, in fact, most don't focus at all. A phone is adequate to take pictures of a car accident or to show people that you are alive, but for anything more than that, you should get a real camera.
Buy something that is popular. Other people have done their research. I know this sounds silly but if a million people chose one camera, it's probably good.
Buy something that is small. If you are a pro photographer, get one of those things that looks like a 35 mm still camera, but if you are just having fun, get a camera that is easy to carry around. That way, you will get more pictures and better pictures because you are more likely to have it with you when the picture opportunity comes your way.
Buy something that is not made in China.
I support free speech in China and democratic independence and self determination for the people of Tibet. Vote with your money by not buying things made in China. If everybody did this, things would change. I can't force everyone to follow, but I've made my choice and I won't buy things from China if I have any other choices at all.
But aside from this political issue, the best cameras are *not* made in China. Even within manufacturers like Canon and Nikon, their Japanese made cameras are noticeably better than their Chinese cameras. If you look at all the numbers like the number of pixels, the Chinese cameras look like a great deal but the pictures just won't be as good. I've owned plenty of cameras from China and Japan and the Japanese ones are *always* much better than the Chinese ones. This is more important than the brand. I'd rather have a cheap camera such as Fuji or Olympus, made in Japan, than a fancy brand like Nikon, if it's made in China.
You have to really look on the box to see where your camera is made.
My current camera is a Canon sx210 and it is made in Japan. It takes great pictures.
My last camera was a Sony, also made in Japan, though most of their new cameras are made in China. It was really nice.
In the past I have owned cameras from Nikon, Olympus, Fuji, Casio, as well as several Canon and Sony models. I generally prefer Canon and Sony, though I have some friends who really like Nikon.
Pictures are all about light. Good light means a good picture.
Some people take bad pictures in bad light and assume they will fix their pictures later. This is a bad plan.
You can do all kinds of amazing things in Photoshop, but there's no substitute for arranging a good photo from the start, and the best thing is to make sure the lighting is good.
Good light is bright, but soft. Professional photographers like light from the sun that is reflected and softened. Good light is strong but it does not give sharp hilights. For instance, if you are under a tree on a hot summer afternoon, or in a classrom standing by a large window with bright difuse light coming from outside, then you are going to be in good light.
Bad light is colored (flourescent), colors the subject, and it his harsh, and not strong enough. Under these circumstances you will give off color, out of focus, not very nice photos.
I'll discuss these issues one at a time.
Strength: A good light is strong. Weak lights make your camera work hard to get an image. Weak lights make it hard to focus, and hard to get a good image. The picture will likely be a bit blurry, and even if it is in focus, anything that's moving is likely to be a blur.
Srong light often means sunlight. If you can find sunlight, use it. Sunlight from a window, filtered through a tree, bounced off a lawn, any kind of sunlight is likely to make a strong, sharp, beautiful image.
When we look at lights we speak of "Color Temperature".
Wikipedia has a great article on Color Temperature
Incandescent indoor lights are 3200 degrees. Brighter lights are 5400 degrees and outdoor bright sunlight may be even hotter. The temperature is Kelvin degrees, and the hotter the light, the brighter and whiter.
When you are taking pictures, and aiming for good quality, dim light and flourescent lights will be your enemy.
Beyond the color of the light, the direction is important.
In classic movie lighting, we would use Three Point Lighting. We would use one light from the front, one from the side, and one from the top to light up the edges of the hair. We call these the Key Light, the Fill Light, and the Back Light. The articles in Wikipedia are pretty good, so I won't repeat that information here.
The problem is that when we're taking pictures as private individuals without a film crew, we usually can't set up the idealized three light lighting. We hae to compromise. Usually the best compromsie is going to be to put the main light behind the camera and let the rest slide.
Another classic situation is by a window. The light will come in diffuse through the window, and light the subject, with fill coming fron interior lights.
I wil add more to this later, but the bottom line is, if you want good pictures, look at the lights. Photography is about light. If you don't have good light you won't get good pictures.
Aside from lighting, a second goal of good photography should be to separate the subject from the background.
If the subject is white, the background should be black.
If the subject is orange, the background should be green.
Another trick to separate background is to make sure the foreground is in focus and the background a blur.
If your subject has black hair, never photograph them against a black background.
If your subject has a white jacked, and the backround is white, your best move may be to go up and remove the white jacked. You need to make sure that the background and forground do not blend.
It seems like a bore to say it, but you should make sure your subjects are smiling in all pictures. When you are posing for a picture, scowling may seem like the way to show deep thought and coolness, but when you look at the pictures, the keepers are always the ones with the smile.
If you are photographing someone who seems uncomfortable, a bit of talking to put them at ease may relax your subject and result in better pictures. Ask the subject what they do for a living and who they think might win the world series. Most people are actually friendly and happy to talk and if they are at ease and smiling you will get better pictures.