Learning Digital Photography

Another problem that I use to have, similar to rule of thirds, is the angle. While learning digital photography, try rotating the camera. Change the horizon from flat to angled. If you want to create more interest in the picture, you could tilt the camera and "boom" the photo has more character.

While learning digital photography tricks, sometimes they did not work for me, changing the angle was one of these. Once, I tilted the camera and took what I thought was a great picture, but when I viewed it on the computer, it was horrible, the people as well as all of the objects in the picture appeared to be falling down. I found that I needed to experiment with the angle. It will vary according to the subject matter.

When this does work, it helps my photos tremendously. The best thing to do is to practice. Take the picture at one angle then another and then a third. Don't delete any of them until you can see them full size, that is where you will get their full effect. Just click away, you can always delete those that you do not like.

That is one thing that I must stress about learning digital photography; Practice, Practice, Practice. Just like learning to play an instrument, a new language or any new skill, the way to be the best is to practice.

When you Take Better Pictures using a different angle, It makes the viewer a little off balance and reveals something that they were not expecting. It takes the real world and distorts it slightly. It adds an element of surprise.

Can I be honest with you? You can search for photography tricks on the internet and find a lot of good information, but I have found that it is still lacking. If you truly want to take pictures like a pro, you either need to take a class or purchase some books. Don't get me wrong, you can improve your photos greatly with techniques found on the internet, but they will leave you short.

To really learn digital photography, I highly recommend this wonderful guide that will have you producing professional results in no time, even if you know nothing about photography or have never used a digital camera. It is the total package and a lot cheaper than taking classes. You also have the guide to refer back to in the future.

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Many of the tricks that I found out while learning digital photography had many variations. Changing the angle was one of these.

What if you were photographing trees and you wanted them to look really tall and powerful. Well, one way to make them appear taller in the frame is to orient your camera to portrait (vertical) instead of Landscape (horizontal). But what if you were taking a picture of the whole forest (and you don't want to see the trees) or at least you want to highlight the vast width of the Mountains, then you would choose a landscape (horizontal) frame to portray the vastness of the scene.

These may sound like basic ideas, but these digital photography tricks work. I have taken pictures and looked at them and found that they just didn't reveal the true nature of what was there. Trees, buildings, people, columns looked short. Mountains, lakes, the beach looked narrow.

Take a look at the picture of these bucket trucks. I wanted to show the height of the arms, so I choose a "Vertical" or Portrait image. I did take a "horizontal" or Landscape image, but the trucks looked short.

In any picture, what you want to do is to lead the viewer's eyes into the frame. One effective way to do this is with leading lines. This is a physical feature in the photograph that gives the viewer a path to traverse. Examples are roads, railroad tracks, fences or anything with a perceived "line".

A good photograph will lead the viewer along the line to the main subject. Leading lines, don't have to be straight, they can curve throughout the image. Beware not to lead the viewer off the picture. The photo should keep the viewer inside the frame. If the eyes of the viewer of brought to the edge of the photograph, they may lose interest and move out of the picture.

Look at the picture to the right. The Viewer is drawn into the picture by the railroad track and then through the steel of the bridge. The eye never leaves it's socket, I mean the page.

I hope that these tips have helped you on your path to learning digital photography. Practice these often and I guarantee that your digital photography will improve.

Say Cheese! (how about some hot pepper jack?)

All Text and Pictures: © Russell Roberds 2009