Summer Photo Tips!

Here are some tips to help you capture the best summer and vacation images you can with your digital camera:

"Fill Flash" - You Will Love It! 

How many times have you seen otherwise beautiful holiday photos where the people look like skeletons because their eye sockets are black? Many people don't realize that one of the most important times to use your camera's flash is in bright sunlight! This is called fill flash, because this technique fills in the details in harsh shadow areas, creating a much softer look. Most cameras set to Auto flash will be fooled at the beach or in the snow because they see a whole bunch of bright light and turn the flash off.

The simplest way to improve these photos is to force the flash on and let it do its magic. If you don't know how to do this, check your manual or come by Photo Express and we'll show you how.

Notice in the example below how the background is correctly exposed in both photos, but the beautiful baby is only identifiable in the photo with flash. Say hello to outdoor flash on sunny days and say goodbye to raccoon people!

No flash = no face!      With flash = Face!

Zoom - How To Use It 

There are two types of zoom on compact digital cameras, and we have a saying at Photo Express regarding this: "Digital bad, optical good!". Optical zoom is what happens when the lens moves in and out, just like on a film camera. Digital zoom goes further by cropping the image in the camera. It simply removes the outer pixels and enlarges the inner pixels. This is the same as cropping your images in a computer.

Digital zoom often looks just fine in your camera's little LCD screen. You go away on vacation, get a whole bunch of great closeups of wildlife and people using your digital zoom, and when you get them printed or view them on your computer, you see that they are not nearly as sharp as you thought they were, and may be no good at all. We recommend not using digital zoom in almost all cases, and turning it off if your camera allows you to. Say hello to optical zoom and goodbye to lego people!

Optical zoom = good!                  Digital zoom = bad!

Use the Sun 

The first thing you are taught about outdoor photography is shoot with the sun behind you or nothing is going to turn out.  The second thing you learn is it's actually best to have the sun over one of your shoulders, not directly behind.  Well, I'm here to tell you that I absolutely love shooting into the sun!

A few caveats - staring into the sun, with the naked eye or through a camera, can do damage, so be careful.  Also, using live view (ie. using your camera's screen to set up your shots) while pointing at the sun too long can cause damage to your camera's CCD or CMOS chip.

Shooting with the subject between the camera and the sun, especially on a summer evening, creates a fashionable look with pleasing imperfections and lens flares.  You will get the best people shots if you use a reflector to bounce the sun back onto your subject's face, as seen below.  My favourite is a 42 inch 5-in-1 reflector, with either the gold or silver surface.

Remember, all photography rules can be broken with good results if you give it a little practice!

Freeze the Action with Sports Mode

Here is a realy simple tip that produces really great results.  Almost every digital camera, compact or SLR, has either a mode dial or scene settings.  One of the settings is "sports mode" (or "action mode") - just look for this little guy:

For action shots of kids, you can basically point and shoot and get the best results possible in an automatic mode.  Sports mode will shoot with the highest possible shutter speed in order to freeze the action.  Use it, you'll like it!

Batteries

Digital cameras are not like film cameras, where you replace the batteries every few years. They are full of complex circuitry and digital controls which take a lot of juice, not to mention the LCD screen. It is essential to have at least 2 sets of rechargeable batteries for your camera (one set in the camera, one set in the charger), whether it takes a lithium battery or AA batteries. Avoid regular alkaline batteries; they are not suitable for such a high-drain device and will cost a lot more in the long run. If you are going on an exotic holiday be sure to have enough battery power.

Conclusion

One of the best things about owning a digital camera is the fact that you can try all these techniques whenever you want without wasting any film! The best way to master your camera is to use it a lot. You've got nothing to lose, and beautiful memories to gain!

This article and all photographs © Copyright Photo Express foto source