Challenge yourself a few seconds of thought before you click your camera. More often than not, we click away when all the elements in our view finder is focused. Never mind that it's not well “composed” or balanced… or the colors don't match… or horrors(!) there is a stranger in the background who isn't budging from your frame and you're too busy clicking away and shouting at everyone to keep still.

Challenge yourself NOT to click for a few seconds and to start “planning” your shot. Planning. That is a key word for perfectly composed pictures.

Composition is how you bring everything that's going to be in your picture to “work” well to bring about one great shot: colors, balance, lighting, perspective, etc.

If this sounds way too technical for you, just think of this: a perfectly composed picture is one that won't leave you wondering what is the “topic” or the “focus” of the entire shot.

First off, there is no right or wrong composition in photography. What looks “good” to some, might not be for others. Composition is largely a matter of personal “taste.” There are however guides you can follow as you start on your way to taking better pictures – one that conveys your intended message. The unspoken rule is, break the guides only after you have mastered them.

The difference between a ‘nice' and a ‘great' digital photograph can be as simple as a change in composition. How the shot is framed, the angle from which the shot was taken, the position of the elements and the colors and contrast of a shot all play important parts in getting a picture that's worth scrapping. Perfectly composed pictures are often the result of great planning. Rarely do you get one by accident.

Here's how you plan.

Ask yourself some of the following questions quickly before taking a shot. The possibility of having a much better shot will be much higher than just snapping at your subject and hoping that somehow one or two pictures turn out right.

• What is the subject of this photo? If there is more than one, would it help “focus” on each subject by taking each of them in multiple shots rather than forcing it all into one?
• What is the mood of the moment? How can I “capture” it?
• What is going on in the background?
• Do I have time to pose my subject (and is it appropriate to do so) or do I need to shoot fast?
• Is the place I'm shooting in light or dark?
• Who else is taking photos of this subject? What angles are they taking shots from (sometimes they can give you ideas of what shots to take and sometimes they can give you hints as to what images EVERYONE is taking and inspire you to do something different)?
• Is my subject moving or still?
• Are there any patterns in the photo that I could work with?

Ernie: You might think that asking these questions BEFORE taking your shot would make you lose the opportunity, dampen your spontaneity or miss that moment where everything just falls into place for you to click away. Think. If this is going to take you much time to “assess” everything then ask yourself whether you'd rather “gamble” on getting that one perfect shot rather than increase the chances that you will, after a few seconds of thinking. Me? I don't like to gamble. I have to be sure.

Paten: My take? Good photographers can create their perfect moment if they miss the one that presents itself naturally. You'll eventually get that skill as you improve. At the moment however, the aim is not in quantity but quality. Get that one great shot that would “deserve” your precious scrapping stocks and time.