Tips for Taking Better Photos with your digital camera.

Whether you’re producing fine art or preserving everyday moments, these tips will improve every photo you take.

Despite the progress made by digital cameras with their advanced photo-taking systems coupled with sophisticated photo editing software which make it seemingly impossible to take a bad photo, it is still up to the operator to take the photo.

Anyone can point a digital camera at a subject and get a good quality snap shot. The camera will almost insure that the photo will be sharp and exposed correctly. However, the one thing the camera can’t do for you is to compose the shot.

Composition

Before you take that photo, stop to consider your composition—in other words, the way you’ve “framed” the photo. A few simple adjustments can make the difference between a casual “snapshot” and a truly moving photograph.

Good composition is the key to great photography. Taking well-composed pictures requires practicing the "rule of thirds." If you mentally divide your camera viewfinder into three horizontal and three vertical sections, where the lines intersect are considered ideal focal points. Focal points are what the eyes are naturally drawn to when you look at a photograph. Therefore, any one of these focal points is a good place to position your main subject.

It's not a hard and fast rule, but you should always mentally divide your viewfinder into a grid and try to place your subject at one of the focal points. The upper and lower horizontal lines represent the ideal location to place the horizon of a landscape picture. It depends on whether you want more earth or more sky in the photo.

 

Point of View

In order to take better pictures, you need to find the most unique vantage point. Don't be afraid to move around! Instead of always shooting at eye level try shooting overhead, waist-level or ground-level.

•   Lie down on the floor when shooting pictures of a crawling infant

•   Climb a tree to take a photo of a meadow

•   Squat down to take shots of perfectly planted spring tulips

•   Stand on a chair to take a picture of a class of graduating students

Most pictures will benefit if you take a few steps forward. Having your subject fill most the frame helps your viewer understand your photo and provides details that are often more interesting than an overall view. To get the clearest picture, use the camera's optical zoom if you can't move closer to your subject.

 

Pick the proper orientation

Your camera produces a rectangular image. This gives you two distinct orientations to work with—vertical or horizontal.

•    Often, your subject will lend itself to one orientation or the other. For example, a horizontal orientation is not ideal for tall objects. On the other hand, vertical orientation might not lend itself best to a wide shot.

•    Sometimes it’s not so obvious which orientation to choose. One sure way to know is simply to take your photo both ways and decide which looks best.

 

Frame your subject

Framing is what draws the viewer’s eye to the main subject. Creative ways to frame your subject are everywhere!

•    Take advantage of naturally occurring “frames”—or physical structures and patterns, like a footpath or a fence.

•    Overhanging tree branches, a doorway, or an arch can give a picture the depth it needs to make it more than just another snapshot.

•    Don’t forget, you can also use the foreground elements to frame your subject.

 The key to taking better photos is to experiment and try different perspectives. Look for angles that are interesting and demonstrate the mood you're trying to capture.

Getting the exposure right

Digital cameras use a light-sensitive chip to capture an image. The camera is designed to let light through a hole (aperture) on to the chip for a limited amount of time (exposure). Digital cameras use “auto exposure” to take care of exposing the picture for you. But there are a few things about aperture and exposure that you should be aware of.

A digital camera will gather the same amount of light with a large aperture and a short exposure or with a small aperture and a long exposure, but the image won't look the same. A wider aperture will reduce the “depth of field”, so that only objects at the focal point are in sharp focus. This is great for isolating a person from a busy background, but not so great for landscape photos, which require that everything be in focus.

Low-end cameras have a fixed aperture, so only exposure is affected by light. More expensive cameras offer “programmed exposure” modes, such as Landscape (narrower aperture, greater depth of field, longer exposure), Portrait (wider aperture, reduced depth of field, shorter exposure) and Sport (shortest exposure to freeze motion), while high-end cameras also offer full manual controls.

Even with a fully automatic camera, you can modify the exposure. Point the camera at the object you want correctly exposed and half-press the shutter button. Move the camera to compose your shot, and then squeeze the button fully to take the picture.

Many landscape photos turn out too dark because the exposure is overly influence by a bright sky. The trick is to lower the camera so that the light meter exposes more for the foreground area and then press the shutter button part way in order to lock in the exposure. Then re-compose the shot as before and press the shutter completely.

 

Focus

Auto-focus is great, but it isn't perfect. Most digital cameras tend to simply focus on what’s in the center of the picture. If your main subject is not dead center, point your camera at the subject, half-press the shutter button, re-compose to the desired scene, then finish pressing the shutter button. This will ensure that the main subject is perfectly sharp.

When taking close-up photos of say flowers, be aware of your camera limitations. Most cameras will only focus down to about a foot or two. A better way to get real close is to use the “macro mode” if one is available.

When taking wide-angle landscape shots, the camera will normally focus on infinity. This may result in closer objects not being in focus. If you focus on an object about 10 to 15 feet away, the foreground will be sharper and you'll still get the background in focus thanks to depth of field.

 

Lighting

Lighting is one of the most important elements of any picture, and understanding the color, direction, quantity, and quality of the light you use is one of the surest ways to improve your photos. Generally, poor lighting conditions results in poor pictures.

The importance of natural light

Photos taken using natural light (as opposed to artificial lights or flash) are more realistic and pleasing to the eye: •    Subtle textures are preserved.•    You'll get soft, diffused light and natural-looking shadows.•    Your photo subjects can open their eyes and will be   "squint-free."•    Pay attention to the direction of the light. Pose your subject to allow diffused daylight to fall on the front or side of their face and not behind (which can cause facial features to be in shadow).

The best time of day to take photos

The "magic hours" for photographers are early evening or early morning.

•    This is when natural light is soft and abundant.

•    You escape both the harshness of the midday sunshine and the difficulties of shooting at night.

•    Taking photos during these times can make a huge difference in the quality of your pictures.

•    You will benefit from colorful skies or landscapes. 

Just like a flash can mute colors in dark conditions, the midday sun can have the same effect for photos outdoors, casting deep shadows and reducing detail. Here are some ways to take better photos in harsh sunlight:

•    Seek shade
Under or around trees, shrubs or buildings are the easiest places to find respite from the midday sun.

•      Avoid bright light
Placing your subject in front of a bright light will leave them underexposed. This is where you can use your flash to “fill in” the light and counterbalance the bright light.

•    Scout your next photo shoot
If you have time, use the sunny afternoon as a time to scout locations for your next "golden hour" shots.

Use flash creatively 

Usually you don’t need flash for normal daytime outdoor shots unless it's very gloomy.

Of course, there are exceptions to most every rule. Although grey skies lend themselves to great midday photos, go ahead and try using your camera's flash on cloudy days. It may brighten up people's faces and make them stand out. But be sure to also take a picture without the flash, because the soft light of overcast days sometimes gives quite pleasing results by itself.

Keep in mind that a camera flash has a very limited range (for most cameras, the maximum flash range is five to ten feet) so it should only be used when the subject is fairly close. Use fill flash to help lighten up a subject in deep shadow.

It is best to avoid using flash indoors unless absolutely necessary: it tends to “burn out” subjects, can create harsh shadows and leads to re-eye. A better choice is to bounce the flash off the ceiling if your camera and flash support this option or to use a diffuser to prevent harsh light on your subject.

Another option is to let as much daylight in as possible and, turn on all of the lights. You have the option of using fill flash when there's enough light in the scene but your subject isn't well lit. Most pro will use the flash mixed with a low speed (1/15 of a second) to capture the ambient light.

Under certain circumstances you might want to turn the flash off and let the camera deal with the low light condition by increasing exposure. This won't work in very dim conditions, but can give better results than flash. Be sure to guard against camera shake by using a tripod.

 

Use your flash to balance bright light

It sounds counterintuitive, but when taking pictures on sunny days, turn your flash on. It can help bring details out of the shadows.

•    If the sun is overhead, using the camera's flash can lighten harsh face shadows.

•    If the sun is only hitting one side of your subject's face, using flash can reduce the shadow effect.

•    If your subject is slightly shadowed but backlit by bright sunlight, using your flash equals out the light in front of your subject with the light behind for a balanced shot.Because your camera decides whether or not to use the flash based on the total amount of light available, on a sunny day your camera would not fire the flash if it were on automatic. That’s when you have to do the thinking for your camera and force your flash to fire.

Experiment with Different Modes

Most digital camera owners get lazy and shoot exclusively in the "auto mode." If you want to enhance your photos, it will pay to crack open your camera manual and discover how to manually control your camera’s aperture, shutter speed, ISO, and white balance and to experiment with different shooting modes.

You can also explore your camera's automatic shooting modes. Many of them—like Portrait, Close-up, Sport... — will automatically optimize settings for your particular situation, adjusting shutter speed, ISO, and almost everything else.

Steady the camera

The key to getting sharp photos is keeping your camera steady while pressing the shutter button. Digital cameras are so light that special care is required to hold them steady during shooting. Squeeze the button very gently, making sure you don't jerk the camera as you press the shutter button.

Consider using a tripod especially in low light situations, long zooms or slow shutter speeds. If you don’t have a tripod try leaning against a wall to help steady your shot. Another option is to rest the camera on something solid such as a table.

 

Shoot at the highest resolution available

If you want to print your images or enlarge a part of the image, you'll get the best results from a larger file. You can always decrease the resolution of the image on your computer to email them, but starting off with a low-resolution image does not give you the flexibility to print your picture.

In most cases, the 32 or 64 Megabyte (MB) card that came with your camera won't be enough. Get the highest capacity removable storage card within your budget. For most occasions, a 1GB card will suffice. Falling prices are making these cards very affordable. Having more capacity than you think you'll need lets you concentrate on taking pictures and not filling up the card.

 

Take as many pictures as possible

The more images you take, the better your chances are of getting that special shot. We are not talking about photos from the same spot or angle! Remember to move around, change your lenses or use the camera zoom, change your point of view.... Because you don't incur any costs until you print your images, take as many shots as you can. Immediately deleting images you don't want minimizes the task of deleting images because you're running out of storage capacity. When in doubt, save the image until you can view it on your computer monitor.

Have extra batteries and digital card

Digital cameras are notorious for consuming batteries. Consider investing in an extra rechargeable battery. You can continue to take pictures while the other set is charging.

A digital camera's LCD screen uses lots of battery power so to maximize battery life, use the camera's viewfinder if there is one on the camera.

One of the easiest and fastest ways to transfer images between the camera and computer is to use a card reader. This method is often faster than using the transfer cable that may have been included with your camera. In addition, if your camera does not have a docking/recharging station, the card readers avoid tying up your camera and draining its batteries when it is left on for long periods of time while transferring images.

You can experiment by taking as many test shots as you like using various camera settings, compositions, etc. You get instant feed back by way of the preview screen. If you don't like the shot, it can be deleted right away.

Enjoy your camera and have FUN!