One of the favorite subjects of most photographers is outdoor landscapes. There’s so much beauty and majesty in nature, and many of us want to capture the moment and take it with us forever in the form of a snapshot or photograph. Unfortunately, the photo often doesn’t live up to our memory of the actual landscape scene. Here then are a few tips on how to take better landscape photographs in the future.

1. If your landscape scene includes the horizon or distant mountains, try to look around for something of interest that you can put into the photograph in the foreground that will bring better balance to the composition. There are lots of things that can work to accomplish this goal, including fences, flowers, tree branches and much more. The key is to be on the lookout for foreground subjects of interest, and not just focus all of your time on the distant horizon instead.

2. A favorite trick of professional photographers to greatly improve the appearance value of their photographs, is to look for ways to lead the eye of the beholder into the photograph and especially toward the main subject of the photo. Again, this is something that you have to generally look around for to find when you are outdoors. But look for things like a road, a fence, a river, or anything else that has a directional line to it that can be used to point the way to the main subject of your photo. This greatly enhances the overall appearance value and provides one of those simple but meaningful professional touches.

3. When photographing distant landscapes such as mountains, lakes, forests and so on, it’s very easy to lose a sense of scale in the photo. So what was huge and impressive in real life becomes compressed and uninteresting in a snapshot if you aren’t careful. A good way to avoid this is to place something in the photograph that gives a point of reference for scale. For instance, just including a person in the photograph of a large landscape can help you begin to get a feel for the size of the area that you are viewing.

4. Try to place the main subject of your landscape scene slightly off-center rather than in the dead middle of the photograph. Many photographers have a tendency to want to naturally place their main subject in the center, but actually the best photographs are those that have the subject slightly off center either vertically or horizontally in the photo. So a good way to remind yourself to do this, is to divide the scene up into thirds both up and down and across and then place the main subject on one of the spots where the imaginary lines converge. That should help ensure that your photos have more drama and interest in the composition.

5. The very best landscape photographs are taken when the light from the sun is at its best. This is usually very early in the day or very late in the day, when the sun’s rays are longer and shadows provide more detail. The harsh midday sun can flatten and wash out many landscape photographs making them uninteresting and bland. So most landscape photography is best done in early morning or late afternoon.

In addition to the tips provided above, digital photography presents its own set of challenges for landscape photographers. Film cameras simply required that you bring along enough film for the trip. Digital cameras require that you bring enough media storage to make sure that you have enough for all of the photos that you want to take. Remember there are most likely not going to be any stores close around, so plan accordingly and use the tips provided above to be able to take better landscape photographs with your digital camera.

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What does ISO stand for, you ask? ISO stands for International Standards Organization, which refers to the group that set the standards for film speed. Luckily, this doesn’t have anything to do with what you need to know about ISO.

ISO, as it relates to digital photography, is an indicator of how sensitive to light your camera’s sensor is, and most digital cameras allow you to adjust this sensitivity. The majority of low to mid-range digital cameras have an ISO range that goes from somewhere in the neighborhood of 50 or 100 up to around 400 to 800. The lower the ISO number, the more light that is necessary to get proper exposure on a given shot.

So why not crank the ISO setting all the way up to the max and be done with it? Although this would allow you to get good exposure even in low light situations, there is a catch. The higher you set the ISO, the more “noise” there will be, causing your pictures to come out grainy looking. FYI, the camera’s “auto” setting doesn’t always choose the lowest ISO possible.

These days a good number of digital cameras employ some form of noise reduction at higher ISO settings. Unfortunately digital noise reduction is accomplished by applying a slight amount of blur to the image, which not only blurs out some of the noise, but also blurs out some of the fine detail.

All things considered, the best way to approach ISO is to use the lowest possible setting, but don’t over do it-using too low an ISO setting can result in blurry images caused by “camera shake”.

Assuming that you are using a camera with an ISO range of 50 to 400, here are some rule of thumb examples:

When shooting outside on a bright sunny day, use the lowest setting (ISO 50). On a heavily overcast day, or when shooting in heavy shade, use the next higher setting (ISO 100). When shooting in the early morning or late evening, use the next higher setting (ISO 200). If shooting at dusk or dawn, you would need to use your highest setting (ISO 400).

However, there is a way to avoid using your higher ISO settings, even in low light-its called a tripod. This three-legged wonder allows you to keep your camera perfectly steady, which eliminates the blurry images caused by camera shake.

Another option to keep your camera steady during low light shots is to set your camera on a stationary object (like a rock or the hood of your car) and use the self-timer. This feature allows a few seconds lag between the time you press the shutter button and when the camera takes the picture.

Remember, keeping those ISO settings as low as you can, will give you clearer, cleaner photos.

Film cameras are becoming rare. Although digital cameras have come a long way since they were first introduced there are still photographers that prefer to use old film cameras. Some of them use film exclusively while others prefer film for specific scenarios.

There is no simple answer to the question which camera is better, film or digital. In some scenarios film is better than digital and in other scenarios digital is better than film. They both have advantages and disadvantages and the true answer to which is better is simply a list of differences. Here are a few:

The sensor: In film cameras a light sensitive film is situated behind the lens. To take a photo the shutter opens for a predetermined period of time and light hits the film “printing” a photo on the film. After a photo is taken the film is rolled and a fresh film is placed behind the lens. In digital cameras an electronic sensor (known as CCD) is situated behind the lens. The CCD is comprised of many tiny light sensitive sensors one per pixel. To take a photo the shutter opens for a predetermined period of time and light hits the sensor. Each pixel gets its value and together all the pixels comprise one photo. The photo is saved on a digital media and the CCD is electronically emptied.

The main difference between a CCD sensor and a film is the Depth of Field. Since digital sensors are smaller than 35mm film the depth of field is much bigger in fact in most compact digital cameras it is almost infinite.

Instant feedback: One of great features digital cameras is instant feedback. Digital cameras include a small LCD screen. After a photo is shot it can be viewed on that screen. If the photo is not good you can take another one. The ability to view the photos helps in making an educated decision on how to fix it or how to compose it better. It takes much of the guessing out of photography.

Photo capacity: Digital cameras today can hold hundreds and even thousands of digital photos on a single media. With extra storage media in your pocket digital cameras have virtually infinite capacity. On the other hand film cameras’ capacity is very limited. The standard is a roll of 36 photos which can hold only 36 photos. After such a roll is used changing to a new roll takes time and is not easy to do in scenarios such as darkness or a harsh environment. Rolls of film are not small and carrying rolls equivalent of thousands of photos is not practical.

Shooting angles: Digital cameras allow you to take photos without having your eye glued to the viewfinder. Combined with the virtually zero cost of taking photos and high capacity this means new opportunities for new shooting angles.

A photo cost: Photos taken with a digital camera really cost nothing. They are saved on erasable memory and thus can always be freely discarded. The photos that you decide to keep can be copied to digital media such as a computer’s hard disk. With low digital storage prices the cost of storing one photo is practically zero. Film does cost money. A roll of film costs money and can not be reused. Every time that the shutter button is pressed money is spent regardless if you later on decide to discard them.

Photo processing: Digital cameras photos are basically computer files and can be manipulated by computer software. Such software is known as photo processing software and allows you to correct photos and create special effects. Some photo processing abilities are built-in cameras. With film on the other hand it is very hard to make corrections. If corrections are absolutely needed the easiest way to do them is to scan the negative or the printed photo (i.e. converted to digital) and process it on a computer as if it was a digital camera photo.

Adapting to different conditions: Rolls of film are designed for specific scenarios There are indoor and outdoor films or films with different light sensitivity. When conditions change a film camera photographer will have to shoot with the wrong film, change the roll (and lose the remainder photos) or use another camera with a different roll in it. Shooting photos with the wrong roll of film can result in distorted colors (reddish photos for example), a grainy photo and more.

With digital cameras on the other hand the characteristics of the sensor can be electronically set. With a click of a button the camera can change to indoor or outdoor mode, low light, night photography and son on.