Freezing rain is falling, your tomcat is suing you for royalties from the YouTube videos he starred in, and every bird in the city boycotts your feeder because of your snoopy telephoto lens. Cheer up! We all have those days when we feel like f/16 in an f/1.4 world. But there’s always something to take pictures of—and it often can be found as close as our own kitchen.

As the saying goes: “Composition makes or breaks a photo.” This is particularly true when shooting complicated outdoor scenes. The tutorial below will help take your images from “meh” to WOW with a few simple framing techniques for maximum impact.

Let’s face it: Image noise is your enemy, and these grainy artifacts can destroy an otherwise great shot. Noise occurs when using certain camera settings, especially when shooting in low light with high ISO settings.