Digital Camera and Photography Tips

Everyone, novice or professional, has their own ideas about the best way to do things.  Digital photography is certainly no different!  Here's our top ten tips for using your digital camera, according to Scott.  If you'd like to know more, Scott suggests picking up the following book.  You can even click on the book to purchase it at Chapters.ca

1. Always carry extra batteries and memory.  You never know how many pictures you're going to take, and when you have to get that perfect shot, only to find that you're out of power or storage space.
2. Avoid digital zooming!  Optical zooms enlarge the subjects optically, using the camera's lens.  Digital zooming, on the other hand, simply samples whatever the camera is focused on, and enlarges it.  Image quality is lowered drastically when this occurs.
3. Exposure compensation.  Most consumer grade digital cameras will not allow you to set exposure time.  However, you may have an exposure compensation feature, which allows you to over or underexpose your photos.  This could be handy for taking some pictures under low lighting, or bright lighting conditions.
4. Use cropping to eliminate unwanted areas from your photograph.  This can also be used to bring your subject closer to the foreground, if you can't zoom in enough!
5. Take lots of pictures!  Unlike conventional photography, digital photography has no costs associated with film, developing, etc... So go nuts!
6. Know your camera's limits.  Read the manual.  Become familiar with all aspects of your digital camera's features.  Experiment.  This will eliminate fumbling to figure out a particular feature, perhaps missing the perfect shot!
7. Buy as much as you can afford.  This isn't saying that you have to run out and spend $500 or $1000 on a camera.  But if you buy a basic one, it may not provide you with all of the features that you require!  Having said this, there is nothing wrong with purchasing a basic unit, and upgrading as your needs grow.
8. Pre-focus.  One significant drawback of digital cameras, is that there is a bit of lag time between depressing the shutter, and the time that the picture is actually taken.  If you pre-focus by partially depressing the shutter button, it will decrease the time between the shutter is fully depressed and the picture is actually taken.
9. Watch your lighting.  Digital cameras typically do not function as well in low light conditions as their conventional counterparts.
10. Use a tripod.  A good rule to follow for either digital or conventional photography.  A tripod holds the camera steady so you can concentrate on getting the perfect shot!

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