Photo Tips and Tricks

Getting more out of your Camera

Just some basic tips and tricks.
Lessons learned over my years as amateur photografer that I wish to share, plus some links to a few good Photo Tutorials etc

Everyone loves taking pictures

With the Digital Camera becoming something just about everyone own, taking pictures have become so much more fun and easy!

For those who are really into photography there is endless possibilities and lots of technical stuff and photographic tecniques you can learn.

But there are some really basic and easy steps the average amateur can take to get more out of his, or hers, picture taking.

My Top Photo Tips

Simple photo hints that anyone can remember

Use it or loose it! Take many pictures. Don't wait endlessly for that perfect moment, fire away frequently. Just delete the ones that don't turn out well later.
Photo Composition! Compose yourself ;) When you do take that picture, take a second to examine what you have in the viewfinder/display.
Many cameras have an option to show a grid in the viewfinder. It can be a great tool to avoid the oh so common tilted Horizont. Also helpful for composition (Rule of the Thirds)
Don't chop people off by the knees! When taking pictures of people, take care to either make it like a portrait or make sure they fit in the viewfinder.
Lighting. While digital cameras sometimes don't protest too much even if the available light is very low, usually the result will not be very good. And the built in flash really only works if the object is quite close to the camera.
Bright sunlight in the middle of the day isn't great either, tends to make pictures look bland. Mornings, afternoons, and even rainy days, usually give the best result.
Use a good photo paper for printing. I know it's expensive, but it really makes a world of difference.
When buying a Camera, optical zoom and the quality of the optics is more important than Megapixels! The Megapixel count doesn't really tell you even half the truth. Also Optical Picture stablization is good to have.

Photography in the Woods

Tricks you can use when taking pictures in a Forest and similar places with poor lighting and unusual colors

I have found that many, if not all, digital cameras get confused when you are taking pictures in the woods.
The main problem seems to be that the Auto White Balance can't get it right with the lighting present there.
Manually setting white balance to "Cloudy" or similar, can make a huge difference and give you much more natural colors. Give it a try.
It may work well for many other situations too, depending on your camera. But Auto Whitebalance doesn't always work well.

Another handy trick you may not have thought about. In poor lighting conditions, use the Self Timer, even if you are not going to jump into the picture yourself. This way you don't have to worry about the movement you usually will cause when you press the trigger.