Here are som really good tips on taking good pictures at night. It involves using some special settings on your camera in manual mode, all of which is explained in this video. Most beginner photographers are avoiding taking pictures at night, but I really hope after watching this video that you will try this more.
Today digital photography has blossomed and have become incredible popular. Not just in the business industry, but for common peoples as well. I guess most have shifted from normal older cameras by not, into the digital world, but lets start this lesson in going through some terms you need to know about.
My first part of my lesson in what I liked to call “my hobby photography school post”, will like I said focus on some really basic information, that still many struggle with everyday as a photographer. Here are some common terms used in the world of digital photography:
1. Pixel – Basically is the tiniest part in a photo. Every photograph consist of these microscopic pixels, and millions of them.
2. Resolution – Picture resolution is just how many of those pixels are in a picture, the quantity. The more pixels you have, the better the resolution is going to be, and your picture will always look sharper and nice. Needless to say you want a lot of pixels to achieve a better photo image quality.
3. Mega pixel – Reflects on an amount of pixels you’re camera is able to pull off. 1 Mega pixels is one thousand pixels, and if you’re camera can handle 5 mega pixels you will get a much better picture quality, since you then got 5 thousand pixels in your photos.
4. Dots Per Inch (DPI) – DPI is a term I know many struggle to keep apart from pixels. It is more commonly used when describing the quality of a monitor on a computer, or the quality on a printer. You would always want a monitor and a printer that can handle as much DPI as possible, same as with pixels. Laser printers usually have really high DPI, but other printers are also becoming real good these days. When you’re buying a printer check the DPI score up against other printers, and don’t buy the cheapest one you can find.
5. JPEG (joint photographic experts group) – Here we have something you should know what is by now, since you already own a computer, and that file is some often seen on a computer. If you guessed that JPEG is an image file, then you have just shown to yourself that you are a very smart person indeed. As a hobby photographer you should be pleased to know that digital cameras now often stores images on you camera directly as JPEG`s, which is great since it is a format that is good for many things, like posting pictures on the web.
6. Memory Card – A card where you’re pictures are stored. Buy a memory card with high capacity, and you would be able to store lots of images. Go for anything above 2GB these days.
7. LCD (liquid crystal display) – If you’re wondering if you’re beloved camera has this feature, then don’t worry my little friend, almost all digital cameras now a days has this specification. The reason why it’s a great and useful thing to have is that the LCD will let you (the photographer) be able to see you pictures before you click the shutter button. Then after you have taken your pictures, you can watch them on your little screen to check if they are worth loading into your computer.
Well then now my basic “hobby photography school lesson post” is over. I will then move on and pay more attention to the understanding on the correct handling of your greatest gadget of all time: the digital camera.
No artistic person that handles the tools wrong can create master pictures. Proper handling is vital in photography, the success of any digital photographer evolves around the output. The key to becoming a good photographer is to know how to use your digital camera.
Any beginner needs to really know the strategies on taking good pictures. The picture taking process will change depending on things like light, location, scenery and more. Here is the second part of “my hobby photography school post”:
1. Pay close attention and analyze you’re subject.
A good tip is to that is almost fundamental to digital photography is to compose you’re pictures in just the right way. If you’re about to take a portrait photo, then you should play with your camera, and try to visualize different shots. What ever you do, don’t always position the subject at dead center of the picture. That is not a creative and exiting look.
2. Take lots of close up photos.
A good way to experiment with you’re camera and make creative pictures is to use the zoom or macro mode on the camera. Take pictures of normal things, but do it in extreme close up. A whole new world of possibilities within photography will open up to you this way.
3. Buy yourself a tripod!
If you are able to hold you’re camera rock-steady, then you are fine, but otherwise get a tripod! It will prevent you’re pictures from becoming blurry. Blurriness is one of the most common things to completely ruin pictures, and it’s because you’re hands moving right at the moment when you’re pressing the shutter button.
4. Be active
Don’t be shy with your pictures. Remember that any good hobby photographer will experiment a lot, and will with experience from experiments take award winning pictures in no time. Take photos from up on a hill, out of a car, or down on the ground and up. Play with your camera and have fun really.
5. Join a photography class
It’s difficult to become a really good photographer, its no point in hiding that fact. Consider teaming up with someone else you know, that knows a lot about photography. Maybe you’re friend is a hobby photographer or something like that. It’s important to anyway considering getting some input from others, and you will learn so much faster about photography, than just learning everything from yourself. Learning from people that are experts in the field, will greatly improve your skills. If there are no photography classes in your community, then I advice you to take an online course. Maybe you plan on moving from having photography as just a hobby, to becoming more of a professional photographer, then you need to accept that it will take some time. You should not worry though, no matter what your goals are, if you work hard on learning new techniques, then rest a sure you will most likely succeed.
Becoming a professional digital photographer really takes time.
Are you thinking about getting yourself a new camera, but don’t know how much you should spend on a new digital camera? Here, some are of pros and cons on the different camera types, that can help you to form a view about which camera that best fits your needs.
1. Compact digital cameras
Price range up to 240 $
The cheapest and simplest compact cameras do not have so many sophisticated functions that one must learn, but the picture quality isn’t so great either, if you’re planning to frame you’re photographs, and maybe hang them up on the wall, then you shouldn’t buy the cheapest class of digital cameras. They can on the other hand be good enough to use as 10 x 15 cm big gift cards. The little costlier models have more functions and better performance. One can for example use the automatic functions, and you also have a little more creative control over the pictures. These cameras have a picture sensor with 4 megapixels and up, often 3x zoom and better optics.
Advantages
Cheap
Simple to use
Small and easy to have in the pocket
Disadvantages
Moderately good optics
Poor auto focus in semi darkness
2. More advanced compact cameras
Price range from above 750 $
For the more ambitious photographers, and those that expect more in their pictures. There are cameras that are suited for those that are more experience in photographing. Here we have the compact cameras that are full with functions, were a common amateur easy can get lost among all the menus and buttons. The cameras have better optics and bigger zoom than the budget cameras. In this class, the prices go up to 750 $. The picture sensors are on the smallest 5-6 megapixels, which means you will be able to get pictures in about A3 size.
Advantages
Higher battery capacity
Good optics
Many functions
Better light measurement and auto focus
Disadvantages
Bigger than the smallest compact models.
Costs more
3. SLR Digital cameras
Price range from up to or above 1800 $
If you will have full control over your camera, total flexibility, and picture quality off top class, then a digital SLR camera is your number one choice. Here we have good auto focus, and the possibility to change optics. Digital SLR cameras always have a good amount of functions and possibilities. One can choose optics entirely after own needs and the picture quality is in a class for itself. SLR cameras have faster and more exact auto focus. They can also take several pictures quicker. The picture sensors are either CCD - or cm OS type and are usually from 6 to 14 megapixels.
Advantages
Interchangeable optics
High picture quality
Fast
Good zoom
Many functions
High battery capacity
Fast and exact auto focus
Masses of accessory
Disadvantages
High price
Does not fit in the pocket
Every digital camera owner will at some point meet the red eye problem. It is when the light from your camera flash bounces off the eye of man or woman your shooting. That is one of the number one things that can ruin your otherwise perfect picture. I bet you feel that it is annoying, and won’t encourage you as a hobby photographer to take lots of pictures of people. The technical reason for this happening is that the person you are shooting has his or her eyes wide open, which will lead to reflection of light from the pupil and back at the camera. People will end up having red eyes, where animal are more likely to get green eyes.
Now many digital cameras will have some sort of red-eye reduction function. There is then probably an option to turn this feature on or off. Today’s tip consists of making sure that you have it on at all times, only when you are in a situation where you will have direct sunlight should you turn it off. If you’re wondering about just how the red eye function works, then let’s just break it down to the basics. It works by quickly flashing a very little burst of light right at the person you are taking a picture of, right before the moment where the actual picture is taken. This short burst of light will make your subject’s pupil to close, which will make it less likely that the flash on your camera will reflect off the retina or pupil. Of course then the chance for you ending up with a red-eye photo is greatly reduced.
It is very common to think that the solution to this problem is found in photo editing software programs. This is just partly true, because there are many programs out there that will not make the eyes of your subjects appear normal. These programs use filters that most likely won’t do you much good for pictures of pets with green eyes. A recommend program though is Photoshop, which has come a long way when it comes to fixing red eyes. The best trick to avoid red or green eyes in your photos is by do a good job to begin with.
Some other good tips to avoid it, is to think about how you are pointing your camera at your subject. Try to avoid pointing your digital camera directly at the eyes, instead try to bounce some of the flash on the nearby wall, or other objects close-by, reducing the chance of red-eye on your subject.
The final red eye removal solution is this: If you have a version of Photoshop, you can just follow the tutorial here:
Red Eye Removal in Photoshop
If you don’t have Photoshop (which is a little expensive piece of software), here is two free programs that will do the same.
Red Eye Reduction with Gimp
Finally I found this little software that I also can recommend called “Better JPEG”.
Made particularly for this kind of problem. Hope you have learned something here now; have fun turning your darlings from demons to angels.
