Today’s Digital Cameras are so feature-rich that anyone can take a decent picture.

However, this abundance of features can sometimes mean that mistakes can be made which are easy to avoid (once you are aware of them!).  This article identifies the common pitfalls you might encounter and the techniques to apply in order to produce stunning digital photos.

Today’s sophisticated digital camera makes it relatively easy to take good digital photos. This is especially true if you are using s good point and shoot digital pocket camera.  However, even with such a camera you can apply some techniques which should result in better higher quality images.  These tips become that much more important when using high end SLR cameras in manual mode.

Here is a list of things which can go wrong and some simple ways to avoid them.

Blurry Digital Photos

Blurry digital photos: Also known as out of focus digital photos the objects in such digital photos look blurry or smudged.  Many people think that by using the automatic focus feature of the camera all digital photos will come out sharp and clear.  This is not true.

There are some scenes that are harder to focus on.  Such scenarios can fail even the most advanced digital camera. Moreover with most digital cameras (excluding SLR) you do not really see how focused the camera is when taking the photo.  Looking at the LCD shows you how the photo would be composed but not how focused and sharp it will come out. Even by reviewing the photos on the small LCD it is hard to see on those small screens if the digital photo is focused correctly or not.

With digital SLR cameras this becomes easier as looking through the viewfinder provides an accurate focus feedback through the digital camera’s lenses.  Digital cameras provide either audible or visual feedback when they are focused. They also display a green rectangle (it may be another shape or color) around the area of the photo that they focused on.  It is important to make sure that this area is where the object(s) you want to focus on are, especially when there are multiple objects at different distances from the camera.

Blurry photos can also result from shaking of the camera. Such shaking is more of a problem in conditions where a long shutter time is used.  When the shutter opens for a very short period a tiny shake might not be noticeable. If the shutter is opened for longer period, usually longer than 1/250 of a second, any shaking becomes an issue.  To avoid it learn how to hold the camera steady using two hands and leaning on your face. If the shutter speed is very slow try to stabilize the camera preferably using a tripod,  but if you do not have one you can improvise using any stable surface such as a table or a wall.

Dark Digital Photos
Digital photos that look dark, are dull and lack detail, is usually a result of underexposure.  In most cases the camera can automatically

set the exposure to produce good quality photos.  However, in certain scenarios the camera can set the wrong exposure.  Learning to identify these scenarios can help you compensate for such camera erro

rs.

For instance, if there is a very bright light source in the photo it can confuse the camera to believe that there is enough light in the scene for a low exposure setting.  It is a good assumption that scenes that have extreme lighting differences between distinct areas will confuse the digital camera.  Thus in such cases you would correct the exposure manually.  Also, if your camera supports bracketing, it would be a good option to take several photos of the same scene with different exposure settings and later on to choose the best shot.

Very Bright Digital Photos

Digital photos that look very bright are a result of overexposure.  They usually have areas that are blown out or even completely saturated.  The

scenarios that cause overexposed digital photos are similar to the one mentioned above that cause underexposed photos.  You can identify them in the same way and compensate the exposure setting or better use exposure bracketing if your camera supports it.

Unwanted Shadows

Sometimes unwanted shadows will appear in a digital photo.  For example, when taking a portrait photo there might be  unwanted shadings on the object’s face.  The reason for such shadings is that the camera measures the ambient light and sets the exposure accordingly.

However even with the right exposure setting shades can appear on the object depending on the angle of the light source relative to the object.  Taking the afore-mentioned portrait photo, if the light source is from the side of the object’s face their nose could create shades.  In another scene the object may be wearing a hat, and if it is lit from above, the hat creates shades on the object’s face.  The camera cannot automatically correct such shades as it simply measures ambient light and cannot figure out the light source position relative to the object.

The solution is simple.  When you identify a scenario that can be problematic set the flash to a “fill in” mode (make sure that the object is within flash range).  The flash will fire regardless of the exposure and compensate for the shades.

Object in Photo is Completely Dark

This is also known as a silhouette effect.  It happens when taking a shot of a scene that has a very bright light source right behind the object being photographed.  One good example of this is taking a photo of a person during sunset or sunrise.  The result is a dark silhouette of the person with a good photo of the sunset or sunrise background.

This problem can also be solved by setting the flash to “fill in” mode, as explained above.  The fill-in flash lights up the object (remember to ensure that the object is within effective flash range), and the result should be a good quality image.