Thank you for the tip. Although it seems obvious and simple, a layman like myself tends to overlook framing. I will give it a try next time :) thanks Michael!
people give away their settings all the time. it's not the settings that make the shot, it is knowing how to compose and use aspects of shutter, AV, iso, etc combined to make it. sure you can give them the settings, but if they can't compose for beans, they are useless. visit potn forums or download exif viewer through firefox extension. many many ways to find out how things were done.
Great tips, but its also good to break the "rules". I see a lot of books on "how" to take photographs, but if the picture turns out the way you want it to, thats all that matters.
depends on the lightning conditions and what kind of effect you want to create.
michael's videos on shutter speed, etc give you a pretty good idea i think