Digital Camera Tips & Tricks to get better shots.

[717CRAWLERS]

Does anyone have any simple tricks or settings they use to get really good shots?

I know for like close ups and detailed things to set it on "Macro" but other than that I am clueless..

 

[TURTLE]

Does anyone have any simple tricks or settings they use to get really good shots?

I know for like close ups and detailed things to set it on "Macro" but other than that I am clueless..

What kind of camera? SLR?

Generally low shots for the crawlers and using the rule of thirds helps with composition. I usually weigh the crawler shot to one side of the frame. Not dead center.

With this stuff composition is the biggest thing to worry about, and not shooting straight into the sun, the best skies are 90 degrees to either side of the sun.
Plus not shooting mid day, early mornings and afternoons are the best light and mild over cast days defuse shadows enough to make the light less harsh.
Also on camera flat is not very good, it makes really hard shadows and makes photos appear very flat.
Those are some of the basics.

 

[jcboof]

How bout a pic of your lightbox turtle? ? What kind of lighting do you use

 

[717CRAWLERS]

I am using just an adverage point and shoot camera.

I have 2 and I am not sure which is better:

a Canon PowerShot 590

and a

Nikon Coolpix S230

 

[HomerJ]

It really all depends on what type of camera you use. If you're using a point and shoot camera, you're going to be extremely limited in what you can do. If you're using a DSLR, one of your main focuses should be whitebalance and lighting. Whitebalance will make or break a picture. Also, this goes for all photography no matter what kind of camera, use the rule of thirds to frame every shot. Rarely ever do you want your subject dead center in the pic.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rule_of_thirds

 

[Wicked_Jester]

I bought a book from this publisher for my nikon d3000 and it helped a lot and is detailed for you particular camera"thumbsup" its a pretty good learning book that I keep im my camera back pack to reference from when im out shooting. it not only teaches you about your camera and what its capable of but theory of photography and other things.


http://www.amazon.com/Canon-PowerSh...1_fkmr2_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1265827711&sr=8-1-fkmr2

 

[Raguvian]

A low (1/60 - 1/125) shutter speed is awesome to get wheel spin and motion in your pics...

 

[Wicked_Jester]

A low (1/60 - 1/125) shutter speed is awesome to get wheel spin and motion in your pics...

im not sure is has the ability of setting his shutter speed with his camera"thumbsup"

 

[Raguvian]

im not sure is has the ability of setting his shutter speed with his camera"thumbsup"

Yeah, I just realized that after he said it was a P&S camera.

 

[flybynighter]

What kind of camera? SLR?

Generally low shots for the crawlers and using the rule of thirds helps with composition. I usually weigh the crawler shot to one side of the frame. Not dead center.

With this stuff composition is the biggest thing to worry about, and not shooting straight into the sun, the best skies are 90 degrees to either side of the sun.
Plus not shooting mid day, early mornings and afternoons are the best light and mild over cast days defuse shadows enough to make the light less harsh.
Also on camera flat is not very good, it makes really hard shadows and makes photos appear very flat.
Those are some of the basics.

what's the rule of thirds?

 

[Wicked_Jester]

what's the rule of thirds?

its explained here

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rule_of_thirds

 

[72Blazer]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rule_of_thirds[/URL]

I took a photo class recently and thats one of the rules.Don'tcenter your subject.Don't put the horizon in the middle.Use different angles,get on your knees or stomach to get the angle you need.Everyone shoots from "eye level".Use photo editing to crop the pic eliminating anything that clutters the pic.

 

[EeePee]

I've been using a Canon A Series for years, and sure my shots aren't comparable to a nicer camera, but I've found a couple tricks to help.

For better macro shots I use a tire foam to rest the camera on (loose change can be used for tilt action), and the 2 or 10 second timer so my hands are off the camera when the shot is taken.

Take a lot of pictures, even of the same subject and same shot. I might move the camera ever so slightly because it might come out a little better than the next one.

If your Canon has that 9 position focus green box thing, you can really use that to your advantage of getting exactly what you want in focus. Combined with macro you can take some pretty nice up close pictures. It might take me 10 slight position adjustments to get it right, but I do it. And then take multiple shots.

 

[NeXt559]

here's 3 quick tips.
just because it seems dark you dont always need to use the flash . point and shoot flashes can drown some surfaces

quick example

indoors, 10pm, 40w bulb from ceiling fan, with flash

indoors, 10pm, 40w bulb from ceiling fan, without flash

a bit grainy but can easily fixed in editing software


the 2nd tip would be to take lots and lots of pictures. high capacity memory cards are cheap and its easy to pick and choose which ones you want to keep when you get them onto your comp. the lcd/ view finder is not always the best thing to use to know the quality of a picture. take a couple of pics at different angles w/ and w/o flash.

3rd. use a tripod when you can. when doing so use the delay funcion so you're not moving the cam while pressing the button. i use a 2 second delay.

last but not least shoot at a lower resolution. there is no need to take 10 mega pixel pictures unless you are planing to make posters out of said pics. the higher the resolution, the slower the shutter speed. the pix i posted above were shot at the 2.5mp setting.