One tip to remember is to try to keep the subject you are photographing brighter than the background. true false

Hey there!

I would say this is true in most cases. If you're not trying to purposefully do some sort of backlighting photo, this is definitely true. In a photo, the subject should be the main focal point of the photo, not the background. If the background is brighter than the subject, the subject will blend in and won't stick out like you want it to. So, the subject should be brighter than the background for the purpose of your subject being the first thing people will see. 

Hope this helped you out! :-)