These Simple Photo Tips
Will Help Your Photography

The photo tips presented here will help understand some basic concepts of photography, build confidence in your ability and improve your skills as a photographer.

When you view the pictures you have taken are you satisfied with the results? Do you delete more than you keep? Maybe a few simple adjustments, could have made them keepers. Some might even end up hanging on your wall! The more things you can get right before you press the shutter release will lt you spend more time enjoying making pictures and less time editing them. These basic photo tips will help! Too many times I've heard some other photographer say "the exposure might not be right but I can fix that in Photoshop" Technical tips for editing your images will be included in the Digital Darkroom.

Have you ever taken a photograph where the horizon is sloping up or down? We all have. It's easy to fix! Here are some tips you can use. When looking through the viewfinder or at the LCD screen, simply keep the horizon line parallel with the bottom or top of the screen. If you are using a tripod, level the head before you attach your camera. I always carry one or two small bubble levels in my bag. Or if you have a camera equiped with an accessory shoe there are bullseye levels available that will attach directly to the shoe. Level the camera, get the shot! Problem solved.

How about the picture of Aunt Elsie with the telephone pole growing out of her head? This common problem can be solved by adjusting the DEPTH OF FIELD to blur the background or by changing your position or Aunt Elsie's to alter the Composition. What if your picture is out of Focus.

First check to see if your camera is in the AF or auto focus mode. Some cameras have both an AF and MF manual focus mode. If auto focus is set, did you move the camera while the shutter was open? To solve this problem, use your camera's flash. Maybe your auto focus focused on a nearby object and not your subject. Put your subject in the middle of the viewfinder or the LCD screen. Press the shutter release half way, this activates Focus Lock. While still holding the shutter release half way down, recompose your picture and push the shutter the rest of the way to capture the image.

What is the right EXPOSURE for the picture you are about to take? We have some interesting photo tips to help you solve this question. Most of the time the LIGHT METER in your camera will choose the correct exposure and your picture will come out perfect. One of the best technical tips I can give you here is to be sure you check the image Histogram. It indicates that there will be some detail lost in the highlight areas. YOU determine that the detail lost is an important part of the image.To correct this YOU set your Exposure Compensation to -1 and reshoot. The histogram now shows the highlight areas to be fine but now some shadow detail is being lost. Reset the exposure compensation to -2/3 and shoot again. The histogram now indicates a perfect exposure!

Check out these Quick Tips to Make Your Photos Even Better!

For more basic photo tips, please bookmark this page. We are always adding more new and interesting photo tips and tricks you can use to to improve your picture taking skills.

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