Very few of us are professional photographers and when you look at our snapshots or photos you can see why. Something just seems to be a little off, but what? Well actually, it doesn't take all that much to transform not so good snapshots into beautiful photographs. In fact, just a few tips can get you well in your way to turning out great digital photos.

1. The first tip that could greatly improve many snapshots is to make sure that the background in your photos doesn't compete for attention. Much of the time, folks are paying too much attention to the main subject of the photo without giving enough regard to what is going on in the background. And oftentimes, the background can greatly affect the appearance of the main subject. For instance, when you don't notice the telephone pole in the background that looks like it's coming right out of your subject's head. So the quick fix for background problems is that if you are trying to stage a photograph, just remind yourself to look at the background first. If it seems too busy, or could be competing for attention, either change your angle for taking the photograph or move to a different area.

2. Not using fill in flash outdoors during the daytime results in dark and featureless faces. This usually happens because your subject is standing between you and a bright light source, usually the sun. So when the camera meters the exposure, it decides that it has to make the scene darker in order be correctly exposed. And that in turn means that your subject's faces will be very dark and almost indistinguishable. The good news is that almost all digital cameras come with a little pop-up flash unit that will let you light up your subject even though the camera may be metering for the bright light source. So before you take your snapshot, just take a look at where the sun is in relation to your subject and use your flash if needed. Remember, flash is not just for indoor shots.

3. One of the biggest mistakes that the average photographer makes is including way too much in the picture. Almost all photographers could improve the quality of their photos if they just zoomed in a little bit closer on their subjects. For instance, if you're taking a snapshot of your granddaughter, you really don't need to include 5 or 6 ft. above her head in the photo, or 3 or 4 ft. on each side. What you really want to focus on is your granddaughter's beautiful smile, so move right in close and eliminate all the unnecessary parts of the scene.

4. Another feature of many snapshots that actually detracts from the attractiveness of the photo is putting your subject in the dead center of the snapshot every time. This is a natural reaction for most people, however the truth is that photographs usually look best when the subject is slightly off-center in either direction. So before you take your snapshot think about dividing the picture up into thirds both up and down and across. Then try to position the main feature of your subject where those imaginary lines would cross each other in the scene. That will make sure that your subject is just a little off of center, and the snapshot will look so much better.

5. Another common feature of amateur photographers is that they seem to get stuck using their camera only one way, either horizontal or vertical. Most often it's the horizontal plane that is used. But many scenes could benefit from turning the camera a different direction, so before you shoot think quickly about whether this scene would look best shot horizontally or vertically.

These are just a few very easy tips and suggestions on how to get better results for your digital photographs, but if you make it a practice to implement them, you'll be amazed at the results you will get.

Thad Pickering writes on many consumer related topics including digital photography. You can find out how to buy digital camera online and about digital camera technology by visiting our Digital Photography website.