Great Digital Photos - 5 Secrets

Many modern digital cameras make it nearly impossible for a user to take a poor photograph, but there is always room for improvement with even the best of today's digital tools. While many photographers rely on the “on board” settings and modes to take a photograph, with a few photographic “secrets” up your sleeve you can improve on many standard digital photos.

1. Composition counts - So, you're going to take a group photo…you gather everyone in a tight bunch, center them in the view finder and take the shot. The result? A totally "standard" image that could be easily mistaken for countless millions of other group shots taken anywhere. What's the secret for improving such a traditional photographic image? Composition! Most professional photographers look at each scene for its color and content, but they also think of it geometrically. This means they think about the shapes created by the positioning of every item in the scene, which involves a consideration of the background, foreground and subject. For example, that group shot could have been balanced between foreground and background without placing everyone in the dead center of the scene.

2. Perspective shifting - Again, let us consider the group photograph. A really great image can be created by a photographer mounting a chair, table or even ladder and "shooting down" into the group. With everyone looking up at the photographer, the scene can take on an entirely unique perspective. This is also the reason many professional photographers crouch down to take a child's candid photograph. Unusual digital photos can come from a significant shift in perspective because they catch the viewer "off guard" and makes them look at things in a totally different way than before.

3. Look out for that flash! - Not all dimly lit scenes necessarily benefit from using a flash. Some images can be spolt when the flash washes out color from the people's faces, produces "red eye" or makes spots of reflection boune off background glass. Good digital photos are created by a thoughtful use of the flash, and this can mean bouncing the light off of a background area or nearby surface, applying "flash fill" techniques to eliminate shadows in all ready brightly lit scenes, or eliminating the flash and using a slow shutter speed or longer exposure to capture the scene (such as outdoor light displays during the holidays).

4. It's all about action - the majority of digital cameras have "action" modes, intended to capture people or animals in motion, but unless the photographer knows when to take the picture, the image may not always be a success. The best way to use a camera in action mode is to keep the subject in the frame, depress the shutter only part way, and when the moment is right, depress it completely. As an alternative, some great digital photos can be created in "continuous" mode which means "rapid-fire" photos are taken.

5. Tricky things! - digital cameras are full of all sorts of cool settings and features and good digital photos come easy to those who experiment with the many modes and possibilities contained within even the simplest equipment.

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