Digital Camera Tips

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Most people never open their camera’s manual because they are huge, and starting guides only tell you how to turn the cam on and off. You don’t have to read the whole manual. Here are some things that are well worth finding in the manual.

• Focus then Shoot- How many functions does the picture Taker Button has? #1 Taking a Photo, #2 Focus Activate, and #3 Enter/Select Button (Share that with your friends!). So before jamming on the button, press the button half way the camera will take a second and show you if it is in focus, most cameras will even show you where it is focusing on; and then press the button further down to take a picture.
• Learn to set your white balance - White Balancing helps your camera capture true life colors OR Capture Creative colors. It must be set Manually in every Location that has more than one light source (Like Shooting in the house with lights on in the room and the sun light from a window). Manual W/B is a must when shooting without a flash! You-Tube the Camera White Balance to get a better understanding on how your camera sees the world. After taking pictures with Manual W/B Don’t forget to set you W/B to Auto. Some people forget that they are in manual, so a day later, take a few pictures and then they realize that something does not look right. Also if you will ever have to pull the Cam out to take a quick shot it will be already in auto and you won’t have to waist time switching and missing the shot.
• Learn to set your Light Meter position - Ever taken a picture and it was to bright or to dark? By default the camera is set to Multi Meter mode So…If taking a picture of a person wearing lots of white or standing by something bright the picture will turn out dark, or if a person wearing lots of black or standing in a dark area the face may be too bright. Most cameras can switch to a center point meter. When Switched to Center point, point the center mark at the person’s face press the button half way, the camera will set the brightness and focus, then move the camera into a position you want a person to be in the picture. Don’t make a mistake of Pointing the center point on to a person’s face ant taking a picture, those photos look bad, but remember when you press the button half way the camera locks all the settings so you can move the frame around.
• Lock your ISO - ISO is the camera sensitivity. This is a process that takes place after the picture is taken (digitally brightening of the pixels), so the higher the number (sensitivity) the worse quality you get. Although you can get a brighter picture with higher sensitivity (ISO) The picture will come out grainy, so by locking the ISO lower the camera will have to use all other options to get the picture brighter. Experiment with it and learn more about ISO, it will really help you out.
• Use Force Flash Outside - Some cameras fire the flash no matter what, and others only when it gets darker. I don’t think there is a camera that does not have a force flash setting. Usually represented by a lightening symbol without an A by it. Force flash really helps to get rid of dark faces or shadows in a beautiful day light - it’s called Fill-Flash. Play around with it, sometimes you need it some times you don’t, but knowing that can improve your photos.
• Learn to set Flash strength - Rule of thumb: At night shoot with lower setting and in the day time crank it up. Sound weird right, but if the flash is set too high in low light, not only your will blind you subject but the camera will have to compensate for the strong flash and the picture will come out darker. During the day it is already bright so small flash will not help to get rid of shadows on the face.
• Use Less Flash - Ever tried to take a picture but it never comes out looking like it supposed to? It is amazing what you can get without a flash ironically in lower light. Sometimes the flash is too bright for the situation or will only light up the closest object, or will make the picture loose the feel desired. Like shooting a Christmas Tree, Picture taken with a flash will loose the beauty of the Lights on the tree or candle lit dinner will look like a plain dinner with a candle in the middle. So experiment without a flash but remember to hold your camera extra steady.
• Set Up Closer - When shooting in low light get closer to your subject rather than zoom in. Because of a small size lens, more zoom = less light entering into the lens, so walking up closer to the subject will help with getting a better quality photo.
• Get A Tripod - Shooting in low light requires a steady hand, even slight vibration of a hand can make a blurry photo. Instead of razing ISO use a tripod. Most Pros use it always. Tripod can also help when taking a picture of a baby: simply mount the camera on the tripod position the frame and concentrate on entertaining the baby, when the baby smiles hit the button and you got the shot. Tripod is very handy in many situations so have one around.
• Balance the Quality - Shoot at Highest Quality Setting But Not the Highest Pixel Rate. Setting a camera to use less megapixels while setting to superfine quality can improve low light shots. Most cameras when set to lower pixel rates combine pixels to create a larger one instead of downsizing the photo which helps in low light. Also when using digital zoom some cams take advantage of unused pixels to help-out in sharpness and quality. Check to see in the menus for different digital zoom settings to see if your camera can do that. You may get less zoom than a default mode but the quality will be much better.
• Use Digital Zoom sparingly - Despite of all the advertisements, digital zoom should only be used in emergencies. More digital zoom = Less quality photo. Also if the camera does not have a smart digital zoom function talked above than consider shooting in highest quality and Highest Pixel Count and then cropping the photo on the computer. Some pros will argue that it is the best way to digitally zoom in a photo and get the best quality out of it. And Trust me 3 optical zoom is not “zoom” and will not help you get closer of your son’s soccer game as advertised, anything less than 5 optical zoom is basically a cropping tool that will help you cut things out of the shot when you can’t move. So if you need zoom Consider a camera with more optical zoom function. Those cameras may be a bit slower and bigger.

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