Digital Photography – Basic DSLR Digital Camera Photography – Picture Tips and Techniques
by admin on Nov.26, 2009, under Photography Lessons
Having a really nice DSLR (Digital Single Lens Reflex) camera is quite a nice feeling. The fact is that you can now go out and practically capture images from wherever you go, this might at first not seem like such a great deal, but once the penny drops and the realisation kicks in exposing the possibilities it will be like stepping through a doorway to a whole new experience. I treat my digital camera like my best friend and take it absolutely everywhere I go, that includes even just a short journey. You never what opportunity is going to arise in the form of a great picture and there is nothing worse than sitting there thinking it would have made a great picture if I had my camera…
There should be no restrictions, it might even be dull and raining, but what a great chance to capture a picture of a rainbow or if really lucky a bolt of lightning, it really is a question of seeing opportunity everywhere. Most people start out by taking their digital camera on holiday, but if you start looking for a picture rather than just taking shots of what comes your way.
Instead of ending up with some nice holiday pictures you will come back with great holiday album that is jam packed with so many interesting and appealing pictures. If you see a tall building that you are allowed to go to the top of then this is a great place to start. Things look so different when up high.
Native flowers and plants are another great photograph opportunity as these will more than likely not be seen growing wild in your home country. Animals running on the beach or shaking water off of themselves after getting out of the sea, it is a question of knowing what is going to happen in some instances that goes into the making of a great shot. Sunsets and sunrises go without saying, but try and think of something that would look good in the foreground, palm trees, boats, horse rider, etc.
It is an ideal place to practise panning techniques when on holiday as a lot of the birds near a coastline tend to ride the sea thermals giving a great chance to photograph bids in flight, not only that but seagulls tend to be an easy bird to follow with a lens while flying.
There are many, many more holiday ideas, but without going into massive detail it would be difficult to cover and give ideas to cover every taste and type of location, but needless to say that you will find some great pictures no matter where you go on holiday.
Ok, back home now and time to start using some of those manual settings that are on each DSLR digital camera. The first basic setting is the ISO button, which in easy to understand terms works something like this. If it is a bright day with plenty of sunlight you will get better results by setting your ISO to a low setting of around 100, but if it is a little dull you will want to use between 200 and 400 and then so on up the scale depending on the light available, but be warned, the higher the ISO that you use the grainier the picture will appear.
When taking pictures of the moon you will probably be better off with a 70-300mm lens or a 2 times converter on your normal lens and an ISO setting between 100 and 400, this is because the moon is in fact a lot brighter than most people think.
Most new cameras come with an aperture priority setting or F-number, which is normally indicated by the letter A on a thumb dial on top of the camera along with other various priority and subject style settings. You should also be able to change or alter the F-number manually. The smaller the F-number then the foreground and background of the subject will be blurred, while the higher the F-number means that you should also have the background and foreground in focus.
You cannot check this outcome in the viewfinder, but by taking the picture and viewing in the LCD screen you should be able to see which way that you need to adjust to make the picture better. It is worth practising this as it will help when out and about using manual settings.
There should be many other settings that you can use and experiment with on your DSLR digital camera, but the ones covered here tend to be the most important. It is well worth your time in familiarising yourself with these as it will also start to give you a much better understanding about taking better photographs and how to use your camera.
Photography is not just a great hobby and interest that people can enjoy and share with each other, it can be seriously relaxing and in some cases therapeutic. Expressing the many aspects of some great photography is myphotographblog.com.
A blog that allows visitors to explore the many boundaries and wonders of modern day photography with some amazing photographs and links for added enjoyment. So whether you are a professional or a complete novice to photography make your way over to myphotographblog.com and be truly inspired.
Clive Anderson
