I’m always interested in finding simple things you can do to take better pictures. Here are some links I’ve collected.

• Take better pictures of friends and family: Turn off your flash.
• Ten tips for taking better photos.

One thing I discovered as a tourist is that if you ask a random person to take your picture (because you’re traveling alone or because it’s a group picture), they will usually gladly oblige, but they will also do a really bad job of framing the photo.

Here’s what I want: A head-and-shoulders shot of me with the object of interest.

Usually I’ll get this: The photographer has zoomed out because they want to get my whole body (and my sneakers and my backpack that I put on the ground because I don’t want it in the picture):

At least some cropping and zooming can undo that.

Worse is when the photographer tries to fix the problem by taking a few steps back, thereby changing the relative sizes of the object and me.

When you take a few steps back, I get smaller but the object of interest remains the same size (since it is further away).

I’ve tried a few things, like taking a sample photo to show what I want. (“Just do this again, but I’ll be standing there.”) It usually doesn’t help. The volunteer photographer will take the picture they want.

I can’t really complain, because they were doing me a favor. But I’ve also learned to set my expectations appropriately and assume that any picture not taken by me will not be framed in a manner I like.

This upcoming Sunday is National Selfie Day, according to some DJ in Texas.