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CLOSER
IS BETTER
Most
mediocre photographs could have
been better if the photographer had moved in closer -- a
lot closer. Shooting close eliminates most of the distractions seen
in mediocre snapshots. Fill the frame with the subject!
FALL FOLIAGE PHOTOGRAPHS
Shooting the rich warm colors of Fall
can be challenging. When shooting with auto settings, avoid over
exposure by point the exposure sensor at a middle toned portion of the scene,
then hold that setting as you fill the frame with the subject and take the
picture.
Watch for hot spots of light and avoid them, or compensate for them by
deliberately setting an underexposed reading. Squint
your eyes to determine where the hot spots of a scene are located.
Watch for deep shadows
and try to avoid them, or compensate for them by deliberately setting an
overexposed reading. Squint
your eyes to determine where the dark areas of a scene are located.
SAVE FADED, DAMAGED AND BAD PHOTOS
If you have a one-of-a-kind
photograph that you wish was darker, lighter, or sharper, and you don't have the
original negative or slide, you can still improve
it if you have access to a scanner and one of several photo manipulating
programs. You can change the color, contrast and clarity of a photograph,
and even repair badly damaged photos.
SHOOT NOW, DON'T
PUT IT OFF
Never wait till later to take a photo of something
that looks good. The opportunity will never be exactly the same later,
even when you are sure it will be. SHOOT IT NOW!
SAVE THOSE
EXPENSIVE LENSES AND STILL SHOOT FAST
Some photographers
protect their lenses with lens caps. But this can really slow you down
when you see a fast moving subject. It is better to use a skylight
filter on the front of your lens as a protection. Then you can pull up
the camera and shoot immediately without having to take the time to remove a
lens cap and find a place to put it.
AIRPORT FILM DAMAGE
Don't let them fool you. Airport X-rays can hurt
the quality of your undeveloped film. Ask for hand examination of
camera and film. Carry all your film in one small drawstring bag so
you can pull it out quickly for examination.
BETTER
PHOTO QUALITY ON THE INTERNET
Some photographers have had trouble getting good
quality images on the Internet. You should do all of your
enhancement and resizing in TIFF format before the image is
resized to a smaller JPG file for a web page.
Sharpen the
image with the sharpen filter in PhotoShop just after converting it
to JPG, because re-sizing degrades the image quality, and every time you save a JPG file you loose some of the
image content.
Increasing or decreasing the
brightness/contrast ratio sometimes helps. Be aware that browsers will dither the images
differently than they appear in PhotoShop, and they will not look as
good on the Internet.
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