Taking Digital Photographs

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So, you have purchased your digital camera and have happily been pointing at just about anything? Great! On the basis that the more you take, the better the chance of getting a good one increases and with a zero cost for mistakes, digital photography has revolutionised snapshots.

This page is no more than a few hints and tips to make better use of the camera, as those instruction books can be very daunting. Having said that, every make of camera is different, so these hints are not related to specific cameras and not all cameras have all features.

CAMERAS

I still have a good film camera but in recent times, it has been parked in the cupboard, even though it was quite expensive. Like most electronics controlled by microchips, Digital cameras have been improved dramatically and the prices have also dropped to a level where even a full size SLR (Single Lens Reflex) camera is now cheaper than the film cameras.

Just a couple of points to consider when buying.

Try to avoid cameras that use AA batteries. When travelling, you'll find that you will be forever replacing them. They may cost a bit more, but a modern compact camera with a top quality rechargeable Li-ion (Lithium Ion) battery will be far cheaper in the long run. My own preference for a compact digital camera, is a Canon. Even the first one I bought in 2004 which has been really hammered, still holds the battery charge well and lasts for ages, even though taking over 200 pics a day and many with flash, should have worn it out by now. The batteries are good but so is the software that comes with it (Zoom Browser). Picture/lens quality is superb.

Optical zoom and digital zoom. Ideally, optical zoom is more useful than digital zoom. I personally switch off digital zoom altogether.

Full size SLR cameras have just three major advantages over compacts. The first is the interchangeable lens allowing good quality long lenses; the second is that the shutter appears to fire much faster; the third is the number of features and settings.

The disadvantages are mainly weight and size - and that that those features and settings may be very complex.

Still camera's with video

In recent years, many SLRs & most compacts also have video recording in the same way that video camera also have a still-shot facility. Maybe if I'd waited just a year before buying my Nikon SLR, I would have had a similar model but also with video - and at half the price... Just remember that video gobbles up storage space on your card rather quickly.

Generally though, overall picture quality of compacts is just superb and more than adequate for most users.

TAKING PICTURES

Be critical here and honest. When someone shows you their holiday/family snaps, what is your honest impression? Great photography or terrible? What is the difference?

Common faults are: Poor composition, incorrect lighting, out of focus.

SHARP FOCUS

With most compact cameras, out of focus just shouldn't happen - but it does! This is the easiest problem to cure.

Most cameras focus on the subject with a 'half' squeeze on the shutter button, then a full squeeze to take the picture. Holding the camera rock steady helps too...

Most compacts have what is called a "Macro" facility - usually this is shown a little flower motif. This allows you to get close - really close! If taking a picture of a piece of jewellery such as a watch or a ring for insurance purposes, (or for selling on Ebay to finance your cruise...), make sure you don't use the zoom feature, but switch on the Macro and move the camera really close to with an inch or two (OK, 3 to 5cm if you are modern) and remember to half squeeze the shutter button to allow the camera to focus - then fully depress. Check the results and if no good, do it again!

For most settings though, the default is 'distance' or 'landscape view'.

LIGHTING

The next easiest problem is understanding poor lighting. A compact camera flash has a fairly limited range but on most cameras, you can turn it on or off to suit.

The usual mistake people make is taking a picture where the person (subject) is in the shade or is wearing dark clothing, but the background is bright. The camera sees the light background so the flash doesn't fire. This is particularly noticeable at sunset or even in the middle of the day when the sun is bright such as the example on the left.

Check the camera instructions as there are usually two options here. The first is to set it to manual and if it has a setting for "backlight" - usually shown as a figure with the sun coming from behind, use that.

Or, switch the flash ON! This applies in bright daylight, shooting against the sun. Because your eye knows that it is a bright background and can see the face perfectly, your brain compensates. The camera just sees brightness and assumes the flash isn't required. It can possibly be corrected afterwards, but that is a poor substitute for getting it correct in the first place!

COMPOSITION

The toughest area to deal with by far is poor composition. The hallmark of the professional is that they understand composition and although there are several "rules", this is far more complex and is well beyond the scope of an easy guide such as this, however, there are one or two little gems that may just improve the results without too much of a problem and without trying to turn you into a pro..

ZOOM

Make up your mind what you are taking! A Long shot? Mid shot? Portrait or close up? In other words, is it the landscape or scenery you are capturing, people in a specific setting or the people themselves?

Probably the biggest problem with composition, especially with a simplistic portrait or just pic of a couple or group, is that most people stand too far away and the results are 80% background and just 20% subject! Fine maybe if you are really showing the scenery, but that is a separate composition problem.

In this example, the scenery is far from exciting and the group in the centre is too far away from the camera - or the photographer is too far away from the group to make a successful picture...

If you read the notes on the "Post Pictures" sheet, if you have to crop the photograph afterwards, you may well lose a lot of definition and the quality eventually suffers. That means if you can compose it correctly when you take the picture, the overall quality will be better anyway.

This is what the photographer should have taken - the results would have been 400% better. This is somewhere between a long shot and a mid shot.

There is a little bit of interest in the background with the flag and the surf life-saver's hut, but the photographer could have gone much closer.

Even the crop marking above shows too much background if it is the people who you are trying to capture, but crop an image too much afterwards and the quality suffers. When you do take pictures, stand a bit closer and fill the frame with the real subject, use the zoom. OK, none of us really wants all our wrinkles and pimples in high definition, but you don't have to print those out full size!

Equally, as I am on the tall side, I don't really need whoever is taking a pic of myself with my wife, standing so far back, just to get my feet in the picture. Ask yourself, whether or not a good pic with head and shoulders wouldn't be far better.

FRAMING & THE FOCAL POINT

One trick is to use overhanging foliage to frame your picture. Remember that straight lines running off the edge of your picture, tend to take your eye away. What you really want is for the eye to be drawn in.

In that respect, remember the eye is drawn to light and bright colours, which is why one famous artist was renowned for putting a splash of red somewhere near the centre of his paintings. It is also why fashion advisors suggest that you wear light colours to attract people to your best features, dark colours to disguise your worst. I wear dark colours top and bottom...

The uncropped photograph shows trees on either side so your eye is drawn into the centre. However, the row of rubbish bins (bottom right) are not exactly a photogenic subject, so cropping improves the composition.

Not all pics are going to be successful regardless of what you do to them but they may be worth saving and may benefit from a bit of work. For most of us though, we tend to quickly "point and press" to capture something (a snapshot) rather than create a work of art. Two classic mistakes by the the photographer here prevent this from being even a half decent picture.

Even with the cropped version, the cyclist heading out of the picture distracts. Had the cyclist been going left to right, it would have improved matters - but the rubbish bins still detract, even with more cropping.

To be continued.... Last update March 2013