If you’re not ready to learn all the intricacies of photography, but want to use your new camera to take beautiful photos, this guide will greatly help you with great tricks to turn you into an excellent photographer.
Table of Contents
The Best Tips to Get the Most from Your New Digital Camera
Learn how to properly handle your camera
This may seem obvious, but many newbies in photography do not hold the camera the way they should, and this ends up causing blurry images. Tripods are obviously the best way to avoid camera shake, but since you do not have a tripod unless you are shooting in low light situations, it is important to hold the camera properly to avoid unnecessary movement.
Although you will develop your own way of holding the camera, you should always hold it with both hands. Hold the right side of the camera with your right hand and place your left hand under the lens to support the weight of the camera.
The closer you hold the camera to your body, the firmer you’ll be able to hold it. If you need extra stability, you can lean against a wall or kneel, but if there is nothing to lean on, adopting a broader posture can also help.
Beware of flash
If you’re not careful, using the camera’s built-in flash at night or in low light can cause some unpleasant effects, such as red eyes and strong shadows. In general, it is better to increase the ISO and get noisier pictures than using the flash in the camera and risk ruining them completely.
Sometimes, however, there may simply not be enough light, and if you do not have off-camera lighting, you have no choice but to use the built-in flash. If you find yourself in this situation and you do not want to miss the chance, there are a few things you can do to reduce the problem. First, find the flash settings in your camera’s menu, and reduce the brightness as much as possible.
Secondly, you can try diffusing the flashlight by putting something on it. Fastening a piece of opaque paper or tape over the flash, for example, can help diffuse the light and soften it. Or you can hold white cardboard in the front at an angle.
Pay attention to the background
In general, the background should be as simple and cluttered as possible so that it does not take the viewer’s attention away from the main subject of the photo. Soft colors and simple patterns tend to work well because you do not want viewers to become more interested in the colored building or the church tower than the model.
Fixing a non-distracting background can be as simple as moving your subject or changing its angle, but if that does not work, it may be possible to obscure it by using a wider aperture and getting as close to your subject as possible. Whenever possible, however, try to keep the background neutral, especially if you are placing the object on the side of the photograph and the background is very visible.
Invest in good photo editing software
Postprocessing is a necessity, rather than a late reflection, so you’ll need to invest in some photo editing software, which will allow you to perform basic editing tasks such as cropping, exposure adjustment, white balance and contrast, removing blemishes and much more.
Most professional photographers use programs like Adobe Photoshop or Lightroom, but if you want something a little cheaper, you can try out Photoshop Elements, Picasa or Gimp.
Be selective
It is important to realize that every photographer, no matter how experienced or talented it is, sometimes makes some mediocre photos. The reason their portfolios are so impressive, however, is that they exhibit only their best works; they do not bore you with ten photos of an almost identical scene.
So if you want your work to stand out while sharing your photos on Facebook, Instagram or Flickr, try reducing them to just a few really good photos of each session. You may have made hundreds of pictures at your friend’s birthday party or at your child’s football game, but by displaying all of them, you are obscuring the five or ten really good pictures you’ve made.
Learn from your mistakes
Overexposing, blurring or mis-composing photos can be frustrating, but instead of allowing these photos to discourage you, use them as a learning tool. The next time you take a bad photo; do not press the delete button immediately. Instead, spend some time studying the photo to find out what went wrong and how you could improve it.
Most of the time, there will be a simple solution, such as trying a different composition or using faster shutter speed, but if there are recurring problems, you will have the chance to study specific aspects of photography and strengthen your weaker areas.
If you need help, have doubts or concerns, do not hesitate to leave a comment in the comment box below and we will try to help you as soon as possible!