Photography Tutorials — Composition

For better or worse, the background can have a major impact on the composition of a photo. Photos with distracting backgrounds tend to look cluttered and amateur, while intentional backgrounds instantly improve the entire composition, and add meaning and depth to a photo.

Composition in nature photography comes easy to some, but many new photographers struggle to find their balance. This is especially true where wildlife is concerned.

A California woman has earned herself quite a following after taking a series of photographs of her young child. Taking a unique approach to baby photography, she created incredibly ingenious portraits of her son doing a variety of activities, including interviewing the President of the United States, charming snakes, and playing the part of a nutcracker.

As a photographer, depth and perspective should have a prominent role in your work. While photography is a two-dimensional platform, adding a sense of depth and perspective to a shot can help the viewers to interpret the image better.

The Sony World Photography Awards is an annual photo competition organised by the World Photography Organisation. This year's judges had more than 140,000 entries from 166 countries to choose from. Behold the short listed photos, they really are something else.

Before you write off the cheap lens that came bundled with your DSLR, take a look at the following video clip. Kai takes the humorous approach to explaining why kit lenses are worth a shot for new camera owners. He also shows some surprising comparisons with more expensive L-series lenses:

Rules tend to get a lot of flak, but deep down inside, most of us know that rules are designed to make life better. With photography, it’s no exception. The rules of photography are based on general principles that create great photos. Sometimes though, the composition calls for the rules to be broken.

One of the best qualities of a great photographer is his or her ability to be selective. So, by all means, keep on taking pictures if that makes you happy. The more you practice, the better you’ll get at photography. But before you click that “post” button, the makers of the photography flowchart think you should consider whether or not the photo is a keeper.

If you’re new to the world of photography, you may hear other photographers talk about their photographic style quite a bit. But what does this mean and how do you find your own style? I’m sure you’ve heard of photojournalism (shooting moments with no posing), traditional photography (completely posed), and lifestyle photography (which is a blend of the two). But a photographer’s true style is more than just a description of his or her shooting method.

As the year ends and a new one begins, we looked back at what articles & topics attracted the most attention. Listed below are some of 2013′s most popular posts, which range from useful tips to amazing images to tear-inducing stories.