On The Beach The problem with beach shots is a nice one and it is that there is often too much light which casts shadows in all the wrong places. Be sure the sun is behind the photographer. Also, the natural light is far more photograph friendly in the mid to late afternoon. Avoid cutting the photograph in half by taking it with the horizon line smack bang in the middle of the image. You want the horizon line to be straight, but not straight across the middle. Think in thirds when composing your photographs. Photographing Flowers Flowers can be photographed from many different angles just be sure to select an interesting focal point and remember to think in thirds when arranging your composition. To get the best colour reproduction avoid photographing flowers in bright light – but dimmer lighting means longer exposure times and this can lead to camera wobble so try using a tripod or camera stand. Taking Digital Photographs to Sell Your Stuff On EBay It’s said that a picture is worth a thousand words and on EBay it has been proven that listings with good photographs have more and higher bids. Set up a mini studio by clearing an area and setting up a plain backdrop – a single colour sheet is fine for this. You want viewers to be totally focused on the lot for sale, not examining the contents of your living room. Be aware of reflective surfaces revealing more of the photographer than he or she might expect, especially if flash is used. Using Your Digital Camera to Photograph Fireworks Capturing fireworks is tricky as you can never be entirely sure where the wind will take them or what their fuse length is. Pick your location carefully – you do not want to disappear in a plume of firework smoke nor do you want your view of the sky obscured by overhanging branches or rooftops. To get the best photos of fireworks select manual settings and use ISO settings of less than 200. Observe the first few fireworks to see which part of the sky they illuminate so you know where to focus your digital camera. Open the shutter as soon as you hear the telltale shriek of a firework getting airborne and close it once the firework has exploded. Because of the long exposure times do use a stand or tripod to avoid wobble. Action Shots With a Digital Camera To capture clear action shots you need to set a very fast shutter speed so this is another instance where selecting a manual mode may be more successful than leaving the camera to try to work things out for itself in auto. Fast shutter speeds lead to low exposure times so lighting needs to be good. Zoom lenses restrict the amount of light entering the camera so can make the apparent light available even poorer. For this reason it is better to get as close as you can to the subject rather than use a zoom lens. Select the highest ISO you have available to compensate for the low exposure times. A handful of quick tips to getting the best photos with a digital camera in a variety of popular photographic situations – remember nothing replaces practice. |
