Useful Hints This is where we give practical, realistic examples to help you take better photos. Rule #1 - Don't Shoot Into The Sun"... a classic example! Most modern compact cameras have an automatic exposure system, which also governs the flash. If you are shooting into bright light, the auto exposure system decides that no flash is necessary. Unfortunately, as you can see in the picture on the left, in compensating for the bright sunlight, our subjects look rather dark and washed-out. If you cycle through the flash modes by pressing the flash button continuously, until "constant flash" is selected (usually a steady lightning bolt icon on the display panel of your camera), the autoexposure system is now over-ridden. The flash will now fire, and our subjects are saturated with light, filling in the harsh shadows thrown by the sun. What a difference a little flash makes! Remember to keep nice and close to the subject, so that the full efficiency of the flash is maximised. See? Some rules WERE meant to broken! Using the same trick, in a similar situation... Another common example of the camera being "too smart". Again, the auto exposure is tricked into thinking that there is enough light for a good exposure. In comparison, our subject is lost in darkness, resulting in a disappointing silhouette. By using the same method of selecting "constant flash", the result is another pleasing exposure. Cheers, Carol! How do you like your steak... Medium or Well-done?   Just as we have personal preferences for food most of us also have our own idea of how a photograph should look. Some prefer darker prints and some lighter, some go for warmer colours and some colder. When we print your films we have to choose a print density and colour balance which experience has shown us most people are happy with. When the photograph shows something we are all familiar with such as skin tones then our job is fairly easy. It is the one subject that can be used as a guide to obtain the correct "look" of a print. When we print something that does not contain such an easily recognisable subject then we have to use our own judgement of how the original looked and how the person who took the photograph wants the finished print to look. Take the photographs of the sunset below, we can print this kind of shot either darker to give a more dramatic effect or lighter for a more subtle effect, to say nothing of the varied hues we could introduce. When asking us to make an enlargement of this kind of shot we prefer that you give as an original print so that we can get an idea of how you feel the finished print should look. Your taste may differ widely from ours but when we know what you like then we will try to give you what you want. Photography is the one artistic medium that we can all become involved in and it is the one where we can very easily express our own preferences.