Top 10 Tips For Great Pictures

Discussion in 'Photos & Video' started by Helene Lawson, Aug 14, 2015.

  1. Helene Lawson

    Helene Lawson Veteran Member
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    Do you wish you were a better photographer? All it takes is a little know-how and experience. Keep reading for some important picture-taking tips. Then grab your camera and start shooting your way to great pictures.

    1
    Look your subject in the eye
    Direct eye contact can be as engaging in a picture as it is in real life. When taking a picture of someone, hold the camera at the person's eye level to unleash the power of those magnetic gazes and mesmerizing smiles. For children, that means stooping to their level. And your subject need not always stare at the camera. All by itself that eye level angle will create a personal and inviting feeling that pulls you into the picture.
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  2. Helene Lawson

    Helene Lawson Veteran Member
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    2
    Use a plain background
    A plain background shows off the subject you are photographing. When you look through the camera viewfinder, force yourself to study the area surrounding your subject. Make sure no poles grow from the head of your favorite niece and that no cars seem to dangle from her ears.
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  3. Helene Lawson

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    3
    Use flash outdoors
    Bright sun can create unattractive deep facial shadows. Eliminate the shadows by using your flash to lighten the face. When taking people pictures on sunny days, turn your flash on. You may have a choice of fill-flash mode or full-flash mode. If the person is within five feet, use the fill-flash mode; beyond five feet, the full-power mode may be required. With a digital camera, use the picture display panel to review the results.On cloudy days, use the camera's fill-flash mode if it has one. The flash will brighten up people's faces and make them stand out. Also take a picture without the flash, because the soft light of overcast days sometimes gives quite pleasing results by itself.
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  4. Helene Lawson

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    4
    Move in close
    If your subject is smaller than a car, take a step or two closer before taking the picture and zoom in on your subject. Your goal is to fill the picture area with the subject you are photographing. Up close you can reveal telling details, like a sprinkle of freckles or an arched eyebrow.But don't get too close or your pictures will be blurry. The closest focusing distance for most cameras is about three feet, or about one step away from your camera. If you get closer than the closest focusing distance of your camera (see your manual to be sure), your pictures will be blurry.
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  5. Helene Lawson

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    5
    Move it from the middle
    Center-stage is a great place for a performer to be. However, the middle of your picture is not the best place for your subject. Bring your picture to life by simply moving your subject away from the middle of your picture. Start by playing tick-tack-toe with subject position. Imagine a tick-tack-toe grid in your viewfinder. Now place your important subject at one of the intersections of lines.You'll need to lock the focus if you have an auto-focus camera because most of them focus on whatever is in the center of the viewfinder.
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  6. Helene Lawson

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    6
    Lock the focus
    If your subject is not in the center of the picture, you need to lock the focus to create a sharp picture. Most auto-focus cameras focus on whatever is in the center of the picture. But to improve pictures, you will often want to move the subject away from the center of the picture. If you don't want a blurred picture, you'll need to first lock the focus with the subject in the middle and then recompose the picture so the subject is away from the middle.Usually you can lock the focus in three steps. First, center the subject and press and hold the shutter button halfway down. Second, reposition your camera (while still holding the shutter button) so the subject is away from the center. And third, finish by pressing the shutter button all the way down to take the picture.
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  7. Helene Lawson

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    7
    Know your flash's range
    The number one flash mistake is taking pictures beyond the flash's range. Why is this a mistake? Because pictures taken beyond the maximum flash range will be too dark. For many cameras, the maximum flash range is less than fifteen feet—about five steps away.What is your camera's flash range? Look it up in your camera manual. Can't find it? Then don't take a chance. Position yourself so subjects are no farther than ten feet away. Film users can extend the flash range by using Kodak Max versatility or versatility plus film.
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  8. Helene Lawson

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    8
    Watch the light
    Next to the subject, the most important part of every picture is the light. It affects the appearance of everything you photograph. On a great-grandmother, bright sunlight from the side can enhance wrinkles. But the soft light of a cloudy day can subdue those same wrinkles.Don't like the light on your subject? Then move yourself or your subject. For landscapes, try to take pictures early or late in the day when the light is orangish and rakes across the land.
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  9. Helene Lawson

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    9
    Take some vertical pictures
    Is your camera vertically challenged? It is if you never turn it sideways to take a vertical picture. All sorts of things look better in a vertical picture. From a lighthouse near a cliff to the Eiffel Tower to your four-year-old niece jumping in a puddle. So next time out, make a conscious effort to turn your camera sideways and take some vertical pictures.
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  10. Helene Lawson

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    10
    Be a picture director
    Take control of your picture-taking and watch your pictures dramatically improve. Become a picture director, not just a passive picture-taker. A picture director takes charge. A picture director picks the location: "Everybody go outside to the backyard." A picture director adds props: "Girls, put on your pink sunglasses." A picture director arranges people: "Now move in close, and lean toward the camera."
    Most pictures won't be that involved, but you get the idea: Take charge of your pictures and win your own best picture awards.
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    Source: http://www.kodak.com/ek/US/en/Home_...ange/Learn/Top_10_Tips_for_Great_Pictures.htm
     
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  11. Corie Henson

    Corie Henson Veteran Member
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    I am fully aware of #3 - using flash outdoors. However, my camera is a point-and-shoot that is automatic, i.e. when the surrounding is not dark, the flash will not activate. But it's really a better picture that I get when the flash is used to neutralize the excessive light.

    Now, I have this question about photography that I still have to get a good answer. About that focusing in that #8 where the couple have the limelight and the background is defocused. I know it is part of the art but I seem not to get the logic of it. Why blur the background? Can we not get a good photo of the foreground and the background in focus at the same time? Pardon for my ignorance but it's a long time question for me.
     
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  12. Cody Fousnaugh

    Cody Fousnaugh Supreme Member
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    I enjoy photography, but I'm not real deep into it and sure don't have expensive equipment. Most of the time when I take photos, I have the camera in "burst" mode, so I can pick the best of what I take. Unless it's an Water Camera, like a cheap one bought at Wal Mart or Target for taking photos at a Water Park, I do all of my own photo processing at home. I take the photos off of our Apple iPhones (with software we bought online to do it with) and off of Media Cards from our small GE Digital Camera (for our boat) and our big Panasonic Digital one and transfer them to our computer into a photo software we bought. It's by far not a sophisticated type software, but does what we need. After doing a little "enhancing", I transfer all the photos to USB's that we have. We do have photo's on our phone, but not like a lot of people who have lots of them on theirs.

    I've taken photos of the Elk "rut" in RMNP. We been to Yellowstone and have numerous ones from there. I've got nice "close-ups" of Bull Elk, Elk Cows, White Tail Deer, buffalo and waterfalls. In fact, someone painted a picture of one of the big falls at YNP and hung it in a local steakhouse restaurant and I've got the exact same picture in a photo that I took.
     
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  13. Holly Saunders

    Holly Saunders Supreme Member
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    Good tips...I'm an avid photo taker...can't really say photographer because I'm not that great at it, and I only have point and shoot bridge cameras..but I love it, and take my camera everywhere with me. I do take pictures sometimes using my smart phones, and altho' they are very good shots, I prefer the results on my camera because it has a viewfinder which so few point and shoots have these days.
     
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  14. Ken N Louis

    Ken N Louis Veteran Member
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    We enjoy your pictures @Holly Saunders please post them.. wwp.gif
     
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  15. Holly Saunders

    Holly Saunders Supreme Member
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    Thank you Ken you're very kind.. :) I've been working a very long day today , it's late and I'm too tired now , but I've got 2 days off so I'll find some time to start a photo thread before I return to work on Thursday.. :D
     
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