The first camera that I actually got to play around with was my Nokia 6270 mobile’s 2Mp camera. I remember using it with & without flash to realize that without flash gives a more natural looking picture, though you have to be real still when clicking. So that made me use the self timer to get more clear pictures. I haven’t taken any formal photography classes, but learnt by myself through lots of practice as well as reading over the internet. My current cameras are Canon 1100SD (Compact Point & Shoot) & Canon 550D (DSLR) [Kisses to RD 😀 ].
Lets get to the beginning, you have to keep your camera manual besides you to know which setting & features are located where. Go to your camera’s menu & take 1 setting at a time, change it & take a picture, change it more & click again. Notice the difference & understand what exactly takes place. I’m telling you practice will make you good. You don’t necessarily have to use a good model or scenery to practise, use what you’ve got, click in the same place with bright light, with dim light & see the difference.
The technical aspect:
Higher ISO (6400)= Brighter + Grain/Noise
Lower ISO (100) = Darker + Clear
Higher Exposure/ Long Shutter Delay (30 secs)= Brighter + More Prone To Blurry Image
Low Exposure (1/4000 sec)= Darker + Faster
Wide Aperture (f3.5) = Brighter + Smaller Focal Point (blurry background)
Small Aperture (f22) = Darker + Wider Depth of Field (sharp foreground+background)
Overcoming the problem areas :
Some people use noise reduction softwares, I haven’t tried it as I prefer to keep my ISO the lowest.
Using a tripod helps a lot in getting clear pictures, you could also just place your camera on a sturdy surface such as a table or shelf. A wireless remote could come in handy or else you can use the self timer.
Apertures depend on the lens you’ve got, also the brighter your area, the brighter your image. 🙂
Reflectors such as mirrors for small objects or a car sunshade/ reflector helps reflect some light onto the object/model that may have any harsh shadows or that needs more light focused on it. Sometimes I’ve used my torch/flashlight in low-key lighting techniques.
White Balance:
When you come across temperature or white balance what exactly do you understand? It’s the amount of yellowish to bluish tinge that colors your whites in your pictures. Say if you are out in the sunlight, the temperature is high = yellowish tinge. If you are indoors with the tube light / white bulb on, you may experience a bluish hue, that is a cool temperature. By changing you settings you can manage to avoid the said hues/ variation from the real colors. Most cameras have predefined settings, but you could also use custom white balance to tell the camera which color is your white.
Wow Pictures:
Why do you feel that you go to a same location as another photographer has clicked but yet you can’t get a wow effect picture. Study that picture, see the angle, notice the (lack of) clutter around, the point of focus (smack in the center or 1/3rd rule), is the ground tilted in your image(specially at beaches), have you bumped up the contrast, brightness & sharpness (editing/post-processing), the highlights in the hair or eyes (portrait), the smile is faked/natural (portrait). Look out for minor details like these & it will help you gain an understanding of what to do.
Practise whenever you can:
And I don’t mean only with a good camera, you can start practising with your cellphone camera. I’ve seen plenty neat images with cellphones. The main thing is to enjoy clicking & learn from that clicking.
So get off that couch & go on a (camera) shooting spree! 🙂
Happy clicking guys!
PS : I haven’t mentioned anything about megapixels because that’s just the size of the picture, a 2Mp camera is good enough for websites, a 6 to 12Mp is good for most of us for printing 4×6″ pictures for albums or 12×18″ pictures for photo frames.