Simple checklist to take the best photos

Guest: Photo Checklist
By: Alex Lindsay

Take the best photos with these tips from the expert at Pixelcorp.


Simple checklist to take the best photos

Are you frustrated with the photos you're talking with your digital camera? Here are a few tips to help you shoot better .

1) White Balance
2) The Flash
3) Understanding Aperture
4) Shutter Speed
5) what is ISO?
6) Taking pictures in spurts
7) Image Size
8) Basic Correction in Photoshop
9) Secret Shooting
10) Take lots of Photos

1) White Balance - Your camera usually guesses the White Balance for your scene. Unfortunately, it guesses wrong about 20% of the time. If you have windows (most of us do), your camera can get confused between the outdoor light against the indoor light. This will cause either a Blue or Yellow cast to your images. The best solution is to manually set your white balance before you start shooting…shoot an image for testing and you're good to go!

2) The Flash - Do your best not to use a flash. Flashes flatten out family members and often make them look a little demonic (red-eye). If you can, try increasing the ISO and manually slowing the shutter to take photos with available light. You can also take the family outside for a minute or two to take advantage of daylight. Just make sure to shoot fast before they freeze solid.

3) Understanding Aperture - Aperture controls the amount of light that enters the camera. Lower aperture numbers actually increase the amount of light that is streaming in while decreasing the depth of field (good for portraits). Most cameras will let you set this manually.

4) Shutter Speed - Shutter speed controls how quickly your camera takes the photo. A fast shutter speed will freeze action more effectively but it takes more light to use…making it hard to do inside. 30 (1/30th of a second) is about the lowest you can go for portraits… 60 for over-sugared kids.

5) what is ISO? - ISO used to be called ASA in film cameras (remember those? - You know, in the last century, you had to put strips of plastic in the camera to take a picture. What was that all about?) While you used to be limited to one setting for a roll of film, you can now change it on the fly! As you increase the ISO, your image will become more grainy but you can take photos in darker areas.

6) Taking pictures in spurts - When taking family shots, take a group of photos - 5–8 images. That way, you can fix blinks, frowns, and stuck out tongues in Photoshop later.

7) Image Size - Some people want to take lots of small photos - Don't! Take the largest photos your camera can dish out with the highest compression setting. Get a larger memory card if you need it. Having a perfect photo of your child that can't be printed larger than 3 cm by 3 cm is much more expensive!

8) Basic Correction in Photoshop - If your image looks a little drab, try using levels or curves to pep it up a little (see my video on the Pixel Corps website).

9) Be a Spy - Get used to taking photos without looking at what your doing. You can practice by trying to shoot road signs while walking down the street…from the hip. When you get used to the process, you will be able to catch moments that you could never get if people knew you were shooting.

10) Take lots of Photos - You don't have to develop the images! Take lots and lots of photos. If something looks great…shoot 5 images of it. It's much easier to hit delete than it is to re-shoot the image a week later.

TFor more on shooting for the Holidays…check out www.pixelcorps.com/techtv.html

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