JDSPhotography

Whether you have just a very basic camera or a more expensive digital SLR, you can take amazing quality photography, just like the professionals do. The truth is, it really isn’t all about the camera - it’s the photographer! Even with a more expensive SLR type camera, if you don’t know what you’re doing, you can still take terrible shots with your SLR.

If you can point and shoot your camera descently AND if you are willing to make some key adjustments, taking those professional looking shots can really become a reality.

Below are several tips to help you shoot photographs like the professionals even with your basic, cheaper digital camera.

1. Leveling the image may be difficult for amateurs as well as some pros. One way to get a level or an even shot, especially of a nature shot, is to look for some horizontal lines as a guide. If you have a view of the horizon, where the sky meets the ocean, you can use that as your leveling guide. If it still is difficult for you, you can try to take several shots at different angles so you’ll know which one would give you the best shot. After some time it will become natural for you to take even shots.

2. Taking detailed shots of objects like flowers or small insects is easy with your digital camera. Most digital cameras have a feature called “close up” or “macro mode” usually indicated by a flower sign. With this mode turned on, you can take shots of objects as close as possible. However, you only get a shallow field-depth when taking close up pictures so it is better to focus on the most important part of the subject then allow the other parts of the image go soft.

3. For an outdoor shot with shine, use your camera’s “flash on” or “fill flash” feature. This lets you control when you want the flash to go off, instead of it deciding when it wants to. This mode exposes first the background then adding enough flash to illuminate your subject. For great results, place your subject where the sun illuminates the hair from the side or back. Alternatively, to let your subject be comfortable and not be annoyed by the sun’s heat, place your model in the shade then use the flash to illuminate the subject. However, built-in flashes only have a maximum range of 10 feet. Thus, it would be better not to go too far from your subject.

4. Polarizing filters can be one of the most important investments you can add to your digital camera. These filters reduce the glare and unwanted reflections on your shots. This is great when you frequently take landscape and outdoor shots. Pictures taken with a polarizer have richer and more saturated colors. If your camera won’t allow filters, like a simple point-and-shoot camera, don’t fret! You can still have a polarizing effect on your shots by placing a good quality pair of sunglasses in front of the lens. It gives an effect similar to a polarizer. Just make sure that you place it to the lens as close as possible and the rims are not seen.

5. Would you like your shots to have a warmer feel? Most shots taken from a digital camera without any adjustments look cool and clammy. This is because the white balance setting is set to “auto” as default which is fine for snapshots. If you want a warmer effect, though, with sharp colors, you may want to set the white balance to “cloudy” setting instead of auto. This is like adding a mild warming filter to the lens of your camera. Cloudy setting increases the yellow and red colors adding a richer and warmer effect to your shots.

These are only some of the tricks that you can implement to take more exciting photographs digital camera or SLR. I believe that Photography is one of the most rewarding and enjoyable hobbies in the world. It even gets better when your work starts to receive positive recognotion. Just explore, study material on the subject of photography, and never turn down advice from the pros. Doing this consistantly will make you turn from an ameteur to a pro in no time flat