Taking Pictures
At the end of the day if you like the picture that is good enough. Judges and camera club members may not agree with you though so be prepared they can be picky when giving you feedback. However this encourages you to take better pictures.
Nobody takes 100% pictures every time, you take them and see if you have captured the scene when you get back and see It on a good quality computer monitor in post production.
Although having a good camera helps, it isn’t necessarily essential at the start , probably best to try things and see what works. The key thing is to slowly move from taking everything in auto where the camera is doing all the work.
Don’t forget to ask first if taking pictures of people and especially children.
Composition
Going to camera club talks lets you see a lot of very good pictures and gives ideas about different styles of pictures with wildlife , landscapes and portraits being the main ones.
There are some basic rules that apply such as the rule of thirds which is how we prefer to view images. Draw two lines vertical and two lines horizontal crossing them as if playing noughts and crosses. Ideally your main features of the pictures should sit on these lines. Many cameras offer these grid lines in the viewfinder to assist the picture taker.
Also helpful are lead in ideas like roads, paths and fences which take your eye through the picture. Triangle shapes are also good to use. Add some sense of scale If possible by including something like a person, car or bicycle.
You can see what the camera will take using live view.
