[slideshow] Last week my good friend Rich asked me to demonstrate a few things I learned in Skips Summer School, so this post and several to follow will let me do just that.

One very important, but usually forgotten task is to pose eyes. I did not have a chance to set up a portrait session, but I will demonstrate this works for any type of photography. In this case sports!

In this sting of photos note on the picture of the boy grabbing a pebble and getting the catcher gear on, you do not see the pupils. Yet you will follow them to what they are looking at! This allows you to create some drama and set the stage for a good photo.

In the remaining photos note how the eyes add or subtract from the image. In each case the boy catching (well trying to catch) has eyes visible or hidden from view. I think most viewers will automatically have a great sense of connection to the photos where they can see what the boy was focusing on. This applies to whether or not you can see the object of the boy's interest (the ball) in the photo.

And a final learning point...remember I said to get the ball in the photo? Well there is the tip again! Photos with the ball in them make the photo more relevant and understandable.

So whenever you edit any photo session, apply these rules of thumb. It will lead you right many, many more times than not.

(Thanks to Roberto Valenzuela and Scott Kelby for those tips...and their books have many more)

-ehw