Photography, as a very important visual medium, has had major influence on society since its beginnings. With photography, you can exchange lots of information with the recipient, you can tell the truth and show the real picture, but with it, you can also manipulate and create something that is not necessarily the truth. In order to society, meaning individual observers, be able to recognize the value of the photograph, it is important to raise the level of visual literacy. To do so, understanding of basic photographic terms and practices is necessary. This is also the main topic of this work. All the areas of photography are concisely unified in this work, so they make a consistent ensemble, from which basics of photographic practice can be learned. Most important people who gave their contribution to the development of basis of modern photography are mentioned in short chronological overview of its formation. Along with the development of photography, its purpose also grew. New types of photo cameras and photo equipment developed, and technical performance was brought almost to perfection. Apart from technical settings; composition and basic compositional principles also impact the quality of the photograph. The biggest role in creation of visual media belongs to the author, that it is, photographer, which through his ideas and performances, sends out a message. Message which observers should, with the help of visual perception, interpret in their own individual way. Right in that moment of perception, the necessity for earlier mentioned visual literacy comes in play.