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A good photographer can take a great picture with a camera phone, they just wont be able to print it very large. Whether you are shooting Canon, Nikon, Sony, Olympus, medium or large format or anything else it doesn't matter. All that changes is how large you can print it. What matters is the eyes and head of the person behind the camera. We use Canon because they have the largest selection of lenses. Most people don't need such a variety and all the basic lenses are covered by all major brands.
With regard to composition of your photographs you need to consider every detail that you want in the photograph and eliminate what you don’t want. Beginners biggest problem I see is people tend to want to center each other. Then you have this space above their head that is completely useless and doesn't add anything to the photograph. If you want the posture and gestures of their bodies include them. If you want only facial expressions include adjust your framing that way. There is a generally accepted rule of thirds that is used for composition. Avoid centering, that being said, it completely depends on your subject matter. The most important advice for composition is that you need to look through your viewfinder and think about what you want in the photograph. If you only want the leaves of trees then only include them. If you want to focus on eye makeup get a macro lens and get up close. Photographers need to be observant as possible. But they decide what is in the photo. If you don't want something included you need to compose it differently or get good at photoshop and the clone tool in particular. Be active, if there is a piece of garbage throw it out of the picture, move your angle so not to include a lamp post. Only include in the composition what will make the photograph better. This may mean its centered or for something more abstract it may be in one corner with the rest of the photograph as white space. The only real rule is that it should be visibly appealing.
In addition to taking photographs we offer Denver Photography Courses. We also enjoy teaching others how to become a better photographer. We designed photography courses for exactly that purpose. We help with understanding of all aspects from camera basics to advanced techniques. Denver Photography lessons are available evenings, weekends and during the week when schedule permits. For more information visit us at:
