25 Digital Photography Tips

for Better Pictures

By Kevin James









About This Document

In 25 Digital Photography Tips for Better Pictures you find twenty five (25) very useful tips to
produce better digital photography. This document is free-of- charge and released in portable
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Legal Notice and Terms of Agreement

The information contained in 25 Digital Photography Tips for Better Pictures has been collected
from various sources. While attempts have been made to verify information in this publication,
neither the author nor the publisher assumes any responsibility for errors, omissions, interpretation
or usage of the subject matter herein. The contents in this publication are intended for
informational purposes only. The author and publisher shall in no event be held liable for any loss or
other damages incurred from the usage of this publication. The author and publisher reserve the
right to terminate this publication at anytime, without warning, and are not responsible for any
results forthcoming from said termination.

Furthermore the author and publisher extend no warranty of results either expressed or implied
from the usage of this information. Results vary by user. By using the 25 Digital Photography Tips
for Better Pictures, you agree to this legal notice and terms of agreement.

Mart Schnd.
Sunday, April 30, 2006
1. Most zoom lenses give you larger apertures at wide-angle settings than at full telephoto. If 1:2.8 -
4.8 is engraved on the lens ring, the cameras maximum aperture of f-2.8 at full wide will shift to f-
4.8 (about 1.5 stops) as you move to the extreme telephoto setting. So in low light conditions, shoot
wide.


2. Digital zoom is a worthless feature; all it does is enlarge a section of the image with a resulting
loss in resolution. You can do that in any imaging program with better results.


3. To light small objects without producing harsh shadows or overly-bright highlights, build a small
tabletop tent using part of an old bed sheet with an opening cut for the camera lens. Then place
the object inside it and aim your light through the side of the tent.


4. To maintain image quality, convert pictures youve shot in JPEG to TIFF. You can then work and
re-work them in an imaging program without having them degrade. And if you screw up, the original
JPEG is always there to make another TIFF from.


5. Heres how to figure out what resolution to scan at: dpi to set for scanning = final image width
divided by the original image width x the final ppi desired. So if you want to print an 8x10 inch
enlargement from a 4 x 5 inch photo, divide 10 by 5 which gives you 2. Then multiply that by, say,
200. The result, 400, is the scanner dpi setting to use. To end up with 300 ppi youd have to scan at
600 dpi.


6. Unless your camera or lens has image stabilization built in, heres the rule for getting shake-free
images when using zoom lenses at telephoto settings. Use the focal length of the lens as your
shutter speed. So if you are shooting with the 35mm equivalent of a 400mm lens, set your shutter
speed to 1/400th second or faster.


7. To reduce camera shake when shooting at slow shutter speeds, put your arm through the camera
strap so that the strap crosses your back and ends up under your right armpit. Then adjust the strap
so the cameras at eye level when you pull it forward. Result? Rock-steady shots.


8. Dont use lens tissue to remove smudges from your lens. It only redistributes the dirt and oil. A
LensPen will get rid of everything without harming the optical glass or its coating.
http://www.lenspen.com


9. Memory cards do go south so trusting all your pictures to one humongous card is a bad idea.
Depending on the resolution and compression ratio you shoot at, use cards that hold about 50
images so all wont be lost if the card takes a dive.


10. If a memory card goes bad, and gives you a message of doom, dont mess with it. There are
many recovery programs that will save your images and the less you do the better your chances are
that you can retrieve them unharmed.


11. When doing long exposures with a single lens reflex camera on a tripod, dont forget to cover
the eyepiece or light will get in through it and usually put a blurry round circle right in the middle
of your image.
12. All digicam optical viewfinders show you less of the field of view than will be recorded. If you
want to frame your images accurately, run a few tests to see how much more will actually be
included and compensate for it, usually by moving in.


13. Much ado is currently being made about shooting in RAW mode, which eliminates in-camera
adjustments for color and sharpness, among others, and lets you fiddle with them yourself
afterwards in an imaging program. But shooting in RAW inflates file sizes, slows down certain
camera functions, and requires more work. If your exposures and white balance are correct (and
they usually are) stick with JPEG. The quality will be virtually the same without all the hassles.


14. Bracketing is a great feature to use when youre shooting under difficult conditions (extremely
low or bright light). The camera will shoot one picture at what it thinks is the correct exposure and
then two more, one overexposed and the other underexposed. Among the three, one should be right
on the nose.


15. Cameras vary in their compression ratios (the smaller the better). The best on one brand may
be 1:2 while on another it may be 1:4. Anything up to 1:8 will produce acceptable images; in fact,
youd have a hard time telling the difference. The Canon Digital Rebel, for example, uses 1:7 at its
best setting and huge prints from its images look just fine.


16. To make sure the colors you see on your monitor print out correctly, you must calibrate it so it
accurately displays the colors in your image files. The printer uses that file and not your monitor for
its output. Calibration assures that the monitor is displaying exactly the same colors that are in the
file and that any changes you make to the image on your monitor will be made to the file which, in
turn, will be reflected in your print-out.


17. Use the right paper for your inkjet printer. Epsons shoot cold dots of ink while most others
shoot hot ones. Its perfectly OK to use third-party papers (Red River has a huge selection) but make
sure they are compatible with the type of printer you have.


18. Start off with a good imaging program. Adobe Photoshop Elements 3.0 is the worlds greatest
bargain and thats what you should use. Dont spend a fortune on the full version of Photoshop to
begin with; in fact, it might be a bit overwhelming. Photoshop Elements is probably all youll ever
need and for under $100 its a steal.


19. You may be a techie and love all that geeky stuff, but photography is still about making
pictures that say something. The finest equipment is worthless if you cant use it to express
yourself. Read a few books that emphasize the creative side. One to get is Bryan Petersons
"Learning to See Creatively."


20. Sometimes its hard to just aimlessly wander around looking for good pictures to shoot. Always
give yourself a mini-assignment to stay on track. Like kids at play, people at bus stops, interesting
doorways, afternoon shadows, and so on. That way, you have a direction in which to go and the
challenge of trying to interpret things in your own unique way.


21. Move in. Most pictures have way too much extraneous junk in them. By taking a few giant steps
forward, your pictures will become more dramatic and go from ho-hum to ooh-ah.


22. Shoot, shoot, and shoot. Shoot a few pictures a week and it will take you forever to become a
good photographer. But shoot a couple of hundred shots a week and youll progress a lot faster.
23. As a rule of thumb, never shoot less than six to ten pictures of a subject. Explore it from
different angles, go for different poses, stay with it, trying with each new shot to make a better
picture than the one before.


24. The worst pictures you can possibly make will be with the cameras flash. Unless youre
shooting "record" shots (your possessions for insurance purposes, for example), stash the flash. Start
shooting with available light and youll begin to feel the magic.


25. Try new points of view. Get down and shoot up or up and shoot down. Tilt the camera to induce
some dynamic tension. Come in ultra close or shoot from really far away. And guess what? If you
turn your camera 90-degrees to the left or right you can shoot exciting vertical images. Its a built-
in feature on every camera use it.