7. So, you have no idea when to shoot horizontally and vertically? If you have been practicing with your camera for quite some time now, deciding how to shoot will come naturally. However, if you’re just starting, you have to keep in mind that should the subject’s height be higher than the width, you have to shoot vertically.
8. Are you guilty of saying “cheese!” every time you click your camera? You might want to change your style. Saying “cheese” sometimes forces the people to smile so big that it looks awkward.
9. Look around you. Is there a glass surface at your subject’s back? If you see one, then better shift your position if you plan to use the flash. You wouldn’t want light reflecting back, don’t you?
Photo taken from http://www.flickr.com
4. No matter what, you have to know the features of your camera. Experiment if you need to. If it’s an analog camera, splurge on films. It is best if you know what your gadget’s edge is.
5. Do not be afraid to move. Move in closer to your subject if you feel that you’re too far. Also, do not trust much on zooms. There are times that the zoom blurs out the photo, so again, make sure you know your camera’s features.
6. For you to have that masterpiece like photo, refrain from putting your subject in the center of your photo. Aside from the fact that it’s boring, you will make your subject look like a pole in the picture.
Photo taken from http://thefuntimesguide.com
Some people do get amused with fantastic pictures to a point that they want to try things out. They want to see how they will fair with shooting their own photos, if they have the knack for it. But before you start shooting, keep in mind these things:
1. You have to be particular about the background. Photos with unnecessary objects floating around the subject are not really nice to look at (not unless that object has a purpose).
2. If you have the chance to shoot outside, then, by all means, do. Nothing beats the sun as your light source. A person’s skin color also looks natural when outside (compared to the inside shot, wherein various shadows and skin discoloration may appear).
3. Even if you’re outside, always remember to use the flash. The sun can create various shadows on your subject, so use the flash to counter it.
Photo taken from http://ant.sillydog.org
7. Manual cameras (analog) do require for your expertise when shooting photos. However, if you feel that your photos are quite dark or too bright for you to see the subject, then you can make some adjustments using your choice of photo editing program.
8. If you intend to share your photos, you should first take note the purpose of sharing. If you are posting those online for the public’s view (and hopefully, for a photography expert to see), you might want to increase the resolution of the pictures.
9. When you try to import your photos, it is best if you edit all the file names for easy access. I bet you’ll have a hard time remembering file names such as “226456485424.jpg”.
Photo taken from http://www.tasi.ac.uk
4. Make sure that you straighten your uploaded photos. There are times that when you scan pictures, the photo on the screen looks like it’s tilted about a degree to the left. Most photo editors now do have a straightening feature which allows you to adjust photos to certain degrees.
5. Digital photos sometimes are tricky: the photo you took with your camera sometimes doesn’t look the same when you upload it on your computer. What you can do is to crop the photo so that the subject is at the center of the frame. Use the crop feature if you wish to delete unnecessary background too.
6. If your photos have people in it, make sure they don’t have the red eye. Lucky you because most photo editing programs do have the red eye remover.
Photo taken from http://static.howstuffworks.com
So you’ve taken pictures with your precious camera. Even if you are not a professional photographer, of course, you would want to share your photos with everyone else. There is nothing more satisfactory than having an audience stare at your photos.
Here are some of the basic of photo sharing. Make sure you follow everything by heart.
1. You have to be organized with your shots. Having everything in one folder does not seem to be a good idea. You can group pictures according to theme or by date, whichever you prefer.
2. It is best if you keep a copy of the images you took before you start editing them. Sometimes, as you edit a photo, you have no specific outcome in mind. The problem starts when you suddenly get tired of how you edited the photo, but the original copy is gone.
3. Rotate your photos. You wouldn’t want your audience to get a stiff neck because they’re looking at your pictures sideways, don’t you?
Photo taken from http://web1.shutterfly.com
Do think analogue photography also has advantages compared to digital photography? No? Then perhaps you should be enlightened about the pros and cons of both kinds of photography.
Digital photography allows the user to transfer files immediately after the shot was taken. No more films to develop, no more hassle of taking the films to the developer, no more fears of exposing your precious shots and no more unnecessary expenditures (like finishing the whole film before you can see the result). You can even edit the photo after!
Analogue photography however is much different than digital in a number of ways. Analogue photography requires your expertise in the shooting pictures since you cannot edit it after. From lighting to other background and foreground blurring, everything must be done manually.
Perfection is almost impossible. There are always some flaws, destructions, and obstacles along the way. Development, being manifested almost everywhere, whether it is economical or technological, signifies changes. These innovations can either be advantageous or disadvantageous. They can either aggravate or resolve problems.
One field that can be said to be experiencing fantastic developments is digital photography. It can be said that it is more convenient than the traditional photography that uses analogue apparatus. Today, everything can be done. Initially, it can be perceived to be very useful but as people becomes more informed about digital photography, we have the tendency to abuse this knowledge. Today, your face can now be cropped and can serve as a dog’s face. How “advanced” can things be?
If you only want your photos to be simple with no frills such as color effects and so on and so forth, you might want to try Microsoft’s Office Picture Manager. Perhaps it is the simplest program for photo editing and it is not as complicated as Ulead or Adobe and you can edit your picture using the basic tools in the program. Of course, you don’t have to worry about your output since the basics of photo editing are present in Office Picture Manager. The features of the said program include cropping, resizing, rotating, color management, brightness and contrast of the image. As mentioned, it has very limited techniques however, it has automatic editing modes like auto correct and auto brightness.
In the early times, photos were developed black and white. However, technological innovation allowed pictures to have colors.
Black and white photos are elegant. The photos personify mystery and ambiguity due to the shadow works and the colorless feature of the photo makes the perceiver imagine the colors by him/herself. Color photos on the other hand are vibrant. It adds life to the picture and makes the perceiver think that the photo is “alive”. Photos too that have extraordinarily vibrant colors tend to catch the attention of the people. I have joined a photo contest before and won first place as I emphasized the colors of my subject.
