Simple Tricks to Produce High Quality Images
Are you looking to improve the quality of your photos? Modern cameras often simplify the process of taking a good photograph, but you still need to do a lot of the work yourself if you want your picture to be worth the film or memory storage space. There are lots of little tricks that a good photographer will use to get the most out of a shot, and the more of those tricks you know the better a photographer you will become.
While some great photographers have an eye for things that most people can’t truly appreciate, some aspiring photographers do not necessarily have this gift. The professionals over at Art Photo Limited points out that the key to capturing a great photo is to truly commit to the art. This includes learning the basic techniques and polishing it, taking good care of your gear, knowing what you want to capture with your lens, and anticipating the perfect time to take the photo. Though not all of us would want to become professionals in this world, learning some of their tricks will surely come in handy at some point. Here are some of the easiest tricks that just about anyone can do:
Camera Shake
The more you move the camera, the blurrier the resulting photo will be. Avoiding movement with a handheld camera can be difficult, but there are a few tricks that you can use.
Try to hold the camera so that your hands anchor it in place as solidly as possible. If you are using a conventional camera with a large lens, then use one hand to hold the body and the other to support and stabilize the lens. Try to place your feet and adjust your posture to minimize body sway.
The shutter speed of your camera should be set to accommodate the focal length of the lens. As a general rule, the minimum shutter speed in seconds should be based on the focal length in millimeters. The faster the shutter speed, the less sensitive the camera will be to camera shake relative to the focal length.
Lighting
Lighting plays a huge part in the quality of your photographs. This doesn’t mean that you need a complicated lighting setup to make your photos work though. The best light source to use is the sun, which costs you nothing. In fact, anything natural that you can use to enhance your photos should be considered.
Pay attention to the shading of your subject from different angles, along with any glare that may result from the angle that you are using. Try viewing and photographing your subject from different angles to see which gives you the best result. If you are shooting indoors then you may want to make use of any light coming in through a window to give your subject good shading. This may involve moving your subject nearer to the window if practical, or picking an angle that catches the light from the window more effectively. You can also use a mirror to redirect the sunlight coming in through the window.
When shooting outdoors, if the angle you are shooting from leaves the front of your subject shadowed, then using a flash might be advisable. Using a flash indoors should be a last resort, however, as it will throw everything into sharp relief. Use static lighting where possible indoors. Also, be aware of the range of the flash. Using a flash where your subject is out of range will not be productive.
Lock the Focus Where Needed
If the part of the image that you want to focus on is not in the center of the image then you may find that an auto-focus camera will focus on the wrong point. This will result in your subject being blurred and the background coming into sharp focus.
To counter this you’ll need to set your camera to lock the focus. To do this with most cameras you first center your subject. Then hold the shutter button halfway down with your subject in the center and move the camera to point at whatever background point you want to be centered in the final shot. Then press the shutter button all the way down to take the shot. Check your camera’s instructions for the specifics for your camera.
These tips should get you started improving your picture-taking skills, but they are just the tip of the iceberg. If you want your photos to turn out as well as they can possibly be then you’ll need to do a lot more research and practice to make that happen. So search for more techniques to help improve your photography and then practice putting those handy tricks to use.