Have you ever wondered what makes professional photos look so. . . umm. . . professional?

The following tips will help you create photos that look like you know what you are doing!

Taking Better Pictures:

There are several links in the group archives giving tips on composition. Here are some other helpful tips.

Use the color wheel.

Whether you paint, quilt, or photograph - the color wheel is vital to great composition. Use opposite colors to make a photo POP! Opposite colors are those that appear across from each other on the color wheel.

Shadows aren't always bad.

Dramatic light can be achieved almost anywhere. Don't be afraid of a dark background or shadow - especially if it adds contours or shape to the photo.

Color Shows People and Events - Black and White Shows Emotions

Take all your pictures in color - keeping in mind what they will look like in black and white.

Manipulate to Draw the Eye to the Subject

There are a variety of ways to do this such as vignettes, background blurs or adjusting the brightness or colors of areas outside the subject.

SOFTWARE TIP:

In Photoshop Elements and most other good image editing software you can select the area that you want to manipulate. Once an area is selected anything you do (such as adjusting the brightness and contrast) will only happen in that selected area.