KNOW WHY you are taking photos

Should you shoot horizontally or vertically? If you have a choice of digital cameras, which one should you use? What camera settings will you use? Will your photographs be framed or displayed on a Web page? Are you going to display your photographs in a series, or should they be shot in a particular style? Are you shooting to get backgrounds or objects to include in another photograph? Do you plan to digitally edit your photographs with an
image editor such as Adobe Photoshop after you take them?
Your answers to these questions and others like them will have a substantial impact on how you should shoot. Knowing why you are taking photos before you take them can help you get the photos that you want. For example, suppose you make a once-in-a-lifetime trip and get excellent pictures. You then decide to make a calendar but cannot find enough photos to fit the horizontal format that you have chosen. Thinking about why you are taking the photographs and how they are likely to be viewed can help you to better plan your photographs.

This photo of a green anole was
taken so that it could be used in
a variety of media.

Minor cropping enables the
photo to be displayed in a Web
browser-based photo gallery.

Vertical orientation and
composition makes it
possible to frame this
photo in standard-sized
photo frames and mat
boards.

Good cover design allowed the leaf on the
left side of the photo to be used for the
magazine’s cover text.