Now that everyone has a cell phone I see more photos than ever. Unfortunately, most of them have bad lighting, and don't take into account things like exposure, composition,  surroundings, and most important the rule of thirds. 



Here's my TOP 5 things I've learned after taking photos for ten years:

5. Learn how your equipment works.

You wouldn't believe how many people i see who have thousands of dollars in equipment and take awful photos. If you want a free tutor just go to Youtube and type in your camera name and model number. You'll instantly have thousands of videos to learn from.

4. Never use the flash indoors.

Firing the flash at the same angle as the lens results in a very dull and flattened image. Now, there is an option to use a flash indoors and it's called a "off camera flash." This allows you to take a photo and direct the light so it doesn't "blow out" your subjects.

3. Composition

The composition is simply the way all the individual subjects within our frame combine to form the final image. We can change our composition by using different light, moving around, zooming in or out, changing lenses, or even just crouching down. The best way to get good at composition is to take lots of photos. Compare them with photographs you see online and be critical with yourself.

2. Lighting is extremely important.

Lighting is one of the most important elements for taking great photos. Like we talked about earlier, never use a flash indoors because it will "blow out" your images. Use an off camera flash, or move your subjects near a window or door to make use of natural light.

Remember you always want the light on the front of the subject. I see a lot of people taking photos with bright lights, signs, and even the sun behind them. This will blacken out your subject and make them appear dark and silhouette like. Always think of the sun as a light, then use it to your advantage. If possible wait until the sun is obstructed so that you're not taking photos in the harsh, direct light.

1. The rule of thirds.

This is the first thing i teach everyone when it comes to taking great photos. Even if your light is bad, your composition is off, and you only know what one button does on your camera, this will help you immensely. When taking each photo imagine breaking an image down into thirds (both horizontally and vertically) so that you have 9 parts.

If you place points of interest along the 3rds, your photo becomes more balanced and will enable a viewer of the image to interact with it more naturally.

The only real way to learn to do this well is become obsessed. Learn the rules, learn how your camera works and then go take thousands of photos. You'll begin to train your eye and then it will just start coming naturally. Good luck.