How to take better photos with SLR Camera – Professional SLR Camera Tips

June 24, 2009

No matter how popular and convenient the ‘point and shoot cameras’ are, the real joy of photography comes with a film or SLR (Single Lens Reflex) camera since it offers semi- automatic focus and exposure services and allows the user to view an image through the lens directly rather than through a view finder thus avoiding the parallax error and other such aberrations.
As it is said; “Beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder”, the finesse of the image is too dependent upon the capturer. How you perceive an image is how you photograph it. An SLR camera requires great skill to get good results, for which some simple guidelines should be followed:

Understanding the Camera Manual

It is always a wise practice to first go through the user’s guide before bringing the camera into use (make it a habbit to do this for all new gadgets that you buy, and not just the camera). Like wise you will have a basic knowledge about the features and techniques it provides and how to operate them.

Correct Lens & Film

Since, the SLR cameras make use of a lens to capture light on a film, it is highly crucial that the correct type of lens and films are used for a particular photo shooting. For e.g., using a lens with a longer focal length or high zooming power when photographing at night or at sunset.

Position of you and your camera

While taking a photograph, make sure that you are maintaining the right distance from the object. Move nearer or away if required and keep your hands steady so that the camera doesn’t shake. This will prevent blurring of the picture. Use a tripod or monopod stand if you are photographing a landscape or sunset when there is dim light since you will require a slow shutter speed. If the stands are not available, support the camera with your other hand, lean back on a support or brace yourself to keep the camera stable. Before releasing the shutter, view the scene from all angles so the best can be captured.

Rule of Thirds

Keeping the horizon horizontal, roughly divide the view to be captured into three parts both in horizontal and vertical frame and focus your object at one of the intersections. This is a useful rule but it’s not necessary to do so; your object can be standing anywhere in the frame as far as it’s in clear view, focus and lighting.

Pressing the Shutter Button

Never press the shutter button in a hurry; you are likely to ruin the picture by blurring or darkening the image. Slower shutter release i.e., taking a pause while pressing half way down will allow the camera to lock its focus on the object and then capture the picture. This is relatively a quicker way for capturing an image.

Controlling the Shutter speed

The shutter speed is crucial to the amount of light entering the camera and exposing the image on the sensor. Remember the basic rule: lesser the light, darker the image and more the light, brighter the image. The shutter speed when lowered should cause the image to get lighter, however in digital cameras, this effect is not observed because the camera correspondingly changes the aperture to equal the shutter speed changes.

Tip: You can increase the shutter speed by increasing the ISO and lower it down by using a neutral density filter.

Photo shooting at night

The most trickiest of photos are those which are to be captured in night time. Night time shots with an SLR camera may appear as black screens with coloured circles or even something more terrible. This is a result of a high shutter speed or if the camera is set at Automatic. So, first of all set the Shutter Priority. It may not give a black screen but coloured circles may appear if the shutter time is around 1 second. If the SLR camera shutter speed is set at 15 seconds, it delivers a fairly bright picture. But for such a long time, its better to have a tripod stand for support. And since you have to take care of the light factor and other factors at night, its better to lessen your work by choosing a calm weather as a windy atmosphere might result in a jolt or shake causing the picture to blur. In SLRs, the Automatic mode will calculate and set the actual shutter speed required but this will not give the required results so set the camera manually.

Handling Light

Creating shots in natural light is a real challenge. Light decides the overall effect on the snap so it’s highly recommended that the outdoor shots in daylight should be taken early in the morning or in late afternoon when the sunlight is subtle, thus produces warm pictures. However, in mid day when there is scorching sunlight, the images appear flat. Whenever, there is the issue of darkness, either use an ‘on camera’ flash unit or the exterior hot shoe Flash unit which will nullify the shadows or dimness of a scene. Usually the built-in flash units are not able to combat the problem as the picture may be ruined by the Red- eye effect so in such cases, it is advisable to use an ‘on camera’ or an off shoe flash gun with or without a diffuser. For indoor shootings, some flash guns have the option to ‘bounce’ the light off a ceiling by making the flash face upwards so it is diffused over all the vicinity.

Depth of Field

The focus on an object in a given scenario determines the over all effect of a picture. In case of a portrait, the foreground requires more sharpness and in case of a bigger picture, for e.g. the shot of a valley from behind the branch of a tree, the background needs more detailing whereas the branch of the tree can appear as a mere blur. This refers to the Depth of field which is reduced in the former example and increased in the latter. Smaller aperture size will increase the field depth whereas the larger aperture size will reduce it.

Full Auto Mode & Manual Mode

The Full Auto Mode allows you to set the aperture and the shutter speed; low or high without altering the exposure. Whereas in Manual Mode, you can also change the exposure setting with the added advantage that the camera will warn you if the exposure setting is not right.

Using Self Timer

The Self- timer option comes handy when you want to get into the frame and no one’s around to do that for you. First set the focus by aiming at an object at the same distance as at which you will be standing and then place the camera on a steady surface, set the timer and smile! But do not stand in front of the shutter as that will affect the focus. In SLR cameras, the self timer gives you a time period of 10 seconds to get adjusted.

Applying these basic rules will only promise a better output but for a beautiful snap, all you have to do is be creative. Your SLR camera is your companion, familiarize yourself as much as you can with the amazing capabilities of an SLR. Do not restrict yourself to one setting or situation, try different modes and effects and be prepared to make mistakes but that’s how one can master the art of photography. So we wish you, happy learning!

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