General Tips!

General Tips (Lens-Shutter Cameras)

Here are 6 useful and practical tips for you keen photographers out there! Try them out to produce better photos and improve your photo-taking skills!

1. Make the most of your camera's modes:
Most lens-shutter cameras have various modes like the night flash mode. Night flash is particularly nice around the holidays. It allows amateurs to take nice pictures of a subject in front of a bright background while the camera must be secured on a tripod or other surface. What the camera does is effectivley take two images - one of the background without flash and one of the subject with flash. By automatically superimposing these frames, the camera does the difficult part and allows you to take great snapshots. Therefore, before beginning to take your shots, please take time to learn about the various modes for your camera, and what are they suited for.

2. Turn the camera:
We notice that most photos are horizontal shots. However, particularly around tall upright subjects (like a coconut tree or a tall building), taking a vertical shot by turning rotating the camera 90 degres, often makes for an interesting variation in the photo albums. When taking vertical photos, it is best to keep the flash at the top of the camera. This can reduce shadows.

3. How about blurry photos?
Lens-shutter cameras and SLR's have minimum focus distances. This means that if you are too near to your subject, the camera will not be able to react appropriatley and the images may turn out blur. For most lens-shutter cameras, this distance is about 3-5 feet. Some cameras have close-up modes which is useful.

4. Film Speed:
For most common cameras, color print film speeds are generally 100, 200, and 400. The 200 speed is recommended for general usage as it will get you the best results. For darker or dimmer situations,, or events where you attempt to freeze action, 400 speed or even higher (higher speeds are available, but check your camera's instruction manual first to see if your camera can support them). 100 speed film is optimal for bright light situations, especially when you will be up close with the flash, or in bright light outdoors (like at the beach on a sunny day).

5. When to Use the Flash:
Please remember that most flashes on lens-shutter cameras are only powerful to about 15 feet. This means that if your photo subject is further than 15 feet away, you would be better off not using the flash. This is beacuse the flash (on) will only confuse the camera and makes it "think" that it has enough light, but actually, it should make other adjustments. Otherwise, it is often better to use flash. Even in the outdoors, flash may be a tool to improve your photography.

6. Facing the Red Eye Problem?
Red-eye happens when the camera photographs a reflection of the back of a subject's eye. Most cameras in the market now have a red-eye reduction function that is quite efficient. Besides this, the only solutions come after your photos have been developed. One option is to purchase an inexpensive "red-eye pen", which allows you to emit a light green dye onto your photos, thereby neutralizing the red eyes. Another option is order digital red-eye reduction, which makes copies of your photos, and digitally removes the red eyes. This is expensive and is not so practical for beginners and normal photos.

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