Digital Photography Tips

Not happy with your digital photos? If yes, keep reading, and if no, at least pretend that you are reading this for the first time.. You might learn a thing or two.

With the surge of photo blogging and the use of digital cameras, capturing good quality shots has become a requirement for all of us. Well, I will not claim that everyone can be a professional photographer overnight but yes, after reading the following tips, you might get a few assignments from Hollywood (I am serious)… Anyway, go on..

Blurred Photographs

This is the most common problem that infests digital photos. In order to avoid your pictures from getting blurred, you should hold your camera steadily when clicking a photo or just use a tripod stand if your digital camera supports it. Also remember that any photos that you capture from a moving vehicle will always have some amount of blurriness (So don’t try to be a hero next time).

You should also take care that you don’t get too close to your subject (Specially if its a wild animal or a hot chick) otherwise your photos will become blurred. The nearest focal distance for most cameras including the digital ones is about three feet so if you get closer than the focal distance of your camera, your pictures will not come out nicely. Most of the digital cameras have an auto-focus feature and they will focus on whatever is in the center of your photograph. In order to improve the photo quality, you should move the subject further from the focal center (Take care not to push someone off the edge).

In the worst case scenario , if your photo has a little bit of blur, it can be fixed using different photo editing softwares like Adobe Photoshop. They have a sharpen feature that should take care of the small amount of blur. Don’t overdo it as that can spoil the photograph totally, so make a backup before you start editing. In cases where the photos are extremely blurred, it is not possible to repair them effectively (Say goodbye to your photography career).

Another effective method to reduce blur is by increasing your camera’s shutter speed. If your digicam allows you to manually set the camera shutter speed, it is good to remember that on high shutter speeds, blurring is dramatically reduced. And if your camera doesn’t have this feature, its time to buy a new one.

Check out these amazing high speed shots by a photographer called Jasper Nance. The objects are being shot by a high speed pellet gun and the process is captured in a camera. Look, no blur at all!

Landscape Photos

When clicking a landscape style photo, remember that the horizon line plays a vital role in the quality of the picture. Try to keep the horizon in an horizontal angle along with the subject in focus. A ration of 2:3 (sky to land) is good enough for a landscape photo.

The best way to get your horizon in a straight line is to simply line it up with view finder of your camera. Keep in mind that the edges of your frame in your viewfinder or LCD screen will be the edges of the actual image and will be the reference point for the eventual viewers of your photos to work out whether your shot is straight or not.

A common issue in digital photography is the background for your shots. Examine carefully the space behind your subject to see what else is being covered in the image (If you see something dangerous..leave your camera and run). Decide whether you want the background in focus or nice and blurry and adjust your focus accordingly.

Lighting & Focus

Always make sure that there is a good amount of light present in the space where you are clicking your photos. The source of the light could be anything from natural to artificial but it should be adequate so that your photos don’t look dark (And yea.. I am not even talking about the Paris Hilton tape). Also take note that your subject is well lit, and in order to do so you can move the subject closer to the light source or vice versa.

If there is not adequate light, you can use your flash or the night vision mode if available in your camera. Remember that both these methods will only be effective at short range only.

When people are not very good at photography, they tend to take shots where the viewer has to strain his eyes to focus on the subject of the photograph. Try taking close up shots if your subject is smaller than the size of a car so that you see all the fine details including the freckles or that arched eyebrow.

An eye to eye contact can be as useful in a photograph as it is in real life. When taking a picture of someone, adjust the camera at the person’s eye level to unleash the power of those magnetic gazes and mesmerizing smiles. Your subject doesn’t necessarily have to stare at the camera. All by itself that eye level angle will create a personal and inviting feeling that pulls you into the photo.

Colors

The colors which you use can add or take away the life of your photos, so be wise in choosing the right color setting for your shots. The saturation of your colors should be kept balanced without compromising on the quality of the photographs, so remember that a shade too light or dark can spoil your pictures. This also depends on the purpose for which the picture will be used.

If your photo is already bland then why not make it black & white by removing all the colors. That will give an aesthetic touch to it, and believe me when I say that black & white photographs have their special way of conveying an antique, sentimental feeling that isn’t possible in color pictures.

I will continue this article in my next post so keep reading for further tips.