Here the lighting originates predominantly from behind the subject. This backlighting produces shadows on much of the girl’s face.

For this shot, we turned the subject slightly so that the light is coming from the side. By doing this, we have added a more “rounded” and fuller look to the facial features.

This photo was taken in the shade where the light was soft. This type of lighting made the young girl’s skin tones equally soft.

Here, I’ve placed the subject in a location that has strong side lighting. I like the effect on the highlighted side of the face. Take care not to overexpose the highlights.

In this snapshot, we’ve left an even border around the head and upper body of the child. It makes for a nicely framed shot although the background is a little distracting.

For this shot, we moved in closer to fill the viewfinder with the child’s head. There is almost no border around the photo, yielding a more dramatic view of the child.

Concerts and stage productions are most often set against very dark backgrounds such as this one. Since the camera sets the exposure by averaging the amount of light in a scene, a brightly lighted face is often overexposed.

The easiest way to prevent the performer’s face from being washed out is to reduce the exposure. For this shot, I used the camera’s exposure compensation to make a -2 (f/stop) adjustment. The face is now clearly visible.

Here Kris is celebrating the completion of her snowman. Although the sun is shining, the yard is in the shade of the trees thereby keeping her face in the shade.

Simply by using the camera’s exposure compensation and increasing the exposure by +1, we’ve reduced the effect of the shade and made her smile standout more.

This beautiful historic building, adorned with bright gold trim sits in the center of Brussels. This photo shows the structure’s intricate detail.

To add a different twist, I placed the camera close to the ground so that the cobblestones become part of an added perspective.

1. Ask for a window seat on left side of the aircraft. Approaches to landing are most often made with left hand turns.
   
2. Turn the camera’s flash off.
   
3. When the light is dim, set the ISO to 800 or higher.
   
4. Avoid shots when the sun is shining directly at the plane’s windows.
   
5. Rest the camera lens gently against the window.
   
6. For takeoffs and landings, you’ll need to use a shutter speed of 1/250 or faster.
   

   At cruise, you’ll be able to use a shutter speed of 1/125.
   

On an early morning flight we passed over the Rockies. The snow capped peaks make for a great contrast to the dark mountain base.

Shortly after takeoff, the aircraft passes through the lower layer of clouds on the way to open skies. The sun is starting to peak through the upper layer.

Here’s another attractive formation in the Rockies. I was lucky to have the warm color of the morning sunrise shed its even light on the mountains.

There’s beauty closer to the earth too. Here’s a shot of a picturesque river on approach to the Munich Airport.

It’s a buyer’s market with such a wide variety of high quality, reasonably priced digital cameras available. For everyday use, I bought a compact camera with a high optical zoom lens. Perfect for travel, it’s small and fits in my coat pocket so is always near at hand.

On a recent trip, I spotted this iconic sign as I was driving. Knowing that I had a camera in my coat pocket, I stopped the car, pulled out the camera and shot using its no flash mode. Without the camera, the sign would remain only a faint memory.

It was still dark when we landed at the airport in Denver. It’s a beautiful sight with the terminal decorated as lighted mountain peaks. The small camera in my coat pocket was conveniently at hand allowing me to shoot this photo from my window seat.

Hungry, I searched for lunch and found a 50’s style restaurant. However, it was pouring rain as I ran from my car and found this old fashion gasoline pump at the entrance. Luckily, my camera was in my pocket and still dry .

Out in the wilderness with beauty all around, it’s sometimes hard to decide on how best to take that photo.

What is going to look better - horizontal or vertical? Well don’t fret, just go ahead and try both ways and then make your decision afterwards.

I prefer the vertical because it emphasizes the depth of the scene.

But since there is no right or wrong, you decide.

Although I was using a 400mm lens, I was unable to get any closer to this bald eagle. He was sitting on a small branch in a pine tree 200 feet away and 50 feet off the ground.

This photo shows the full frame. It has a resolution of 5600 x 3700 pixels.

To keep the eagle from remaining a speck on my print, I tightly cropped the image. This yields an 870 x 1300 pixel image. Had my original image had fewer pixels, the cropped image would have lost detail.