While you can’t obviously learn everything in one photo article, this article gives you five basic tips to start using right away. Whether you have a point-and-shoot camera and rely on preset modes or you are now the proud, albeit confused, owner of a professional SLR camera, there are certain basics that once understood will send you on your way towards taking extraordinary pictures. Here are five important and easy to use tips that you can put to use right away.1) Resolve to Have Enough ResolutionAlthough a low resolution setting saves space on your memory card, it doesn’t make suitable prints. You can easily resize and make a picture smaller in free programs like Picasa (“resize” is hidden under “export”) but making an image larger rarely looks good. When you enlarge the photo, the pixels that make up the picture are spread thinner.If you plan to p photography basics rint your pictures, choose medium or high resolution. Depending upon your camera, 3 megapixels should give you a high quality 4×6 image and possibly even a nice 8×10 image. For excellent quality 11×14′s go for 6 megapixels.2) Let There be Light (but Make it the Right Kind)Natural lighting is usually best, so don’t worry if you don’t have a fancy flash and reflectors. If your only flash is the built-in one, that’s all the more reason to opt for natural light. Built-in flashes can make subjects look flat. That’s why the pros use an external flash and bounce light off the umbrellas. There are tricks you can use like wearing a white shirt or taping foil to the camera to bounce the light off the ceiling, but if you want an easy way to get professional quality photos without the equipment, go outdoors.When shooting outdoors, consider the position of the sun.