What makes a great photo? Well if you like it, that's a start. If your peers tell you it's a nice shot, well that's even better. To increase your percentage of hits to misses there are guidelines that can help with your composition that have been in use for thousands of years, in the world of art. One such guideline is the "Rule of Thirds" and its very simple to get a grip of. If you divide your picture up into threes, both horizontally and vertically, and you place one of the main points of interest in your scene on one of the lines or intersections, it will generally result in a more aesthetically pleasing image than if you had made everything very centrally placed. Even though it says "Rule of Thirds" it isn't an exact science but "Guideline of Thirds" doesn't quite have the same ring to it! Simply turning the camera from a horizontal viewpoint to vertical can make a big difference and is something a lot of people don't automatically do. Try shooting the same subject in both ways to see how it looks, and you will find with practice you will be able to choose the correct orientation to suit most subjects. Digital compact camera memory is very inexpensive these days and there is no reason not to take lots of shots, picturing the same thing from different viewpoints, and snapping hundreds of pictures a dive, this will give you the experience and instincts to compose well. This doesn't mean you should adopt a scattergun approach to your photography, with the idea that "one is bound to come out if I take enough" but more so you get valuable practice composing and framing, with the added bonus that you are getting more and more familiar with your cameras varied functions. Don't be afraid to "shoot from the hip". This is a technique that lets you put the camera into positions and places you wouldn't easily be able to get into yourself, and can often mean taking the picture with your screen out of view, at a funny angle or with something obscuring it. It's fun to do, can result in some great pictures from difficult angles, and as you play with this more, you will be able to more closely predict what the camera is seeing. As always, it is worth having a go on land first.