We all want to be great photographers and the age of digital photos has made that much easier. Here are some tips from my friend Grace that can help make all of our photography better. Here’s one thing I could do- get a new camera instead of taking pictures with my phone.
Since my camera got crushed, it’s been phone only. Believe it or not I used to win some photography contests…maybe someday.
Photos are a wonderful way to share travel experiences with the world. Here are a few ideas to help you capture travel memories you will treasure forever.
Be Prepared
Make sure your digital camera is in good working order before you go, and keep it in a water- and shock-resistant case. Bring two sets of rechargeable batteries and don’t forget the charger and etceteras. Make sure your camera has enough memory. Packing an extra memory card is wise, as there is nothing worse than running out of memory just when they start to kill the chickens for some barbaric ritual.
Don’t lower the resolution. Buy an extra memory card or you will regret this later as your photos will be more sucky. Set your camera at its highest quality JPEG setting and get more memory if you have to. You will appreciate this when you’re viewing and printing your photos later.
Take tons of pictures
You can always erase the photos you don’t want. Take pictures of everything and try to focus on some of the details such as an attractive person or a colorful display, not just panoramic scenes and tourist sites. Let your pictures tell a story by creating a visual diary of your trip. Include street scenes, interesting signs, people you see along the way. For variety take both vertical and horizontal pictures. Just take lots of photos and you are more likely to find ones you like. You might even get lucky and take a great one.
Get up close and personal.
This is especially true with people. Get close enough so you can see the expressions their faces – then get closer.Shoot for the hips and up in your zooms – unless your shooting bottoms. Pictures are often more interesting when you can catch people at candid, un-posed moments. For posed photos, try to incorporate some of the background into your shot.Don’t center the subject.
Use your Flash
In bright sun, set your camera’s “fill” or “forced” flash particularly when photographing people. Brilliant sunlight often makes people’s faces look harsh, casting dark shadows under the eyes and accentuating wrinkles. The daytime fill-in flash will soften the lighting and make the images more flattering. Your family and friends in the photos will thank you!
Don’t be afraid to Edit
When you get home edit, crop and enhance your favorites using photo editing software. Turn some of your color photos into black and white or sepia tones and then upload all your images to get prints.
