Shutter Priority and Aperture Priority. Take a look at which mode to use when, how to work with them, and when it pays to choose manual mode.

They say that practice is what teaches best. This is also true for photography. And yet you can find people who mainly read about photography—when it’s time to pick up a camera, they hesitate.

Every photographer starting out wants to get the best shots but this does not come without effort to learn the basics that can allow one to perform well as a photographer.

You’ve probably heard the term “crop factor” at some point—but do you know what it means? And is your camera’s crop factor a help, or a hindrance? Let’s take a look at what crop factor says about your camera’s quality.

Macro photography is one of those genres where equipment really matters. Even in ordinary photography, it’s all about light, and in macro photography that goes double, especially when it comes to light diffusion.

Definitely don’t throw out that old Leica gathering dust in your attic! Or any other film camera you’ve got. Considering today’s super-sensitive sensors with an ever-growing megapixel count, the old analogs might look like dinosaurs riding a modern retro wave, but they actually can serve better than you think.

We see the world in color, and cameras can reliably record the colors we see. Despite this, a black and white conversion will often make a photo better. When does black and white pay off?

Glass—a photographer’s worst enemy. It’s usually best to just avoid it. But what if you want to immortalize your favorite fish in an aquarium? Or photograph your brother with a tiger behind glass at the zoo? There are loads of situations like this.

Having at least some part be sharp in every photo is a goal for most photographers. But it doesn’t always work out. After all, there’s a number of things that can prevent sharp photos.

We all often examine the work of other photographers, professionals, and the best in our field so as to capture and absorb at least a part of their skill, so we can apply it later in our own pictures. Let’s try extending our study of the great works one step farther outwards, to painting. What can painters’ great works offer photographers?