You may have the best digital camera money can buy, but simple mistakes can lead to disappointing results. Many people upgrading to a digital SLR camera for the first time find the results don’t live up to expectations, and this is often down to basic errors. Having the best digital camera doesn’t mean that your pictures will be up to the standards of a professional photographer. Understanding the common mistakes most photographers make is a great way of improving your pictures.
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5 Common Digital Camera Mistakes:
1) Not learning all the functions of a camera.
It’s essential that you take the time to read the instruction manual for your camera if you want to get the best results from it. The temptation is to take it out of the box and start shooting right away, but you’ll miss out on important functions if you do this. Some camera manufacturers offer member websites and forums to help you learn all about your camera, and it’s well worth looking for these. Technology in cameras is improving all the time, and every new model offers additional tools and functions to help you take better pictures.
2) Shooting in automatic mode all the time.
The best digital cameras can produce fantastic results in automatic mode, but the photographer loses creative control unless he understands what settings are being selected. The best way to learn how functions like aperture settings influence the look of a picture is to switch to manual mode and experiment. It can also teach you a lot about photography if you shoot some pictures using manual focus mode. Taking control of your camera is a great way of giving your pictures a more unique look.
3) Buying too much gear.
Some people think that buying more cameras and equipment is the path to better pictures, but this often just leads to further frustration. Having to make choices about the camera and lens to use for each shot can be a barrier to a photographer. As you dig around in your equipment bag and swap lenses there’s a risk of missing the moment. Filters, additional lenses and other equipment give you greater flexibility, but concentrating on the basics of photography often leads to more satisfying results.
See my favorite lenses here: Camera Lenses that Won’t Disappoint
4) Shooting the same subject all the time.
Each style of photography can teach you new techniques and approaches to the art. For example, you must be able to anticipate the right moment to press the shutter for sports and action photography. Landscape photography can help a photographer improve his composition skills. By experimenting with range of subjects you will see constant improvements in your pictures. Pushing the boundaries of your comfort zone is often the path to the shots you really want to produce.
5) Relying on a zoom lens for every shot.
Zoom lenses offer great flexibility to the photographer, and they allow you to fill the frame and create impact in pictures. However, the same results can be achieved by moving closer to your subject. Prime lenses generally produce much sharper pictures than zooms, and they offer wider aperture settings. One of the major advantages of a digital SLR camera is the ability to change lenses, so don’t get into the habit of relying on a zoom lens all the time.
About Rachel Carter:
If you don’t give her a camera, she’ll make one.
That’s what Rachel did when she was 9, constructing a camera from an oatmeal canister. She used fiber photographic paper to develop black and white images manually, in a darkroom. Read More…
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