Thursday 13 September 2012

Photography Tips

I was very excited when I finally purchased the camera of my choice and I started taking pictures right away like a professional photographer.  After experimenting with it for a few days, I realized that taking good pictures is not a child's play.  I was a bit disappointed as the pictures were not coming perfect, many were blurred and not pleasing to the eye.  I started talking to some of my friends for tips, browsed the internet and also uploaded some photographs for feedback.  It helped me a lot and gradually I was able to take good pictures.  Later I took a short-term online course to bolster my creativity on photography.  I learned a lot and want to share with you guys a few tips.

The first thing you should do after buying a brand new camera is to test out its different modes that are available in your camera.  You should try out its auto mode, manual mode, movie mode, sweep panorama, and so on.  More you engage in its functions more you would learn about the settings to use in different types of photo taking.  Refer to the manual extensively and be familiar with your camera before you actually start taking pictures.

Read the user manual thoroughly.  Many people do not make an effort to go through the manual that comes along with the camera.  They think that all the functions can be learned by simply playing with them.  That is not true.  There are still many things that are there in the manual that often seem minute but can prove beneficial from time to time.  To know your camera's functionality, you must read the manual thoroughly.

Follow The Rule of Thirds.  It is a very general photographic guideline that suggests dividing a photo into horizontal and vertical thirds, then composing to put the critical elements of the photograph at the intersection of the imaginary thirds.  If you are a beginner, this rule should definitely be followed in order to make your pictures more appealing.  Activate the grid lines in your camera in order to follow The Rule of Thirds (refer to the manual that is given along with your camera if needed).

Always use a tripod.  It will help you to get rid of the blurriness in the pictures and also help you to become a good photographer.  As you can see, professional photographers always carry a tripod.  If you do not have a tripod, you can lean against a wall or rest your camera on top of a table or some stable objects.

When you take pictures of children, you may get discouraged as they often blink at the wrong moment.  To prevent this, tell them to close their eyes for a moment and then ask to open their eyes and smile when you are ready to press the shutter button.  This way, you will have good portrait pictures.

Try to enjoy your hobby.  Even best photographers cannot always produce good pictures.  So, do not get discouraged.  Simply enjoy it and keep clicking and practice more.

Try to take pictures on a cloudy day.  Clouds can serve as a good reflector and produce excellent pictures.

Try to take at least three photos at a time.  When shooting pictures of children, you should try to take three or more photos in a row.  This way, you would be able to capture their movements, which can become oftentimes quite funny or interesting.

It is always best that you know how to set your camera properly, in accordance to its surroundings, as you will need to take pictures in different places which will require different effects.  Thus, apart from knowing the settings of your camera, you should also have the ability to switch them quickly.

Try to shoot with other photographers who are more experienced than you are.  This way, you get to learn a lot of things from them, such as their techniques, their equipment, their style, and a lot more.  Aside from that, you can also make new friends.  Doing this would certainly offer you an opportunity to learn lots of new things.

Always carry spare batteries when you are out of your home shooting pictures.  Charge all your extra batteries and bring them so that you do not miss out on great shots.

As a beginner in photography, you need to find ways to learn more about it.  One of which is to take a photography course.  By going through a course, it would be easier for you to gather more information about the subject.

Ask a professional photographer for feedback.  By doing that, you would be able to make improvements on your skills, by listening to his advice.


Some More Useful Tips

Nowadays almost all cameras including digital cameras come with the facility of movie mode, so why not to use it to capture some beautiful moments on occasions like birthday parties, weddings, and family gatherings and you may want to use them to make a short movie using Windows Movie Maker.  For beginners as well as professionals, Windows Movie Maker is the best free video editor that is available and the settings are user friendly and even a child can operate it.  However, when you are using the Windows Movie Maker for the first time and import video clips to make a short movie, you may get a message saying "The file M4V00000.MP4 is not a supported file type, and it cannot be imported into Windows Movie Maker."  It may be annoying at first, but do not worry, as there is a solution to it.  Simply follow the following:

Download Mp4Cam2AVI.  It is an AVI converter or joiner for digital photos and videos and MPEG-4 camcorders.  Convert all your video clips and photos using this software and then import them into Windows Movie Maker and now you can make a short film without having any problem.

Another thing you must have noticed that the size of JPEG images is very large and can be of 100+ KB to 7+ MB in size, may be even more, due to which it becomes very difficult to send these files as attachments or post in your social networking sites as it takes a lot of time to upload.  About 150 to 200 photos need around 4-GB space.  Now, the main question is - how to decrease the size of JPEG images and others?  Actually it is pretty simple.  Right click on the picture you want to reduce the size of, click on Open With and from the list click on Paint.  The picture will now open in Paint, then press Ctrl+S, i.e., save and close the window.  Now, check the size again in Properties by right clicking on the picture.  You will see that the size of the picture has been reduced significantly, isn't it?  Only disadvantage is that you have to repeat the process over and over again for each picture as you cannot select more than one picture at a time.  I have been following this method for a long time and discovered it accidentally by myself.

Lastly, it is very much essential to take care of your camera’s batteries.  Camera batteries need proper care in order for them to last longer.  One of the best things that you can do for it is to let it get drained once or twice in a month.  Once it is fully discharged, make sure that you also charge it properly.  This method actually extends the life of your batteries.


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