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Photography is not just about pointing and pressing a button; it's a decision-making process. One of the best reasons for working photography into your activities and projects is that it helps people better understand the media images they're bombarded with every day. Photography is also just plain fun, and it's a wonderful foundation for community-based projects. If you introduce photography properly, it helps you look much more carefully at the world around you.

It is quite easy to touch the optics of a camera and leave fingerprints. The result is that your pictures do not turn out clear in certain areas. Or, the autofocus sensors (if your camera has them) can be fooled by the smudge you leave on them, and deliver blurred pictures. Regularly clean your optics with an appropriate cloth and solution (both obtained at any respectable camera store). Do not use tissue paper, your finger, spit or household cleaning solutions.

The autofocus of most cameras has a two-step shutter release. Pressing the button down half-way locks the focus of the picture, and pressing it down all the way takes the picture. Depressing the shutter only half-way allows you to select what part of the picture you would like to be clearly focused; after holding the button halfway down, you can move the picture so that the subject is where you want it to be and yet is still focused. Always press the button gently, not jerkingly, so as not to move the camera too much from the frame and composition.

Depth of field is all the objects in the foreground and the background around the subject of your photo, and they will be in focus as well as your subject. The focusing distance and the size of the image, as well as the aperture you're using, can change the way depth of field is perceived. The larger the aperture, the smaller the depth of field. For example, if you move closer to your subject, the depth of field would decrease. If you move farther away, or use a smaller aperture, the depth of field would decrease.

Pictures don't just come out looking right. If you look at some of the pictures you especially like, you will notice that the way the picture was composed probably has a lot to do with it. What we mean by composition is how you place your subject(s) on the blank canvas that's your 4x6. If you mentally divide your screen into three horizontal and three vertical sections, where the lines intersect are focal points. Focal points are what the eyes naturally seek out when they look at a photograph. It therefore stands to reason that a focal point is a good place to position our main subject. It's not a hard and fast rule, so don't go bonkers trying to place your subject right at a focal point.

Landscape photos are very popular and can be very nice-looking. The whole photograph will need to be in focus, unlike some pictures where only a certain part is in focus. In order to have the picture completely focused, you'll need to have a short focal length. This will create a larger depth of field, and everything will be focused. In order to creating a pleasing balance between land and sky, or water and sky, you can use the rule of thirds. Furthermore, if you want a sense of three dimensions, you can have a subject in the foreground.

In order to take a panoramic picture, you must have a tripod. Set your camera on the tripod and make sure that it can swivel smoothly only left and right; you don't want it to go tilt up and down. If this happens, your resulting picture will not look right. You'll have to mentally note where the edges of your picture are, so that you can know where to overlap the next ones. Keeping the tripod planted in the same place, swivel the camera to one side, left or right, and take a second picture overlapping part of your first shot. Continue to do this until you have all the pictures you want. To put them all together, all you have to do is use a basic graphics or picture editing program to put them all in the right order, and you will have a panoramic picture!

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