How to Take GREAT Photos!

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Copyright 2007 To Present, All Rights Reserved.

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 Table of Contents
Click on the Chapter Title to forward to a topic.

Do You Prefer Film or Digital? 4

What Can YOUR Camera Do? 6
What Are You Taking a Picture Of? 8
How Light Affects Your Picture 10
How to Determine Correct Exposure 12
How to Use the Aperture 14
How Shutter Speed Affects Your Photos 16
Tips for Taking Outside Photos 18
Tips for Taking Indoor Photos 20
Tips for Taking Portrait Shots 22
Tips for Taking Motion Shots 24
Tips for Taking Group Pictures 26
Tips for Taking Macro Pictures 28
Tips for Taking Candid Photos of Children 30
Tips for Taking Stunning Landscape Shots 32

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 Do You Prefer Film or Digital?

Most people have embraced digital photography with enthusiasm. The lower cost of
printing and storage is a big factor in the popularity of digital photography, especially
for amateurs. With digital photography you don’t have to pay for the printing of a
snapshot that has turned out awful. You can view the shot as soon as you’ve taken it
and if it’s not up to scratch, delete it from the memory card with a simple click. If you
want to wait and look at it on your computer or on the printout machine in the store,
you can do that too.

The low cost of taking a photo means that you can practice more and hone your skills
without spending lots of money. The LCD window is there for checking the quality.
You can take lots of photos before your memory card is full too. No counting to thirty
or so photos and then having to change the film. What if you forgot to buy an extra
one? You can easily miss that great snapshot just because your camera ran out of film.
With a traditional film camera, you have to take the shot without knowing just how it
will turn out. You send the film away to be developed and have to wait a week to get
it back, depending on where you live. You have to pay for the whole film, no matter
whether you’ve cut Uncle Joe’s head off, or one of the kids decided to poke out their
tongue just as you clicked.

The storage capacity of your computer is almost unlimited. You don’t have to have a
cupboard full of photo albums (or cardboard boxes full of old photos) that you never
get around to updating. It can all go on the computer, and then be copied to a CD-R to
back it up or take it with you. With a digital photo, you can crop out that stranger’s
head or the rusty drum you didn’t notice. You can change the color from cold to warm
and do all sorts of other fancy stuff to improve that snapshot you want to keep but is
not perfect.

Another great thing about digital photography is the position. You can hold the
camera at almost any angle to take a shot. With a traditional camera, you might have

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to lie on the ground to get the right focus for some difficult shots. And what happens
if you’ve bought film suited for bright sun and it rains nearly all the time on your
holiday? Wasted film equals wasted money. You can get distant shots and close up
shots, shots on dull days or bright sunny days without changing the film or the setting
if you use the auto feature.

Of course, this doesn’t mean that there is now no use for the traditional film. Many
professional photographers need to keep using their expensive film cameras for the
types of shots they need to take. But technology will soon catch up to them, too.
Digital cameras don’t last as long as traditional ones do, but they are a lot of fun for
the amateur.

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 What Can YOUR Camera Do?

Many of today’s digital cameras are multi-function; they do many things that were
once not even dreamed of with traditional cameras. Even the cheapest, most basic
digital camera can take both still pictures and moving ones, so if your kids are having
a great game of soccer you should be able to shoot that winning goal for posterity. If
you are not experienced with cameras, it’s important to find out just what your camera
can do.

When you go into a shop to buy a camera, make sure the salesman gives you a good
demonstration of all the features in it. They are trained in camera usage – or should be
- for this very purpose, and there is nothing like having an expert show you the ropes.
Even if you buy from a generic store, the person behind the counter usually knows
something about the products.

Many digital cameras can capture a video clip right to the capacity of your memory
card, while others only go for thirty seconds. Some capture the sound as well, while
others do not, so if you want sound be sure to pay attention to what you are buying.
Some allow voice recording and also playback, which is a good feature if you want to
record notes to go with your photographs. The camera will need to have a built in
microphone to play back recordings.

Some cameras can play MP3 or other audio files; they also have earphones, which are
great for music-lovers, but the quality of the photos is often poor. So if you are more
shutterbug than music-lover, watch out for this. You will be able to resize, crop or
copy images, or edit video clips before you download them to your computer with
some cameras.

Digital camera makers have copied cell-phone technology to give us alarm clocks and
international time display, a very handy feature if you go overseas for business or
holidays. Even if you want to ring an overseas friend, this feature will enable you to

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find out what time it is over there. Your friend may not appreciate being woken at
2am.

If you are not sure what features your new camera has, you could take it to a specialty
shop and ask. The salesman will no doubt hope to sell you a better one – and he may
even succeed, but at least you’ll know what you’ve got. Some regions host short
courses for digital photography and it could be worthwhile to attend one of these.
Otherwise, you’ll be down to reading the book that came with it and experimenting on
your own. At least the photos won’t cost you an arm and a leg!

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 What Are You Taking a Picture Of?

No matter what you are taking a picture of, there are tips and hints to guide you into
improving it. Most people take photographs of their families, friends, pets, gardens
and family celebrations. We like to record our lives for ourselves and for future
generations. The days in which we had just one photo of grandpa sitting on a chair
and grandma standing next to him – both wearing the most solemn expression - have
gone, thank goodness! Let’s get into color, light, and happy smiles. Let’s catch granny
cuddling the kids and granddad with a blob of birthday cake on his chin! Let’s leave a
legacy for our great-grandchildren to enjoy. But let it be the best kind of photo that we
can manage.

When taking photographs of animals or children, remember that they are a lot lower
than where you are holding the camera, so get down to their level, otherwise their
photo will look bigheaded. Kneeling to take a photo of a pet will bring its face into
focus more sharply. Of course kneeling in front of your pet may also make him take a
flying leap into your arms, but that’s a risk a photographer has to take.

You’ve seen those photographs of people sitting on something (the sofa, a rock, the
ground) and their legs look huge? They are the ones everybody screams at. So what is
the cause of this? It’s because when you take the photograph, the legs are in front,
closer to the camera. You have unwittingly focused the camera on the legs instead of
the faces. You may not have had the camera high enough.

Watch that sun! When taking photographs outdoors, the sun will cast a nasty, dark
shady over a face. Use the flash, or stand the subject in the shade. If your subject is in
the sun, it often makes them squint their eyes because the light is too bright. But if
they wear a cap or hat, the shadow thrown by it will screen the face. That’s why it’s
necessary to use a flash.

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When taking photographs of that gorgeous rose in the garden, come up close to it.
Digital cameras are wonderful for taking close-ups. You can be just a few inches
away. Use the macro feature to achieve a sharp, clear photograph of flowers. For
animals that you can’t get close enough to, use your zoom feature. Also lock the focus
by half depressing the button and re-focusing on the animal. This will save you
getting a sharp background and a blurry animal.

Take time to pose your subject. A group standing straight up and looking at the
camera is a bit boring. Get some fun into it. Maybe they can all wear pink sunnies and
sling their arms around each other. Perhaps they could group around an interesting
tree – one or two could be up in the tree. Whatever picture you decide to take, work
on it just that bit more to upgrade from ordinary to spectacular.

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 How Light Affects Your Picture

Light is one of the main components of taking a good photograph. As soon as that
button clicks, light filters into the camera and records the image. In this case, you
might think that the more light the better, and so place your subjects in full sun. This
does not always work as you can see by the washed-out color and squinting eyes or
shadows in the finished product. Many otherwise good photographs have been spoiled
by a dark shadow thrown across the face so it cannot be seen clearly at all. You would
think a hat will take care of the squinting, but it will also cast a shadow over the
subject’s face, so it won’t be very clear in the photograph. Sometimes a shadow is
thrown across the lower part of the face by the nose, totally spoiling the shot. So how
do we utilize available light for the best effects?

First, a dull day will give excellent quality photos. There are no shadows cast in
unexpected places and no squinting needed. But all days are not dull, so what can we
do to eliminate those shadows? One way is to pose your subject on the shady side of a
building or tree. Make sure their face is in total shade, but it is best if the shade is not
too dark. Bright or light shade is best.

Another trick is to use a flash. This will eliminate or reduce the shadows that fall
across the face. You may need to manually adjust your camera to achieve this. Those
cameras on automatic flash will not be likely to flash if the sun is beaming down.
Keeping your back to the sun will take the glare out of an exposure, but there is a
problem. If your back is to the sun, your subject will then have to face it – and squint.
That’s why it’s important to keep a shady spot reserved for the face. But the back to
sun rule is good to remember when you are taking scenery.

Of course if you are shooting indoors, you’ll need the flash for sure. Usually the
automatic feature will see that it comes on when needed, but sometimes, extra lighting
will enhance your photographs. Good artificial light is usually enough, but if you are
taking special photos, another strong source of light might be useful to give a

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highlight effect. One thing to be aware of is sunlight coming through windows or
doors onto the subject. Get rid of it by closing the blind or door. Otherwise your flash
will come on and the result will be an over-exposure, leaving the subject looking
faded or washed out.

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 How to Determine Correct Exposure

Exposure is a term that really means how much light has been let into the
photographic medium, whether it is film or a digital image sensor. Most cameras
have an automatic exposure feature so why bother worrying about it? Well, automatic
feature or not, your camera can get it wrong sometimes. If over-exposure is the
problem, the colors will be really light or even white, with no fine details showing. If
it has been under-exposed, it will be really dark. This usually happens when there are
elements in the picture that are radically different. These could be in distance, or in
light/shade. For instance, if you are taking a picture of a mountain on a clear sunny
day, the mountain could be fine, but that wonderful, blue sky a long way off shows up
so white you’d think it was covered in light cloud. What happened? In setting the
correct exposure for the mountain, the sky has been overexposed.

Or perhaps you are trying to capture the way sunbeams slant through the trees, but the
finished product is mostly shadows, or else the sun’s rays did not show up at all.
That’s because the automatic exposure feature focused on either trees or sunbeams to
the detriment of the other. The problem was that there were dark and bright elements
in the same photo. So in these cases, it might be necessary to adjust the exposure
yourself. This will consist of adjusting both shutter speed and lens aperture.

Exposure is not only to do with the amount of light on the photographic medium
though; it is also to do with the length of time it is exposed. Many unusual
photographs can be taken by using long exposure techniques. A faster film requires
less exposure, with the time controlled by the shutter speed. If the exposure is to be a
long one, then a smaller aperture is needed to reduce the amount of light. This is
called reciprocity.

If you intend to photograph something using a long exposure time, you’ll need a
tripod on which to rest the camera to prevent movement. Purists would declare that
there is no such thing as ‘correct’ exposure since using different exposures may give

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many different and delightful effects of a single scene. But unless you are an expert, it
may be wise to allow the automatic function on your camera to set it for you.

For studio photography, a light meter is needed to ensure your photograph will be
properly exposed. The most accurate readings are called compensation reading. To do
this you take a reading from the darkest point then adjust it by two stops. This ensures
that there will be the proper detail.

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 How to Use the Aperture

The aperture on your camera is what controls the amount of light when taking a
photograph. It is how wide the lens opens when you click that button. A large aperture
will give you a photograph where the area of focus is small and the depth of field
shallow. This is good for close-ups like portraits or close-up photographs of wildlife.
The aperture setting should be from f2.8 to f5.6. Shallow depth of field will give
clarity to the closest thing in your photo. (The smaller the f-number, the larger the
aperture setting and thus, the more light let in).

A small aperture, on the other hand, is necessary for landscapes and distant shots, as it
will give clarity in foreground and background details. The settings for small aperture
would be between f16 to f32. For mid-range shots the in-between settings of f8 to f11
will give high clarity and detail, maximizing the sharpness of your lens. A small
aperture will give a greater depth of field.

Depth of field can be explained as the distance between the closest thing in your
photo and the furthest thing. If you have good depth of field, the details in your photo
will be clear at both five feet and fifteen feet. Most digital cameras have a great depth
of field, which is why it is hard to blur the background so the foreground is sharp and
in contrast. Most cameras with an automatic depth of field cannot be set manually. If
you want to take photographs that are very precise, you need a camera that allows
manual adjustment.

If you want clarity of detail between 1 and 2 ½ meters, then use a 22mm lens and set
to f8 and a bit less than 1 ½ meters. This means that the background will be suitably
unsharp, throwing the foreground into relief. The larger the aperture number, the less
time is required to take a photo. So if you want to photograph something that is
moving, make sure your f-number is fairly large.

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Correct exposure is determined by both shutter speed and aperture, but when you are
shooting during times of low light such as dusk, you will need to adjust the aperture to
let in as much light as possible. In bright conditions, the aperture should be set to a
smaller f-number to prevent excessive light spoiling the picture.

Many people don’t worry their heads about such things as aperture, exposure and
shutter speeds and if this is you and you’re happy with your photographs, that’s great.
Otherwise, a little attention to details like this could improve the quality of your
photographs a great deal.

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 How Shutter Speed Affects Your Photos

Shutter speed is one of the most important things to learn about in digital
photography. It is this that controls the amount of light beaming onto your camera’s
sensors. Cheaper digital cameras don’t allow you to manually adjust the shutter speed,
so if you want to play around with this, get a more expensive one. Great results can be
achieved by adjusting the shutter speed.

Shutter speed is measured in F-stops. It is written as f-stop or f stop, it doesn’t matter.

Inside the lens of your camera is a shutter that rotates. Shutter speed is a measurement
of how fast the rotation is. To get a good shot of a speeding car, you will need to have
a shutter speed of something like 2000th of a second. Any fast moving photography
relies on fast shutter speed; sports photographers for example, need to have a fast
shutter sped to catch people who are moving fast. So when you see a shot of a
footballer caught and frozen in full flight, you’ll know the photographer had his
camera set to a really fast shutter speed.

Digital cameras are really good for this type of photography. In fact, some of the
newspapers have closed down their dark rooms due to the new technology. Babies,
kids and animal photos also need to have fast shutter speeds or you risk missing that
great moment that only lasts for a second. Shutter speed also depends on your
lighting. If you don’t have much lighting, then the shutter speed needs to be less to let
more light in.

If you want to take a shot of children running, and you want the motion to look
frozen, then you would need to set the shutter speed to 1/500 to 1/1000, depending on
the light. If you want a deliberate blur, the shutter speed should be more like 1/250. A
reflex digital camera – single lens, is the ideal one to use if you want to adjust your
shutter speed. Some cameras allow you to change both exposure value and shutter
speed, but not shutter speed alone. With these, you can fiddle and adjust to your
heart’s content, but still, being able to adjust shutter speed alone is a great benefit.

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When you are just learning, go with the shutter speed first, then try out aperture
before trying both together. This will give you a good sense of what effects you can
get with each alone and what shots you need to adjust both for.

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 Tips for Taking Outside Photos

There are three important factors in taking outside photos: location, lighting and
composition. Most photos are of people. Even when you are on vacation and want to
take a photo of where you’ve been, you usually have a person in it too. That way it
proves you’ve been there! However, you must decide which one is the most
important to get a good photo. If the scene is more important than the person, make
sure there is enough light and that you are not too far away. Sometimes we think that
castle would be a great photo, but find it’s not much more than a blur in the
background, or the person has taken up so much of the photo the castle is obliterated.

If the person is to be the most important – say, it’s an outdoor wedding photo, then
don’t have too much in the background. A single tree would enhance the picture,
rather than distract the eye into looking at something else. A large, gnarled tree-trunk
often forms a wonderful background for an outside snapshot of a person or group. The
thing is not to make the background too busy.

If you are taking a photo of a scene, it can add appeal to have one side at the top
framed in some close vegetation like branches. Or there may be a tree or rock that
could feature to one side. Look through some geographical magazines for shots like
these. Some of them are beauties, and you can do that too. If you photograph a
building, try moving it from the center of focus to the side for greater appeal.

Lighting is another point of outdoor pictures. Mostly the light is great outdoors, but
just watch the play of light and shade, particularly on your subject’s face. If you have
your back to the sun and it’s late, watch that your own shadow is not featured in the
snapshot. An easy tip to get the shadow off your subject’s face is to use a light colored
cardboard or T-shirt to reflect light onto it. Someone who is not going to be in the
photo should hold this – and you must be careful you don’t accidentally get them in.

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Composition consists of who and what is in the photo and what they are doing. A
straight line of cheesy grins may be okay, but you can make it so much more
interesting with a few props. When taking children at play, you still need them to look
at the camera; otherwise their faces will be half hidden. To do this, quietly focus the
camera on them, then call their name or just say, Hey! Click as soon as their heads
jerk up, but before they have a chance to get out of play position.

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 Tips for Taking Indoor Photos

Once you become a shutterbug, you’ll find opportunities to take as many indoor
photographs as outdoor ones. The basic difference of indoor and outdoor photos is the
lighting. Outdoors lighting is generally good, so long as you watch for shadow in
inappropriate places. Indoors, you’ll probably need the artificial lighting provided by
the flash. But there are still some things that could go wrong.

One thing that can spoil your picture is reflected light. This is light that reflects off a
shiny surface and causes bright, white patches in the wrong place. Let’s face it;
anywhere is the wrong place. If you’re lucky it won’t be right in Aunty Ella’s face. So
beware of posing your subject close to a window. Even the shiny surface of a wall or
refrigerator can cause reflected light to show up.

Red eyes are another horrible addition to your photo. These days, most cameras have
a red-eye reduction feature. If yours doesn’t, console yourself with the thought that
red eyes means your eyesight is good. One neat little trick to reduce red-eye is to take
two photographs quickly, one after the other. Red-eye is caused by the flash reflecting
on the iris of the eye – which is wider inside due to the dimmer light. Once your flash
has gone off, the bright light will cause the iris to close so the second photograph
should have a greatly reduced red-eye, or none at all. Just watch that the subject is not
still blinking from the first flash when you take the second photo. If you increase the
light in the room it will have the same effect of helping the iris to close. Another tip is
to have the subject avert their eyes from the camera.

When you take an indoor photo with just the flash it tends to bleach out the front
people while dimming out those in the back. To avoid this problem, try opening your
aperture to as big as it will go. This will let lots of light in. The best shutter speed is
about 1/60. If your camera does not allow manual adjustment, make sure there is
plenty of light from other sources. If you have lamps, try and have them overhead if

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possible to mimic the position of the sun. Your flash should prevent any unwanted
shadows from forming.

Indoors, people are more likely to sit on the sofa to have their photo taken. This can
be a problem if the sofa is under a window, or the wall behind it is shiny. But another
problem is that their legs are closer to the camera than their faces. It might be
advisable to take the photo from the waist up. That way no one will be able to
complain that you gave them fat legs or knobbly knees.

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 Tips for Taking Portrait Shots

Sooner or later you’ll want to take a portrait shot. Unless you are practicing to become
a professional photographer, this will probably be fairly informal, but there are some
tips that will make your portrait taking easier and give you better results than you
might otherwise get. Many amateur portrait shots end up in the bin due to over-
exposure or being out of focus. Don’t let this happen to yours.

When you take a portrait shot, you need to focus on your subject’s eyes. Character is
in the eyes and you want to express the character of the person. Use an aperture of f8
and be about three feet away. Make sure your subject is relaxed and in a happy frame
of mind. Any anger or tension will show up in the photo. Chat to them, crack jokes if
they are that type of person or play music. Make sure the music is something they
like; otherwise you could get a scowl rather than a smile.

Make sure your subject is comfortable. Provide a chair or other seating with good
back support so they don’t slump. Make sure they are not too hot, too cold or thirsty.
If the subject is a child, offer an appropriate toy to hold. If they are very small, they
may not want to give the toy up easily so it could well be in the photo. In this case,
make sure it is not dirty or tattered. You could also have interesting pictures on the
wall for them to look at while you get ready.

You will need to get all your props and things ready ahead of time. Children and old
people get fussy if they have to wait. If you have spotlights coming from anywhere
but your camera, you may need light deflectors such as a white board or umbrella.
This will diffuse the light, make the tones warmer and prevent red-eye.

The background is important. If you are taking a portrait in your house you won’t
have access to much gear with which to create a plain background, so try for a blank
wall. One with wallpaper could be good to prevent light reflection. In front of drawn

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curtains would also be suitable. At least, try not to get the refrigerator in the
background.

An ordinary 35mm camera is ideal for portraits, but they can be taken with other
cameras. If you don’t have a 35mm, just use whatever you have and see what
happens.

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 Tips for Taking Motion Shots

Motion shots come under three headings; stop, pan and blur. Each will give a different
effect. Most people want the ‘stop’ kind where the motion of the subject is frozen in a
millisecond of time. This is what you see in most sports photos. It is achieved by a
very fast shutter speed that allows the picture to be etched on the film or sensor so
quickly that they are, in effect, frozen in a moment of time. The faster shutter speed
means that your ISO setting needs to be higher to allow in more light.

To ‘pan’ is to follow the motion with your camera, which will give a sharply focused
subject, but a blurred surround. The effect here is similar to the above, as it stops the
motion of the subject. Tracking the subject with your camera whilst keeping it steady
is skill that takes much practice. To help, you could try using a tripod with a swiveling
head. Background that is fairly plain works best for panning. Start with a shutter
speed of 1/30th of a second to start and make sure nothing will obstruct your view as
the subject moves.

Blurring is when you use a slow shutter speed so the subject is deliberately blurred,
but the impression given is one of speed, which is the whole aim of the shot. If your
camera is a point and click, it may also have a sports or action mode.

A good tip for shooting motion is to use the burst or servo mode on your camera. This
will give you a series of shots taken in a burst, making it more likely to get that extra
special shot. This is because there is but a fleeting chance to see when a great shot
could be coming up and photograph it. It all happens faster than a speeding bullet. But
if you shoot in burst mode your camera will be clicking away regardless. You’ll want
a memory card with a large-capacity for this. If shutter lag is a problem with your
camera, burst mode will improve your chances of a great shot.

If you want to get a scene where something is moving yet you also want the
background to be clear - like a landscape with moving water, use a slow shutter speed

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and a tripod to prevent camera shake. This will give an unusual affect in that the water
will be blurred to the extent that it looks like it’s been painted in.

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 Tips for Taking Group Pictures

There are probably more group photographs taken than any other kind. Think of all
the weddings and birthday parties, not to mention other gatherings and celebrations.
So what can you do to make your group shot one that the subjects will be delighted
with, rather than moaning that they blinked or had their head cut off? Here are some
tips.

Give some thought to where you will pose the group ahead of time. There may be an
old tree in the backyard or park that would make a fabulous background without
intruding. See that the background is appropriate, eg, your daughter’s soccer team
would look great posed at the sporting field, but may be a little weird on the beach.
Make sure there are no odd things like telegraph poles, swing sets or rubbish bins in
the background. Or anything else that may look as if it were growing out of
someone’s head.

Take multiple shots quickly. Often people sub-consciously pose in a rather artificial
manner for the first shot, but tend to relax after that and look more natural. If anyone
is wearing glasses, tactfully suggest they remove them; otherwise the flash could
reflect off the glass and ruin the shot. For the same reason, never pose people in front
of a window.

Vary your shots by taking some of just head and shoulders, some up really close and
some a bit further off. If there is a large group, it’s an idea to take a shot from the top
of a ladder. This will allow you to get more people in and also to focus on heads
rather than bodies. You may be lucky enough to have an elevated deck you can use
for height. Pose the group on the grass below and shoot from the deck.

Of course, you will remember to have the short people in the front and tall ones
behind. Some can kneel in front or sit on the grass, particularly children, who get
bored with standing. Just be careful you don’t miss them when focusing. It’s easy

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enough to get so absorbed in getting the adults lined up correctly, you find that you’ve
only managed to get the top of Junior’s head.

One more thing to remember in group photography is that the important people like
the birthday girl or the bride and groom should be in the central position. And for
sharp focus throughout, keep the group no more than about three rows deep. If it is
more, use a narrow aperture.

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 Tips for Taking Macro Pictures

What are macro pictures? Basically, they are close-ups of small objects. Most digital
cameras have a macro feature that should be used when taking close-ups of flowers
and other tiny things. To find it, look for a tulip shaped diagram on your camera or on
the LCD menu. The macro feature automatically sets the camera to prevent the
subject becoming blurry. You may not realize that you can also use the zoom-in
feature for macro shots. Try it; you may be delighted with the results. Don’t forget to
turn it off when you’re done; otherwise your normal shots will be blurry.

So you are ready with your camera on macro, your flower or bug all lined up, and
your eye squinting up against the viewfinder because it seems clearer that way – but
there’s a problem. No matter how you try, you can’t get the subject to sit neatly inside
the frame. What’s happening? This is called parallax, and is caused by the optical
viewfinder being a few inches away from the lens. The best way to fix the problem is
to use the LCD display to frame the picture. But sometimes, due to the angle of the
sun, the LCD window is not very clear. If you really have to look through the
viewfinder, there should be correction marks to help you adjust the frame.

When shooting with the macro feature, the depth of field will automatically be
reduced to just a few inches or even less. This allows the subject of the shot to remain
really sharp while the background is less clear. This is usually the effect you want, but
to keep the background clearer, you can adjust the aperture to the biggest number –
f16 or f32 for instance - thus increasing the depth of field. Not all cameras allow you
to do this, but yours might.

Another way to take even better macros is to purchase macro lens that screw or fit on
over your built-in lens. Your macro shots will be more greatly magnified. Most digital
cameras will take a screw or snap on macro lens. Make sure they are good quality,
though.

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No matter how steady your hands are, there will always be some tiny movement when
you depress that shutter, so another good idea to enhance your macro shots is to use a
tripod. This won’t always be possible, especially if that bug is on the ground, but it
will help if you can use it.

Of course, if you want to take macros of flowers in your garden and it’s windy, there
is nothing you can do but wait.

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 Tips for Taking Candid Photos of Children

Candid photos of children can be lots of fun, not only to take, but also to look at in
years to come. To get good candid shots, you will need to have your camera handy at
all times and take lots of shots. Some may be no good, but if you have a digital
camera this won’t matter; you can simply delete them. Don’t make a lot of fuss when
you are taking candid shots, or the children will become self-conscious and may end
up running away every time they see you trying to point and click.

Never show your really candid shots of children to others in front of the children,
while laughing about them. They’ll hate it and refuse to pose in the future. Children
have dignity too. If you make sure it’s fun for the children, they will enjoy it and be
more co-operative. With older children, you can also point out the things you did to
make the shot more special. This will get them interested and help train them to take
good shots of their own.

Some posed shots will be necessary, but try to make them a little more creative than
just standing in a straight line. How about posing two children on a tricycle? They
will be having fun and concentrating on more than just posing for the shot. You would
normally have the older child with his feet on the pedals and the younger one standing
in the tray, but try reversing this. For starters, the younger child will be shortest and so
should be in front. But reversing their positions in this way creates unusual
expressions on their faces that are fun to catch on film

Remember to get up close and personal for great candid shots of kids. Also get down
to their level to prevent distortion. When the pictures are of babies, making eye
contact will aid in interaction and expression. You want to avoid that vague look that
lots of babies have when there is no one to focus on. But if your want their expression
to be one of absorption in a toy or some other thing that intrigues them, try and stay
out of their focus. Wait until baby is entirely focused on the other object, then click.

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If the baby is moving, follow the movement with your camera and gently squeeze the
button rather than clicking sharply. This will help to prevent blurring the shot with
camera shake. If you miss that great smile, it could be because of shutter lag. This is
the time between when your finger began to squeeze the button and when the shutter
finished moving.

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 Tips for Taking Stunning Landscape Shots

The kind of camera you have and how much it cost is not the most important criteria
in taking great landscape shots. No camera can be creative by itself. Once you learn
about the components of composition, your landscape shots taken with a point and
press camera can be better than someone whose camera cost them $8,000 if they don’t
know about composition. The single most important factor in taking decent landscape
photographs is composition, or the way objects are put together. Once you begin to
pay attention to this factor, your landscape photos will improve dramatically.

Some people seem to understand intuitively how to take creative landscape photos.
Whether you are one of those people or not, practice can only make you better, so
take plenty of shots. But first you must decide what the main subject of the shot is
going to be. Is it the gnarled old oak tree, the mountain in the background or the
waterfall that is creating rainbows in the middle distance? You are the one to decide;
after all it’s your photograph.

The subject of the photograph is the part that should be the focus. Say it’s a bay full of
sailing boats. It may be framed by a beautiful branch of glorious fall colors, there may
be mountains in the background or wonderful cloud shapes in the sky – or all three -
but everything should lead the eyes to focus on the bay and sailing boats. Therefore,
the settings on your camera should be for that. The bay should be the central focus of
the photograph, with the other components given less room and importance. If all
have equal room in the photo, they will detract from each other, creating less visual
appeal.

Light is another important factor is taking landscape photographs. The best time of
day is early in the morning and late in the afternoon and evening. The brighter light in
the middle of the day can cause too much contrast in light and shadow, which your
camera will find hard to handle. Both digital and film cameras like all things to be
equal when it comes to lighting. If you try and focus on the shady areas, then the

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lighter areas may bleach out, while if you set the camera for the light, areas of shade
will be much too dark. A graduated, neutral density filter can help out here.

Angle and elevation are also important in a landscape. When you see a scene that
grabs your fancy, try it from various positions before you shoot. Or better still, shoot
from a variety of angles, then delete those that are sub-standard. Remember to try
vertical shots as well.

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