Daily Photo Tips Archive

04.Apr.09Your tastes and style will change as your artistic knowledge grows. You'll know you're progressing as an artist when you're embarrassed to look back at some of your prized earlier work.

03.Apr.09Don't throw away a camera battery while it's very cold or frozen. Batteries don't perform well in the cold, and you may find that there's still life in the battery for shooting in warmer temperatures!

02.Apr.09To properly use the depth of field preview button with a small aperture, you'll have to let your eyes adjust to the dimmer light. Try closing your eyes for at least 15 seconds before using the button.

01.Apr.09The TIFF file format is a popular format for saving high quality images. Since a colour value is recorded for every pixel in the image, the photograph can be resaved without losing image quality.

31.Mar.09Try mounting your camera on a tripod and using a long shutter speed to blur randomly moving subjects like trembling leaves, flowing water, or wind-blown grass.

30.Mar.09When making photos of wildlife, never get close enough to disturb the animals you're photographing, even if it's safe for you. Research the species' comfort zone and respect it. Use a very long lens if you have to.

29.Mar.09Patterns can produce new patterns if rendered out-of-focus. At different subject and focus distances, patterns will optically interfere with themselves, changing the quality of the pattern. Try it and see!

28.Mar.09Organize your photos sequentially by unique number instead of subject – this will make it easier to find photos as your collection grows. Anticipate having many thousands of photographs someday.

27.Mar.09When working in the studio, don't discount the effects that natural light can have on your subject. Try using light from a window at certain times of the day in conjunction with, or instead of, your studio strobes.

26.Mar.09A digital zoom on some consumer digital cameras is not the same as an optical zoom – a digital zoom simply crops the image, resulting in a higher apparent magnification but no new image information.

25.Mar.09Make sure that new equipment is easy for you to use. Not only are unnecessary bells and whistles expensive, they also make photography awkward and less spontaneous.

24.Mar.09When preparing to make underwater photos, be sure to build a flash into your underwater setup. Even if you don't normally use one, a flash can come in handy in the dim underwater light.

23.Mar.09Third party digital and film camera bodies are available for many lens mount types. Like brand-name bodies, they can be of variable quality – research before you buy.

22.Mar.09'Astigmatism' is a lens aberration produced at a large aperture with an off-centre object. In an affected lens, a point object will appear as a round or off-round blur. Stopping down the aperture will help.

21.Mar.09If you use your camera equipment roughly or in very demanding conditions, consider using protective casings. These casing fit over your existing equipment, protecting it without interfering with its operation.