Back To Basics

1.  Experiment with Compression

You may be able to take more photos with your digital camera - here's how. 

If you own a digital camera, you may know that you can compress your images in order to store more of them on your memory card. Be sure to experiment with this compression rating to balance the image quality versus the amount of photos that will fit on one storage medium. Most cameras have 3 or 4 levels of compression or quality; the higher the quality or lower the compression rating, the more space the image takes on the storage medium, and supposedly the better the picture. Through experimentation, I have found that one step down from the highest quality/lowest compression is almost indistinguishable from the top setting. Knowing this lets me store far many more photos per storage medium. 

2.  Avoid Red Eye

Be careful when taking digital camera pictures involving flash. 

When taking pictures with your digital camera, do your subjects look like they have red eyes? This is common with taking pictures with the flash on. If you notice this problem, first check if your digital camera has a ‘Red Eye Reduction’ feature (usually looks like an eye symbol) - most new ones do. If yours doesn't have such a feature, don't fret. Most image editing programs that are supplied with the cameras have a "Remove Red Eye" feature. Check your documentation.Experiment a little, learn more about your camera and image software, and you won't have to settle with glowing red eyes in your photos. 

3.  Steadying your Digital Camera

Reduce digital camera shake by following these tips to steady your camera. 

If you take digital photos that suffer from blurred images, you may be experiencing "camera shake". This is caused by the camera moving while the picture is being taken - sometimes the result of not holding the digital camera steady.If you can, try watching a professional take photographs with their digital cameras and emulate their movements. When you are out taking pictures, try holding the digital camera closer to your body. Don't let your elbows stick out - bring them in so your lower arms (below the elbow) are parallel to your body. Then, move your elbows in, as close to your chest or stomach as possible, while you are still able to look through the viewfinder or at the LCD. The more you can steady your arms and the less they have a chance to move while snapping photos, the greater the chances your digital camera photos will remain sharp.

Another method that I use quite often is to take advantage of the self timer. Practically all digital cameras have a timer, a standard 10 second setting and usually a shorter 2 or 3 second setting. By using the time, particularly the shorter setting, you eliminate the most common cause of camera shake, the heavy trigger finger (something I’m guilty of!!),

4.  Remember - You Can Crop Later

Don't immediately delete digital camera photos if an unwanted element or person got in your picture - here's why. If an undesired subject moves into your digital camera's viewfinder right as you are taking a picture, don't fret - the picture may not be a total loss! Even much of the free software provided with digital cameras nowadays supports cropping. Once you download your images to your computer, use your software's cropping tool to remove undesired elements from your photograph. If you have a three-megapixel or higher camera, you may be able to crop sections out of your photograph and still get a good 4x6 print. If you have a five-megapixel camera, you'll very likely be able to crop large sections out of your photographs and still get 8x10 prints.

Cropping also comes in handy when your subject is too far in the distance for your zoom to fill the frame. Take the shot, then crop to gain an extra 2-3 x zoom.

5.  Use the Presets in Difficult Lighting

Your digital camera preset modes may help you take beautiful pictures in difficult lighting conditions. 

Many digital cameras come with what are called preset modes. By selecting these options in your camera, you may be able to take better pictures in certain situations than if you just "point-and-shoot". Here are some modes found in popular digital cameras; read your digital camera manual for details on which presets your digital camera supports.

Night - Just what it says; takes better pictures in low-light conditions.

Portrait - Brings clarity and attention to the subject while making the rest of the picture slightly blurred.

Landscape - Sharpens the entire picture, instead of just the focus area. Use this to take better shots of mountains, the beach, etc.

Sunrise/Sunset - Adjusts the camera's settings for these trickier light situations.

Motion - Adjusts the camera's exposure time settings to allow for quicker shots of moving subjects, such as people in sporting events.

6.  No Tripod? There is a Solution

Keep your digital photographs from turning out blurry. Here are some tips for taking clean, crisp, photographs with your digital camera when you don't have a tripod handy:

a) Set the camera exposure time as quick as possible. This will require some experimentation, because short exposure times during night or poorly lighted situations usually result in bad pictures with washed out colours. Try to find a balance between an exposure time long enough to get a pleasing photograph versus an exposure time short enough to eliminate 'camera shake'.

b) Use flash. In many situations flash can really save a picture. Flash works best if you are relatively close to a subject so the light can reflect; taking flash photographs of skylines or distant subjects may not perform as well.

c) If you are using autofocus mode, your digital camera may have a shutter button that requires you to press halfway down to focus, then fully down to take the picture. If you are experiencing camera shake, get the camera to focus on the subject by pressing the button down half-way, then press the button down fully and keep your finger pressed on the button until the camera has taken the picture.

d) Change the ISO film sensitivity to allow your digital camera to take pictures with shorter exposure times. This can result in grainier images, so you'll need to experiment. Refer to your camera manual for details.

7.  Practice Deleting Photos Quickly

Quickly clear mistakes from your digital camera media to save room for better photos. Practice deleting photos? "But I thought the whole point of a digital camera was to take lots and lots of photos!" you may exclaim.

Picture this. You are at a sporting event, live event, or you are taking photos and have a limited amount of time to shoot. No matter how much digital camera memory you have, the amount of photos you can take is finite. And no matter what, every picture you take will not be a goldmine.

Take all of these factors in consideration and you'll see why you do need to know how to delete photos - and quickly. If you take a bad photograph and need to clear room for better photos, learn how to quickly navigate your digital camera's menu and remove bad photos that just take up space. Better yet, many digital cameras let you immediately delete photos before they are written to the memory device. This is perfect in case you take a photograph and immediately notice someone's thumb in the picture or a cropped subject. No need to waste time saving a photo that you will delete later, is there?Refer to your digital camera's manual for instructions on deleting photographs.

8.  Don't Be Afraid to Get Up Close

Don't overuse a powerful digital camera's zoom feature. Even if your camera has a very powerful (5x or above) zoom, don't be afraid to get up close to your subject, especially if you are aiming for details of a subject. This is, of course, assuming your subject isn't a grizzly bear or something dangerous!Getting up close has the following advantages over using your zoom:

a) Some camera and camera lenses cause a vignette when you use higher zooms, causing areas around the corners of your photos to become too dark or light.

b) The longer the zoom, the more susceptible your camera is to camera-shake, meaning that you must hold your camera extremely steady (or use a tripod) to get clear, crisp photos. This is especially true when taking night photos. 

9.  Don't Always Centre Your Subjects

Experiment your subjects' positions in your digital camera viewfinder for more interesting photos. One sign of a novice photographer is the desire to always take their main subjects and directly centre them in the picture. While centring a subject sometimes makes the best photo, you should also consider placing the subject slightly off-centre. Some people even suggest placing the subject 1/3 away from the centre. It's just another way to add variety to your pictures. 

10.  Practice Everything!

Get accustomed to your digital camera's features and practice everything before you go on a trip. A few days before a big trip, spend a couple of hours, read your digital camera's manual, and get outside (weather permitting, of course!) and practice every feature you can think of. Trust me, most people use a very small subset of their digital camera's capabilities. Your camera may have macro mode, letting you take beautiful pictures of flowers if you get your subject in the right focal range. It may have a landscape mode that brings clarity to a panorama of outdoor sights, but you have to know how to enable this feature. Perhaps your digital camera has a special portrait mode to enhance the subject and blur the background. If so, grab a couple of friends and take a few practice shots in your neighbourhood.

Remember - you can always delete practice photos before you go out on a trip. But, while you are away from your friendly confines and a photo opportunity arises, it's hard to fully take advantage of digital camera features that you have not previously practiced! 

There are countless other tips that could be said, but the most important one is the last one: Never be afraid to PRACTICE PRACTICE PRACTICE!!! That is the number one advantage of digital photography.