10 tips for better pictures

tip un: black and white landscapes
If you want to take great black and white landscape photos, shoot in colour. By using your digital camera’s raw picture quality setting rather than JPEG, you’ll record a colour image that you can convert to black and white later in photo editing software such as Lightroom or Photoshop

 

tip deux:  panorama, first take a series of overlapping shots with the camera positioned vertically – this will give you much larger panoramic image than if you use the camera horizontally.

tip 3:  HDR landscape photos: hotography enables you to capture detail in all areas of a picture – from shadows through to highlights – that you normally couldn’t squeeze into a single picture.

 tip 4: manual focus
Switch off autofocus when you’re taking macro photos. Depth of field (DOF) can be measured in millimetres when you’re shooting close-up details, so accurate focusing is critical.

tips 5:  shooting light trails

Simply use a slow exposure to render a moving light source – whether that’s car headlights or a fast fairground ride – as bright streaks through the frame. Lock the camera off on a tripod so that other elements of the picture are captured sharply, and time your shots to record the maximum amount of streaks. When shooting car light trails or bursts of fireworks, it often pays to shoot numerous exposures and then blend these together in Photoshop. This way, pictures will feel much fuller and livelier.

tip 6:  photographing star trails

Switch your camera to manual settings, and focus the lens at infinity. Using Bulb mode, set a low ISO to reduce digital noise, and a wide aperture such as f/2.8 to gather as much light as possible and keep exposure times comparatively short.

 

tip 7:  using window light

a window and a reflector can help you achieve stunning natural results without spending too much. Position your model at an angle to the window and use a white or silver reflector to open up any shadows across their face.

tip 8: high-key portraits Deliberately choosing to over-expose a photo to create a ‘high-key’ effect results in a light and delicate look that can enhance feminine portraits and pictures of children. 

 

tip 9: shooting in burst mode

 Whether you’re taking a child’s portrait or a group portrait, set your camera in its fastest drive setting.

tip 10: candlelight portraits 

When you’re taking photos by candlelight, you’ll need to push the ISO to 1600 and beyond and work with large apertures if you’re to get a fast enough shutter speed to freeze any motion in your model, the camera or the candle flames.

Turn your camera’s flash off and use Manual exposure mode. Switch off any lights, take a meter reading from your portrait-sitter’s face and let the rest of the room slip into darkness.

If you’re planning a candlelit portrait shoot, use more than one candle. Not only will it increase the amount of light available to make the exposure, but it will allow you to spread the illumination for softer shadows.