Daily Photo Tips Archive

Page 4

These photography tips are a record of new entries to the Daily Photo Tips RSS feed since November 2007. There are currently 1567 tips in the database! Contact Me to comment or add tips.

Daily Photo Tip

Even very fast shutter speeds cannot freeze an extremely quick subject. Though shutter speeds on most newer cameras are fast, they cannot capture the motion of a bullet or an exploding balloon. (First published Oct 25, 2009)

25.Nov.15Be careful with sliders! It's easy to overdo adjustments like saturation or contrast, especially when testing extreme settings. Before finalizing a photo, walk away from it for awhile. If it's too 'poppy' when you return, reduce the effect.

24.Nov.15Try correcting your photos in both black and white and colour, occasionally switching back and forth between versions. For colour photos, viewing in black and white can help establish tone issues that might help the final image.

23.Nov.15A scratch on the periphery of a lens may not be the end of the world. If the scratch is at a point on the image circle which appears outside the frame, image quality won't be affected.

22.Nov.15At night, focusing on distant objects might be as simple as setting your lens focus ring to infinity. However, make sure that the focus setting is correct beforehand, especially when planning to use a wide aperture.

21.Nov.15In an emergency, your camera's flash could help you find your way out of a dark trail or even act as an SOS beacon. Keep it in mind if you ever find yourself lost in the dark!

20.Nov.15People with dry eyes or contacts can often experience a version of the flare associated with poor lens coatings. If the tear film or coating is not the right thickness for the subject light wavelength, bright lights can 'ghost' or wash across the image.

19.Nov.15Modern cellphone cameras can make surprisingly good photos. However, like many small sensor cameras, they produce poor results in low contrast or low light conditions.

18.Nov.15Some photographers only make new photos on vacation, while others work full-time in the industry. However, the only measures of real artistic success are creativity, artistic voice, and technical aptitude. Use every minute of the time you have enthusiastically!

17.Nov.15Cellphone cameras are nothing if not handy! Though their image quality lags behind larger cameras by 5 years or more, they're almost always accessible in less than 10 seconds.

16.Nov.15The apparent quality of a photo taken by a device can depend largely on the quality of the device display. Before judging a photo, view it on a good quality computer monitor.

15.Nov.15There is no electronic filter that mimics a true polarizing filter. Polarized light impacts a sensor in the same way as unpolarized light, so there is no way of separating the two in post-process.

14.Nov.15A good flashlight often helps focus on close-up objects in dim light. Some cameras have flash assist or focus assist, but these usually don't help when focusing manually.

13.Nov.15Focusing is one of the hardest parts of night-time photography. Before you head out, think about how you'll focus on near, mid-range, and distant objects.

12.Nov.15Focusing on dimly lit mid-range objects is tricky. If all else fails, making a photo, viewing it, then adjusting focus as necessary might be the only way.

11.Nov.15Most camera bags, even if not waterproof, will hold off heavy splashes or even submersion better than you think. Don't panic if your bag goes under. Retrieve the equipment and quickly get it out of the wet case before water soaks through.