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Welcome to lesson two! The next two lessons are going to focus on camera basics. First off, we're going to talk about aperture - also called f-stop - and shutter speed. Those two things alone put me off for a very long time when I was a beginner and considering learning more about photography. All the years I spent growing up while I was young, I had a camera in my hands. I have boxes full of photographs of school events, slumber parties, the poodle I had growing up and all of my friends acting goofy. I figure some of that will make good blackmail material later on in life, but I digress… The point is that I was born with a love for taking pictures, but all of the crazy technical sounding stuff was very scary to me. If that's where you are, I'm here to tell you that you have nothing to be scared of. It takes a while to get the feel of how to know exactly what you're doing, but the basic concepts are quite easy, and I'll give you some tools you can use to help you along until it all comes naturally to you.

Controlling the sun in a back lit portrait is the focus of this lesson. There are several ways to solve this lighting dilemma; the most common and easiest is the flash fill setting on your camera. Most modern digital cameras have a auto "flash fill" setting that gives adequate results when you apply them to a back lit outdoor portrait.

Taking pictures of your friends and family is lots of fun-but sometimes the results aren't entirely what you had in mind or just don't seem flattering. In this book, you'll learn to take your people pictures to the next level, crafting images that look much more polished and professional-photos that can truly be called "portraits" and not just snapshots. With these quick, two-page lessons illustrated by simple images from the pros, you'll learn how to avoid common problems with posing, lighting, and background selection. You'll be amazed at the improvement in your images-and so will your friends and family!