I enjoy collecting and taking different pictures but I'm not very much confident with those pictures I have taken... I'm wondering if there are steps to be followed to be able to get a best shot.

Well, there's different things, but I think the basics are good lighting, having the lens properly focused on the subject of the photograph, keeping the camera steady, only using flash when necessary. That's the first few thing I thought of.

I am not a professional photographer, but I like taking pictures, too, and of course I want them to be good. One of the things I keep in mind is background: is there anything ugly showing behind the people I'm photographing? Anything broken, old, or unfinished is, to me, unacceptable. I had to take photos in our still unfinished house, and I'd always find a spot where you couldn't tell that the house was still being worked on.

I like taking pictures, too, but I'm no professional. While some people love to be photos, I would much rather be behind the camera than in front of it. I took an art history class about photography, and I learned to appreciate photography a lot more.

Thanks so much Joyjoy, that's useful advice. I also like taking pictures even I wonder if it can be considered my hobby. I use a digital pocket camera, so everything is automated, I just shoot and it's done

Even with a digital camera, I still feel very unskilled at taking a good picture. Sometimes I don't have enough lighting or the picture looks a little crooked. I would like to take a picture that doesn't need to be cleaned up in Photoshop afterwards.