Home > Articles > Home & Office Computing

This chapter is from the book

Making High-Quality Photos—Tips and Tricks

Whether digital or film, here are some standard tricks and tips that will help you improve your picture-taking results.

Putting an End to Blurry Images

The biggest problem in amateur photos is blurry pictures. The principal cause is camera movement, but there are several other reasons, including the following:

  • Camera movementFigure 3.2 shows a classic example of the results of camera movement. Instead of gently pressing the shutter, many amateur photographers abruptly push it, shaking the entire camera. Digital cameras exacerbate this because shutter lag time leads many digital camera users to press down even harder.

  • Figure 3.2FIGURE 3.2 When everything in an image is blurry, you can bet camera movement is the culprit.

  • Autofocus on wrong subject—Autofocus usually sets the focus based on whatever is in the center of the viewfinder. If you're framing a scene with something in the foreground, as in Figure 3.3, the autofocus might "see" the frame, not the subject. Adjust the camera angle to place the subject at the center of the viewfinder, depress the shutter halfway to set the autofocus, compose your shot, and then press the shutter the rest of the way.

Figure 3.3FIGURE 3.3 The autofocus saw the cornstalk frame, not the pumpkin picker subjects.

Composing Your Shots

Composition is critical, and for most photos only a slight change in camera angle or location will make the difference between a mediocre snapshot and an effective, pleasing photo. Here are some tips:

  • Get close to your subject—Instead of typical tourist shots of family members off in the distance standing directly in front of some fountain, frame the fountain to fill your viewfinder and then have your family stand close to the camera and a bit off to one side of the frame.

  • Depth of Field

    If you put your family up close with the fountain some distance away and then focus on your family, will the fountain be out of focus? It depends. In daylight, the auto aperture (iris) will be very small, creating a deep depth of field. Foreground and background elements will all be in focus.

    In low-light settings, however, the aperture is wide open and the depth of field is very shallow. Therefore, the fountain will be out of focus. Using a narrow depth of field well can lead to dramatic images.

  • Add a foreground element—Adding something between you and your subject gives depth to your images.

  • Use the rule of thirds—As shown in Figure 3.4, divide your image into thirds, vertically and horizontally, and place the object of interest at one of the intersecting lines. That creates much more visual interest. One quick and easy way to adhere to this rule is to keep your subject off-center.

  • Figure 3.4FIGURE 3.4 This image has elements from each of the three previous tips: It has a foreground element, the subject is off-center, and it uses the rule of thirds.

  • Shoot at oblique angles—As shown in Figure 3.5, instead of shooting straight on, shoot a subject from a nonperpendicular angle.

Figure 3.5FIGURE 3.5 Use oblique angles to add interest.

Other Photo-Taking Tips

Fuzzy photos and poor composition are the most frequent culprits in the picture-taking snafu department. Here are a few other tips you can follow to improve your photo-taking skills:

  • Watch backlit scenes—As shown in Figure 3.6, your camera's autoexposure sets itself for the light behind your subjects, meaning they'll be silhouettes. Either set the autoexposure on them first and then compose the shot, or use fill-in flash—or do both.

  • Use fill-in flash—Whenever you shoot outdoors, adding flash brings out the colors and details of your subject. Figure 3.7 shows how fill-in flash can overcome the silhouette effect of backlit shots.

  • Figure 3.6FIGURE 3.6 When the sun is behind your subjects, silhouettes might be all you get.

    Figure 3.7FIGURE 3.7 Fill-in flash can overcome backlit scenes (getting your subjects to stop squinting takes much more effort).

    Flash Goes Only So Far

    Flash has a very limited range, about 10–15 feet. Next time you're at a concert or nighttime sporting event, note all the fans with point-and-shoot cameras taking flash photos from 100 rows back. What they'll get is brightly illuminated backs of heads from a couple rows in front of them. Don't waste your time. The only way to use a flash is to get close to your subject.

  • Don't overexpose foreground objects—As shown in Figure 3.8, when you're using flash, objects close to the camera will be over-illuminated. This is one time when adding a foreground element might not work.

  • Figure 3.8FIGURE 3.8 The flash tends to illuminate the closest object, which might not be your desired outcome.

  • Avoid stiff poses—Encourage your subjects to do something, such as walking, talking, pointing—anything to add interest.

  • Keep the background simple—Distractions draw the attention away from your subject.

  • Use lines to add interest—S-curves and diagonal lines, such as those in Figure 3.9, add visual interest.

Figure 3.9FIGURE 3.9 Diagonal lines help draw attention to the subject (the backlit cloud of dust is a nice touch, too).

Compensating for Lag Time

Here are some tips to overcome lag time inherent to digital cameras:

  • Turn on your camera before you need it but, if possible, keep the LCD viewfinder and flash turned off (they drain too much battery power).

  • Get used to depressing the shutter release halfway to lock focus and exposure and then depressing the shutter all the way when you are ready to take the picture.

  • When shooting action, switch to the burst or sequence mode. However, those modes typically create less-than-perfect images.

  • If you let your subjects know when you're going to take the photo by counting down from three, press the shutter on "one."

  • Anticipate action by shooting sooner than normal.

InformIT Promotional Mailings & Special Offers

I would like to receive exclusive offers and hear about products from InformIT and its family of brands. I can unsubscribe at any time.

Overview


Pearson Education, Inc., 221 River Street, Hoboken, New Jersey 07030, (Pearson) presents this site to provide information about products and services that can be purchased through this site.

This privacy notice provides an overview of our commitment to privacy and describes how we collect, protect, use and share personal information collected through this site. Please note that other Pearson websites and online products and services have their own separate privacy policies.

Collection and Use of Information


To conduct business and deliver products and services, Pearson collects and uses personal information in several ways in connection with this site, including:

Questions and Inquiries

For inquiries and questions, we collect the inquiry or question, together with name, contact details (email address, phone number and mailing address) and any other additional information voluntarily submitted to us through a Contact Us form or an email. We use this information to address the inquiry and respond to the question.

Online Store

For orders and purchases placed through our online store on this site, we collect order details, name, institution name and address (if applicable), email address, phone number, shipping and billing addresses, credit/debit card information, shipping options and any instructions. We use this information to complete transactions, fulfill orders, communicate with individuals placing orders or visiting the online store, and for related purposes.

Surveys

Pearson may offer opportunities to provide feedback or participate in surveys, including surveys evaluating Pearson products, services or sites. Participation is voluntary. Pearson collects information requested in the survey questions and uses the information to evaluate, support, maintain and improve products, services or sites, develop new products and services, conduct educational research and for other purposes specified in the survey.

Contests and Drawings

Occasionally, we may sponsor a contest or drawing. Participation is optional. Pearson collects name, contact information and other information specified on the entry form for the contest or drawing to conduct the contest or drawing. Pearson may collect additional personal information from the winners of a contest or drawing in order to award the prize and for tax reporting purposes, as required by law.

Newsletters

If you have elected to receive email newsletters or promotional mailings and special offers but want to unsubscribe, simply email information@informit.com.

Service Announcements

On rare occasions it is necessary to send out a strictly service related announcement. For instance, if our service is temporarily suspended for maintenance we might send users an email. Generally, users may not opt-out of these communications, though they can deactivate their account information. However, these communications are not promotional in nature.

Customer Service

We communicate with users on a regular basis to provide requested services and in regard to issues relating to their account we reply via email or phone in accordance with the users' wishes when a user submits their information through our Contact Us form.

Other Collection and Use of Information


Application and System Logs

Pearson automatically collects log data to help ensure the delivery, availability and security of this site. Log data may include technical information about how a user or visitor connected to this site, such as browser type, type of computer/device, operating system, internet service provider and IP address. We use this information for support purposes and to monitor the health of the site, identify problems, improve service, detect unauthorized access and fraudulent activity, prevent and respond to security incidents and appropriately scale computing resources.

Web Analytics

Pearson may use third party web trend analytical services, including Google Analytics, to collect visitor information, such as IP addresses, browser types, referring pages, pages visited and time spent on a particular site. While these analytical services collect and report information on an anonymous basis, they may use cookies to gather web trend information. The information gathered may enable Pearson (but not the third party web trend services) to link information with application and system log data. Pearson uses this information for system administration and to identify problems, improve service, detect unauthorized access and fraudulent activity, prevent and respond to security incidents, appropriately scale computing resources and otherwise support and deliver this site and its services.

Cookies and Related Technologies

This site uses cookies and similar technologies to personalize content, measure traffic patterns, control security, track use and access of information on this site, and provide interest-based messages and advertising. Users can manage and block the use of cookies through their browser. Disabling or blocking certain cookies may limit the functionality of this site.

Do Not Track

This site currently does not respond to Do Not Track signals.

Security


Pearson uses appropriate physical, administrative and technical security measures to protect personal information from unauthorized access, use and disclosure.

Children


This site is not directed to children under the age of 13.

Marketing


Pearson may send or direct marketing communications to users, provided that

  • Pearson will not use personal information collected or processed as a K-12 school service provider for the purpose of directed or targeted advertising.
  • Such marketing is consistent with applicable law and Pearson's legal obligations.
  • Pearson will not knowingly direct or send marketing communications to an individual who has expressed a preference not to receive marketing.
  • Where required by applicable law, express or implied consent to marketing exists and has not been withdrawn.

Pearson may provide personal information to a third party service provider on a restricted basis to provide marketing solely on behalf of Pearson or an affiliate or customer for whom Pearson is a service provider. Marketing preferences may be changed at any time.

Correcting/Updating Personal Information


If a user's personally identifiable information changes (such as your postal address or email address), we provide a way to correct or update that user's personal data provided to us. This can be done on the Account page. If a user no longer desires our service and desires to delete his or her account, please contact us at customer-service@informit.com and we will process the deletion of a user's account.

Choice/Opt-out


Users can always make an informed choice as to whether they should proceed with certain services offered by InformIT. If you choose to remove yourself from our mailing list(s) simply visit the following page and uncheck any communication you no longer want to receive: www.informit.com/u.aspx.

Sale of Personal Information


Pearson does not rent or sell personal information in exchange for any payment of money.

While Pearson does not sell personal information, as defined in Nevada law, Nevada residents may email a request for no sale of their personal information to NevadaDesignatedRequest@pearson.com.

Supplemental Privacy Statement for California Residents


California residents should read our Supplemental privacy statement for California residents in conjunction with this Privacy Notice. The Supplemental privacy statement for California residents explains Pearson's commitment to comply with California law and applies to personal information of California residents collected in connection with this site and the Services.

Sharing and Disclosure


Pearson may disclose personal information, as follows:

  • As required by law.
  • With the consent of the individual (or their parent, if the individual is a minor)
  • In response to a subpoena, court order or legal process, to the extent permitted or required by law
  • To protect the security and safety of individuals, data, assets and systems, consistent with applicable law
  • In connection the sale, joint venture or other transfer of some or all of its company or assets, subject to the provisions of this Privacy Notice
  • To investigate or address actual or suspected fraud or other illegal activities
  • To exercise its legal rights, including enforcement of the Terms of Use for this site or another contract
  • To affiliated Pearson companies and other companies and organizations who perform work for Pearson and are obligated to protect the privacy of personal information consistent with this Privacy Notice
  • To a school, organization, company or government agency, where Pearson collects or processes the personal information in a school setting or on behalf of such organization, company or government agency.

Links


This web site contains links to other sites. Please be aware that we are not responsible for the privacy practices of such other sites. We encourage our users to be aware when they leave our site and to read the privacy statements of each and every web site that collects Personal Information. This privacy statement applies solely to information collected by this web site.

Requests and Contact


Please contact us about this Privacy Notice or if you have any requests or questions relating to the privacy of your personal information.

Changes to this Privacy Notice


We may revise this Privacy Notice through an updated posting. We will identify the effective date of the revision in the posting. Often, updates are made to provide greater clarity or to comply with changes in regulatory requirements. If the updates involve material changes to the collection, protection, use or disclosure of Personal Information, Pearson will provide notice of the change through a conspicuous notice on this site or other appropriate way. Continued use of the site after the effective date of a posted revision evidences acceptance. Please contact us if you have questions or concerns about the Privacy Notice or any objection to any revisions.

Last Update: November 17, 2020