It’s always fun to see just how creative our site visitors are when it comes to photographic tips and tricks. Bottom line is you don’t have to be a professional photographer to have a great photographic tip.
Here are a few of the latest…
Think about lighting and angles — If your subject is on the larger side do not take his or her picture from a low angle. This will only make them look bigger. Try to elevate your position and have your subject point their chin up toward you.
Have you ever noticed that your shots sometimes have a cool, clammy feel to them? If so, you’re not alone. The default white balance setting for digital cameras is auto, which is fine for most snapshots, but tends to be a bit on the “cool” side.
When shooting outdoor portraits and sunny landscapes, try changing your white balance setting from auto to cloudy. That’s right, cloudy. Why? This adjustment is like putting a mild warming filter on your camera. It increases the reds and yellows resulting in richer, warmer pictures.
If you don’t believe me, then do a test. Take a few outdoor shots with the white balance on auto, then take the same picture again with the setting on cloudy. Upload the images to your computer and look at them side by side. My guess is that you’ll like the warmer image better.
Turn your flash toward the ceiling if you shot a portrait indoor. If your flash cannot move, like on most of compact and ultra-compact models, put a piece of tracing paper or white paper in front on it to soften the light.
A very simple trick for sharpening photos in Photoshop is to duplicate the layer, then go to filters. Click other, and go to high pass. Leave the setting of high pass at the setting 10.0. Now go back to your layer and change the blending mode to overlay.
You should see instant sharping. If the sharpening is too much adjust the opacity level until you have it where you want it.
A further refinement can be made by using the burn tool set at about 7 percent and set to shadows, to darken some of the edges that may have some blur.
Now is the time to check for noise, and use your favorite noise program to smooth out the image.
I often use the program mode to fire the flash in situations where the automatic mode will not fire the flash. If you’re under a picnic shelter w/bright sun and you’re shooting portraits, most likely the flash will not fire, and you’ll have a dark faces. If you can force the flash to fire, you will have a much better exposure. Anytime the subject has their back to a bright light source, fire the flash! It’s also good for later in the day, when it’s not quite dark enough for the automatic flash to fire. Use it as a fill in flash toward dusk. Makes much better portraits.
When photographing children, always get on their level. You will be so pleased with your pictures!
Take your time. Pick your shot. Just because we’re in a digital era with enormous amounts of storage at our disposal doesn’t mean it’s easiest and best to take a picture of anything and everything. Quantity doesn’t necessarily always increase your chances at producing a quality photo. Slow down. Smell the flowers. Watch the wind. Listen to your mind. Think about what you’re taking a picture of and why you think it would be a good photo.
Oh! Also – if you’re holding your camera and tend to shake like we all do while taking close up photos, try taking a deep breath and hold it in while you snap the shot. It will reduce your shaking.
If you really want to add some punch to your images, then get your hands on a polarizing filter. A polarizer is the one filter every photographer should have handy for landscapes and general outdoor shooting. By reducing glare and unwanted reflections, polarized shots have richer, more saturated colors, especially in the sky.
What’s that you say? Your digital camera can’t accommodate filters. Don’t despair. I’ve been using this trick for years with my point-and-shoot cameras. If you have a pair of quality sunglasses, then simply take them off and use them as your polarizing filter. Place the glasses as close to the camera lens as possible, then check their position in the LCD viewfinder to make sure you don’t have the rims in the shot.
If your camera doesn’t accept filters, then you can still achieve the effects of a polarizer by placing your sunglasses over the lens. Figure 2a is shot normally without any filtration. Figure 2b is shot during the same session, but with sunglasses placed over the lens. Notice the enhanced colors and deeper sky tones. (Canon PowerShot S200, Program mode). I hope it will help everyone.
I’m always changing the settings on my camera Which means that the next time I pick up the camera there’s a good chance it’s not set right.
So I decided to make a small card with a list of things I should check before taking pictures. Stuff like ISO, white balance, and vivid. (Kind of like a pre-flight checklist)
Then I took my card to Kinko’s and had it laminated. Next I punched a small hole in it and then used a clip to attach it to my camera case.
Now I automatically look at that card before I do anything!!!
When photographing babies, don’t just go for the full body shots. Photograph with abandon and focus on their faces, hands, those little feet, toes, try shooting from behind. They truly are more than the sum of their little parts and you will have some memorable photos. Also, shoot in color. You can always switch to black and white on Photoshop or Picasa to try out a different effect.
Try to shoot your pictures early morning or late afternoon for best results. Lighting at these times of day by far make photos more interesting.
One of my favorite things to photograph is moving water. However, sometimes my pictures are too harsh if I’m photographing a large waterfall. My absolute favorite way to capture the water’s movement (which is what truly draws me to photographing this subject) is to force my cameras shutter to stay open for more than just a second. The best way to do this is to use your aperture priority setting (if your camera has one). Set it to f8 or f11 (I prefer f8). If you don’t have a tripod, you can hold it by hand, but any slight movement will blur the picture so it is imperative that you remain still. If you have a tripod, use it along with the self-timer; your picture will come out flawless! The water will seem like its moving in the picture and the rest of the scene will remain crisp. Also, if you don’t have a tripod, you can sit your camera down on a rock or something flat that will give the camera stability (and not to mention a very cool perspective). When doing that, use the self-timer. The closer the rock is to the water level, the more interesting the picture. I guarantee a wonderful shot if you try this tip!
Photograph something that you would not ordinarily photograph. Take things from your house and put them in different locations, in different lighting, and then focus on the intricacies of these objects that are often overlooked. For instance, the design of a teapot, or the shadow of a vase. Do some shots close up and from a number of angles. You will end up with a very different perspective on the beauty of the sometimes mundane, not to mention a new approach to photography. Good luck!
When photographing flat, square objects such as a painting on the wall…stand back about twice as far as you normally would and then zoom in to fit the painting. Leave a little room for cropping as well. Stepping back and zooming helps reduce the “fish eye” effect or curving of edges that occurs when shooting flat works.
