Eight Tips for Shooting Great Digital Photos


Do you have trouble shooting good digital photos? Perhaps you've been taking digital photos for some time, but never really got the beautiful shots you wanted. Maybe you somehow messed up the photos you took of important events, like your daughter's birthday or your trip to Paris.

How do you begin to take good photos? Well, the first thing to remember is this: It's the photographer that takes great photos, not the camera. We've all seen people take great photos with a simple point-and-shoot camera, while some take lousy shots with the most expensive SLR. Read these tips on shooting digital photos and apply them the next time you have a chance. Before long, you'll be shooting photos like a pro!

1. Know Your Camera
You buy the latest digital camera out there, come home, rip off the box, then proceed to fiddle with the device. You briefly flick through the hundred page camera manual and then never look at it again. Not a good idea! If you buy a digital camera, you owe it to yourself to understand its ins and outs. Learn how to control exposure, how to use different camera modes and how to use the flash. The knowledge you gain about the camera will be invaluable when you're out in the field taking those special photos.

2. Learn to Control the Flash
One of the most important things you need to know about digital photography is how to control the flash. Do not rely on the automatic flash that comes with the digital camera. Depending on the situation, you need to switch off or switch on the flash.

For example, when taking outdoor photos, it is sometimes good to turn on the flash to illuminate the subject, especially if he or she is in the shade. On the other hand, you can also choose to turn off the flash when taking indoor shots. Sometimes, using the flash indoors will result in unnatural skin color and harsh glare in your photos.

3. Understand the Aperture Setting
With the correct aperture setting, it is not necessary to rely on the flash to illuminate your image. The aperture works by controlling the amount of light entering the lens and thus, the intensity which is used to create the final image within the camera. By opening the aperture, it is possible to get great results from indoor photos and night shots, alike.

4. Play with the ISO Setting
I find the ISO setting in digital cameras very useful. The ISO setting of a camera essentially controls its sensitivity to light. If you're taking a photo of a still object, like a flower, then always use a low ISO setting. It allows for a longer shutter speed and produces a cleaner image. If you're shooting a moving object, like a baby playing with a toy, then a higher ISO setting of around 400 would be better. Do take note, however, that a higher ISO setting gives a faster shutter speed and requires less light. This will produce noisier photos.

5. Use the Tripod
I recommend this tip to all budding photographers - camera tripods are an essential tool in your photography arsenal. When will you need a tripod? Well, it's useful if you're taking shots under low-light conditions or trying to capture fast moving objects. I like to use a tripod when taking night shots of city streets, for example. Always try to look for a tripod that's convenient to carry around. For personal use, you don't need a huge one - just a simple compact one that's easy to pack.

6. Hold the Camera Level
A basic rule of photography is to hold the camera level. Since most digital cameras come with a LCD, you can use it to properly frame your shots. Next time you're taking a shot, try to look for the horizontal lines and use them as guides. A good example is to make use of the horizon when you're taking a photo of a sunset.

7. Play with the Macro Mode
Almost all digital cameras these days have a macro mode. This setting is ideal for taking close up shots of objects like flowers or insects. On the Canon PowerShot series, it's represented by a flower symbol. What you do is to pick a subject, turn on macro mode, then get as close to it as your camera will allow. Make sure you allow the camera to focus properly before depressing the shutter button fully.

8. Have Enough Memory Capacity
Just like you must have enough rolls of film when using traditional cameras, make sure you always have enough memory capacity in your digital camera. It's terrible to be on a holiday taking great photos and suddenly realizing you've no memory space left. Here are some general guidelines for digital camera storage.

2 megapixel cameras - get at least a 64MB card
3 megapixel camera - get at least a 128MB card
4 megapixel camera - get at least a 256MB card
5 megapixel camera and above - get at least a 512MB or 1GB card

Conclusion

While the latest and greatest digital cameras have amazing features, you still need to be a reasonably skilled photographer to take nice pictures. Apply the foregoing tips to your everyday shooting and learn to be a better photographer.

 

Are your precious photos safe?

Are you backing up your precious photos? Our computers and removable storage media are full with experiences and precious moments. However, electronic media is not safe. Hard disks crash and removable media fails.

Disasters can happen. Digital photo albums are vulnerable and, if not backed up, you lose thousands of photos and a lifetime of moments in just one hard disk crash.

What are backups? Backups are just copies of our files that are put in a safe place. Examples of such copies can be photos put on a DVD and stored at a friend's house. The DVD could, of course, be stored in your own house, but that would be less safe because a disaster in your house might result in your losing both your computer and the backups.

A few years ago, backups were hard to make. You practically had to be a computer guru to figure out how to use backup software. Today, however, backup has been made easy through a number of software solutions and online services. Below, you can find two main options for backing up your photo albums: burning them to a DVD/CD or using an online backup service.

Backing up to a DVD/CD

Backing up to a DVD/CD is done by using a DVD/CD writer drive and software. This feature is provided in ImageMixer. With the addition of ImageMixer LabelMaker and quality media provided by Maxell, you have a complete backup and archiving solution.

When backing up your photo albums to a DVD/CD please make sure that you put the DVD/CD in a safe place. A good option would be somewhere outside of your home such as with a family member, a neighbor you can trust, or a friend. Another thing to remember with DVD/CD backup is that when you take new photos you should remember to refresh your backups. Usually, unless your photo album is very big, the easiest way to do that is just to burn your complete collection again.

Backing up to an online backup service

As with many other services, backup has found its way to the Internet too. A number of sites provide backup services today for everything from digital photo albums to your word processing documents. Those services usually charge a monthly fee in the $10 to $20 range, but some provide a more limited service for free. The idea behind the service is simple: instead of backing up to a DVD/CD, you just upload your photos to a site and create a copy there. The site stores the backups for you in a safe place far away from your computer. If a disaster happens and you need your files, you can simple download them back from the site or ask them to send you a DVD/CD with the files (not all services provide the latter option). A broadband connection is needed in order to use this option.

There are many advantages to using an online backup service. First, they are usually very easy to use. Some provide software that you download and install on your computer. You then point to the folder where your photos reside and the software takes it from there. It will make sure new files are uploaded to the backup service and that your backup is always fresh.

The disadvantages lie in the monthly expense and poor communication with the provider due to limitations on bandwidth and failure or dropped connections.

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