Photography tips

Get comfortable with your camera

Whether you've bought an ultra compact or advanced DSLR, knowing your camera is the only way to get the best out of it.

Even the simplest digital camera has multiple scene modes, adjustable auto-focus, and other options that will improve your photos. Do you know how to use these features? If not, you'll only be making use of a small part of your camera's capability.

It really is worth reading your new camera's manual. It's the fastest way to get familiar with all the camera's features. The manual will also explain the various presets – make sure you take test shots in every mode so you know exactly what they do.

Using the flash

Take the time to experiment with the manual flash settings. Try taking an outdoor photo in the shade of a tree or a building, with the flash on.

Similarly, try turning the flash off in some indoor settings – the flash doesn't always capture the mood of a scene as well as you'd like because it can saturate your subject with harsh light. Remember you have a digital camera with heaps of image-storage space, so don't be afraid to experiment with the different settings.

Rule of thirds

Composition is just as important as lighting – the human eye finds certain physical ratios more pleasing than others.

If you look at some of your favourite photos, you'll notice they rarely feature the subject right in the centre of the shot. Instead, they're usually arranged by what's called the rule of thirds.

When lining up a shot, imagine the display is criss-crossed with a grid like a game of tic-tac-toe. If you line up the main elements in your scene close to the grid lines themselves, you'll find that the final photograph looks much better (and more natural) than if you'd centred the shot.

White balance

Have you ever captured what you thought was a great shot ... but it ended up looking like it was taken with a blue or orange light shining on the subject?

Different light sources produce different kinds of "white" light. It's commonly measured in kelvin, a unit of temperature. Candlelight has a rating of about 1900 and appears more orange, whereas many flashes and fluorescent lights rate around 5500 and produce a bluer tinge. It may not be noticeable to the naked eye, but it can ruin the mood of an otherwise good photo.

Luckily, you can modify the white-balance settings on your camera. It'll have a number of presets, but try experimenting with different settings under distinctly different light conditions – you'll be surprised at the changes (as pictured).

Red eye

One of the most persistent and annoying problems is the dreaded red eye, well known for making your friends and family look like zombies.

Most modern cameras have a special flash setting that's designed to eliminate red eye by stuttering the flash and forcing the subject's pupils to contract. This doesn't always work, but most photo-editing software makes it easy to remove the red glow. For more information on photo-editing software, see below.

Get good software

Some cameras allow you to edit and adjust photos without a computer. But a good photo-editing program lets you correct lighting, colour balance, and contrast. It also lets you crop, flip, and magnify images – you can even chop people or objects out of a photo.

Photo-editing software can turn a poor photo into a masterpiece (see our test of photo editing programs to pick a good one).

Perspective

Before you take a picture, think about whether it would look better taken with the camera held horizontally (landscape) or vertically (portrait). A vertical shot of a tall tree emphasises its height. A horizontal shot of a landscape can give a feeling of breadth.

Consider also your subject's position (relative to you). If it's lower down, it may appear small and weak in the pic. Something that rises above you can look strong and powerful.

Close-ups

Here's where you use the camera's macro mode (usually indicated by a small flower).

Macro mode helps you to focus on close subjects like flowers or insects within about 30cm of the camera. This helps you show great detail in the final photo.

If your camera's a DSLR, make sure you've got a lens with good macro capabilities. You'll probably need something better than the lens that came with the camera.

Panning

The idea behind panning is to show a sharp and frozen image of a fast-moving subject like a bike or car against a blurry background. This creates a sense of action.

To try panning, set a slow shutter speed (around 1/15 of a second). Then follow the moving object through the viewfinder as it passes you, and continue to follow it during and after you press the shutter button.

If you're using auto focus, press the shutter button halfway to focus on a point around which your subject will pass. This will mean the moving object appears sharp in the photo.

Burst mode

Virtually all cameras have a "burst" mode – allowing you to take several shots, one immediately after the other, until you take your finger off the shutter button.

Burst mode is useful for getting still images from fast action, such as a sports game. All pictures taken in burst mode are stored on the memory card, so you can pick and choose which ones to keep.

Take lots of photos

Landscape and still-life photography is usually easy to get right first time. But when photographing people or moving objects it's easy to get your focus, framing and exposure wrong. It's terrible to realise when loading your photos on to a computer that you didn't catch one good image.

With a large memory card you can take lots of photos and have at least one great photo of that event.