It’s not the camera that makes a picture stunning. It’s the skill and creativity of the person taking the picture that can take it from nice to WOW!
I will also say that yes, there are vast differences in image quality between a point and shoot and a digital single lens reflex (DSLR) camera, but, you still need to know how to work your camera and a few basic light tricks to capture a great image.
The first thing you can do to take a better picture no matter what kind of camera you have is to have great light. Natural light through a window (if indoors) is best during the day. Have the subject near the light, but not standing directly in sunshine coming through the window.
Next, get down to your child’s level. Be eye to eye with them and focus on their face. Most point and shoot cameras have face recognition which really helps with the focus. People are drawn towards the eyes on a person which is why it’s important to focus there. Try not to take pictures from above – you’ll only end up with tops of heads instead of genuine expressions.
Don’t be afraid to play with the settings on your camera to be more creative with your pictures. See if there is a manual mode on your point and shoot camera and try it out. If you have a DSLR camera, it likely came with what’s called a kit lens, usually an 18-55mm lens. While it’s a fine lens for when you’re outside, it’s not great inside at all.
Go to your local camera shop and find a 50mm lens that will fit your camera. Look for something that says f/1.4 or f/1.8. That is the aperture of the lens. The smaller the number, the more light it lets in. When you shoot at lower apertures, you can get that ‘fuzzy background’ look that will pop your subject out of the picture.
Also, try out the different modes for creativity. Don’t always rely on the full auto mode to do the work for you!
Software also helps create great pictures. I firmly believe that you should do your best to get it right the first time in camera, but you can boost the colours or convert to black and white using Photoshop or another editing program. With Photoshop the easiest thing you can do is create a new layer using your curves tool, then grab the line on the graph and pull it up a bit. Sometimes that’s all a picture needs to go from wow to WOW! If you don’t have photoshop, you can edit your pictures online using picnik.com. Their simple interface makes photo editing very quick and easy.
Sharing your pictures online has never been easier. There are a number of photo sharing sites such as Flickr, Picasa, Photobucket, Dropbox, and Smugmug. Make sure you read the terms and conditions of the site so that you know that the pictures you publish still belong to you and not the website. It also helps to put a small copyright on the picture, something as simple as “Photographed by your name” goes a long way to show ownership.
Finally, and most importantly, make sure you back up your pictures. Trust me, I’ve been that person crying because I lost my daughter’s baby pictures due to a hard drive crash. It’s technology, and it breaks when you least expect it!
Remember, it takes time and practice to be able to capture great images, but you don’t need to spend thousands on photo equipment to get the images you cherish either. Patience goes a long way.
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