If you recently made the transition from a manual or traditional automatic camera to a digital one, there are probably a few things you would still like to learn about digital photography. These ten simple tips for creating and preserving polished, professional-quality digital images will arm you with the know-how to bring out the true photographer in you.
1. Choosing the Right Resolution: One of the first things you should learn about digital photography is how to choose the right resolution. In order to get the best return on your investment in your digital camera, always use the highest number of megapixels allowed. That may mean you’re able to store fewer pictures on your camera or your memory card, but you can always carry extra memory cards in your camera case.
2. Selecting a Subject: Selecting a subject is a personal choice. But, if you’re aiming to capture more than one subject in a single photo, you may want to ask yourself if you’d be doing the subjects better justice by shooting them individually in greater detail.
3. Finding an Angle: To take artistic photographs, try unusual angles that offer a unique perspective of your subject matter. For instance, you may want to crouch down and point the camera upward when taking a photo of a large structure. This will give the viewer a sense of the looming grandeur of the object.
4. Planning Your Composition: When planning your composition ask yourself what the main focus of your photo is. Decide where you want the subject positioned—in the center, off to the side, or at the top or bottom of the photo. Decide how much background you want to reveal in proportion to your subject. Take into account the lighting and decide whether you want to play up or downplay shadows, reduce glares, etc. Once you’ve made these decisions it’s all about practice. Note what works best for you and apply the same technique next time.
5. Filling the Frame: A great digital photo makes use of the whole frame. When you look through the lens of a digital camera, a highlighted square appears, demarcating the frame. Images and detail that are well distributed throughout the frame make for an interesting photograph. Avoid classic mistakes like shooting a landscape at the bottom of the photo and filling the rest with too much sky.
6. Adding Warmth to Your Tone: Digital cameras have an automatic default white balance setting, which sometimes results in pictures that lack vibrancy. Try using the cloudy white balance setting when you’re shooting outdoors. This will add warmth and vitality to the red and yellow tones that tend to appear in natural sunlight.
7. Capturing Motion: A wonderful way to capture a moving object against a stagnant background is to force your digital camera's shutter to remain open for a couple of extra seconds. The effect is softly flowing, slow motion.
8. Use Polarization to Reduce Glare: Purchasing a polarizing filter for your digital camera will not only help you reduce glare, but it will also enable you to minimize unwanted reflections. Polarizing filters create more saturated color, especially in your outdoor pictures.
9. Cropping to Improve Composition: When you make the transition to a digital camera, you need to learn about digital photography editing aspects. Because your photo’s composition won’t always turn out like you planned, sometimes you’ll want to use a program like Adobe® Photoshop® to frame the best part of the picture and crop out the rest.
10. Storing Digital Images for Preservation: One more unique aspect to learn about digital photography is file storage. It’s important to scale your pictures down to a reasonable file size and label them by subject and date to keep them organized. Don’t forget to back up your photos for maximum posterity and protection.
Do you think you have the photographic vision? Once you take the time to learn about digital photography you’ll have the skills, too. By utilizing these simple techniques you can produce digital photos that you’ll be proud to share with your family and friends.
