Note that you shouldn't forget about some situations when automatic shooting will inevitably produce an unsatisfactory result:

• Dark or light clothes if they occupy a half or even more of the frame;
  
• Dark or bright background;
  
• Back lighting.
  
  

Very often there is so little lighting that the only solution to this problem is the flash. But I'd regard this device as a very dangerous weapon, especially in the hands of an inexperienced person. I advise you, if possible, to avoid using it in portrait shooting as a main source of lighting. The thing is that the flash creates rough, "ruthless" lighting - harsh shadows, awful 'red eyes' and excessive shine of the skin - all these are what the use of the flash results in. The use of the external flash will provide a lot greater control over the lighting. But if you do have to use a built-in flash, you should wrap it into semi-transparent or dull paper or lamina. This will soften the light and spread it more evenly.

There are several ways to avoid the 'red eye' effect:

• ask your human subject to look at the bright light so as the pupils of the eyes contract;
  
• change the human subject's glance, take it to the left (or to the right) of the objective lens;
  
• use the camera's red-eye reduction feature.
  
  

The camera's red-eye reduction feature turns on the red-eye reduction lamp to shine a gentle light into the subject's eyes to narrow the pupil diameter or iris. A smaller pupil reduces the chances of red eye from occurring.

When using an external flash, direct it away from the subject - to the wall or to the ceiling. The walls and the ceiling in this case should be white or neutral-grey. The soft reflected lighting is a lot better than the direct rough light of the flash which, in addition, casts deep shadows on the background. But you'd better bear it in mind that the intensity of the reflected light could be insufficient if the ceiling is not high. The brightly colored wall could produce an unpleasant shade which might spoil the image.

In photography as well as in other fine arts there are certain rules how to arrange the composition properly. The basic principle here is simplicity. In a photograph there should only be one visual center - an anecdotally significant object. All the other elements of the image play a secondary part focusing the viewer's attention on the anecdotal center and amplifying it.

The most common mistake is to position the main object of the shooting in the center of the picture area. Such a composition is rather static and inexpressive.

As early as in the Renaissance period painters found out that any