There are some small, but very basic tips that you can use in your everyday shooting. I’m going to list just a few of them here:
1. When you are taking a picture, check to make sure you are holding the camera level (unless of course you are INTENTIONALLY making that horizon look like you are on a sinking ship!). One of the sure-fire ways to make a landscape image look ‘wrong’ is to have the horizon line not straight.
2. The concept that you don’t have to worry about exposure, focus and things like that because it can be ‘fixed in the computer later’, is just not totally true. Yes, you can make up for some exposure problems, but there is no substitute for getting it correct the first time! And yes, you can ‘sharpen’ an image in some image-editing programs, but you CANNOT make sharp, something that is not sharp to begin with! So, make sure that the object you want to focus on is sharp and clear. Remember that 1/3 of the area you are focusing on in front of the object will be in focus (based on your F Stop, which is your depth-of-field) and 2/3 of the area behind will be in focus.
3. Watch the background! One of the best ways to ruin a picture is for you to have a tree growing out of someone’s head. When you compose your image, crop it in the camera (another words, move as close as you can and compose your picture on your screen/viewfinder), focus, check your settings and then make one final check of the background.
4. When you take the picture (push your shutter release button), don’t ‘pull’ the camera when you push the button, but gently push it in. This will stop the camera from jerking at the last second, and causing the image to be crooked, blurred, etc.
5. When photographing children….get dirty! The best way to get a good picture of children, is to get down at their level and look at the world through their eyes. I just hate it when I see a parent or grandparent standing tall and pointing the camera at a 45 degree down angle to get the top of their head. If you’re not as dirty at the end of the session as they are, your pictures are probably not going to be that great!
6. Cheese… Please! Do not say Cheese and get those fake smiles! Once again, if you are down in the dirt with the kids, taking pictures of them naturally having fun, you will catch plenty of smiles and laughter! With today’s proliferation of digital cameras, we are shooting more and more pictures. Right from the beginning, we are teaching the kids to give us those ‘fake’ smiles every time you bring a camera up to your eye. Who knows, pretty soon we’ll never see their true personality!
7. Outside lighting – best time to take photos? Early morning and late evening. The light is warmer in color, the shadows are more dramatic, etc. However, DON’T stay inside if it is cloudy out! High overcast bright days are great for softening up the light and allowing you to take some great shots. And…if you’re REALLY adventuresome… get off the couch and go out when there is bad weather around. You’d be surprised how dramatic your pictures can be. However, remember to protect yourself and your equipment from the elements.
8. Inside lighting – turn the flash off and pose your subject by a window. Light coming through a soft white curtain can make for some fantastic portraits. You don’t always have to have that flash popping! If you do, then see if you can ‘bounce’ it. Flash units that attach to your camera and are not built in can typically swivel. Try that. Or, if you have a popup flash that is built into the camera, there are little attachments that you can put over it that soften the light, bounce it, and spread it out for a more evenly exposed picture.
I’ll post more of these little tips as I think of them.
Landscape and portrait photographer, David E. Warner captures the breath-taking beauty of the Mohawk Valley and Southern Adirondacks region and its people with his mastery of color, composition & light.
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