I am not exactly a professional photographer over here. In fact, I don’t know what half the buttons on my camera do, I can’t remember what an F-stop is, and the last time I used my tripod I caught my foot on it and sprawled flat on my living room floor.
But! I do love taking, editing, and sharing photos, and thanks to the tools I use, they don’t always suck. Unless they are of me (because my mouth is always hanging open or my eyes are pointing in two different directions or a fat roll has somehow snuck into the scene), or of my cat (because she always appears to be an amorphous black blob). I post most of my favorite images to Flickr, and one of these days I’m actually going to print some family photos and hang them in my house. REALLY I AM.
Anyway, my suggestions for turning out halfway decent photos without having a single clue about photography:
Invest in a decent camera. Like for instance the Nikon D70S Digital SLR. I’ve had this camera for a couple years now and I love love love it (you can read my review of it here, or read something far more useful by someone who actually knows what they’re talking about). I almost never futz with the settings, it’s all about the point and shoot simplicity for me. This camera is damn near idiot proof, and the only real downside is that it’s bulky enough so that it can’t be thrown in a small purse or pocket.
Never use the built-in flash. Seriously, that flash will ruin every single photo you take with it. It washes everything out and makes people look terrible. I use a Nikon Speedlight external flash which I typically leave aimed directly upwards, the light then bounces off the ceiling and it creates a soft, natural lighting atmosphere with no harsh shadows or bright spots. Yes, this stuff gets expensive but if you only buy two pieces of camera equipment EVER, a good camera and an external flash will be 100% worth it when you see the results.
Tweak it in Photoshop. Post-processing can utterly transform your images from so-so to spectacular. I don’t spend as much time post-processing as I used to, but I almost always use Photoshop to crop, adjust lighting, and add contrast. Even if you’re a Photoshop n00b, there are tons of useful tutorials out there, and the good news is that you can do pretty much all the basics in Photoshop Elements, which is way less expensive ($80 vs $650, I think) and not overly complicated to figure out.
What kind of camera are you using? Are you happy with how it performs? I’d like to maybe buy a smaller point-and-shoot for taking on the go more often, any suggestions?
I just got a Canon G9 and am slowly learning to use it. It’s a step below an SLR and almost pocket size. I do need to get the external flash though. I’ll try your trick too!
bea | March 2nd, 2008 at 12:16 am
I am a professional photographer and photography teacher, and I give pretty much this same advice to my students, so right on!
I second the recommendation on the G9 for a portable camera- that thing takes awesome photos. If it is too big for your taste, any of the little Canon Powershot cameras are great. Their flash isn’t great, but you can work around it, and it is the perfect size for carrying around in your pocket or purse.
lisa | March 2nd, 2008 at 12:50 am
I wish I could learn Photoshop. I’m so bad at it. Nothing makes sense to me in that program.
Must convince husband to buy Speedlight…
Pocklock | March 2nd, 2008 at 1:52 am
I have a canon 30d. I shelled out about $1500 more for an amazing lens (24-105) and external flash (430ex) and it transformed my photography. I also use Photoshop CS3 and that phenomenal piece of programming saves Having said that, some of my best photos came from my dinky Minolta F300 point and shoot because I took the time to learn it.
kirida | March 2nd, 2008 at 4:11 am
yikes–I meant to say that Photoshop CS3 has saved many of my photos because of its RAW editing capabilities, not that it saves in the Christian sense unless Adobe has a religious branch.
kirida | March 2nd, 2008 at 4:21 am
I use a Kodak EasyShare Z700. Good: price is low, camera is small and easy to use. Bad: OMG the built-in flash makes me WEEP.
I can’t figure out PhotoShop. I use it to mess with the levels, and that’s it. I can’t figure out why I can’t figure it out, but I really can’t. It’s like it’s written in Hebrew or something.
Swistle | March 2nd, 2008 at 12:18 pm
I am drooling over your camera over here. We have a Sony Cybershot we got as a gift a couple years ago. It’s okay, it gets the job done. I love photography and really want to start taking better pictures though.
Eric's Mommy | March 2nd, 2008 at 1:16 pm
Amen. And Swistle, I only just recently figured out how to do something other than crop in Photoshop and it is now awesome. I should email you some links! Some of my better at photography blog friends have put together some good tutorials.
Bunny | March 3rd, 2008 at 11:58 am
I get easily overwhelmed with the amount of photoshop tutorials out there. Any suggestions for total newbies?
Alexa | March 3rd, 2008 at 4:53 pm
i love love love the SLRs and i totally agree with the flash advice! however, i can’t get mine to work properly so hubby has been playing with it - and i dont have the camera back yet. harrumph!
as for advice on photoshop, tell hubby he is AMAZING and he should learn it since you took all the pictures, then make him do all the changes you want!
hehehe!
yes, i cheat this way but only because my hubby came with knowlege of photoshop (graphic designer) and therefore i have refused any ‘fix the picture’ responibilities
Kate | March 3rd, 2008 at 7:52 pm
We recently bought the Canon Digital Rebel XT and I’m madly in love with it.
We also bought a 55mm fixed lens. Which softens the backgrounds and gives the pictures an even more professional look.
Sabrina | March 3rd, 2008 at 8:33 pm
I have a canon a75. It has 3 optional lenses you can buy separately. I love that it takes audio/video as well. + under $200
amber | March 4th, 2008 at 11:38 pm
Nikon D40x. I love it so, so, so much, but I wish I knew how to use it as more than a point and shoot.
MotherGooseAmy | March 11th, 2008 at 12:57 am
I own the Rebel XT and I love it- I have two lenses a fixed 50mm and my brilliant 28-200 lens. I had an external flash but I bought a cheapy one and it died over christmas… sigh… next on my list is the speedlight 430.
For post-processing I can recommend some freeware for those of you who are total cheapskates like me… there is the extremely easy to use Picasa (from google) and then there is the almost-but-not-quite-photoshop getpaint.net which has many of the same features as photoshop but the fabulous pricetag 0-
Emblita | March 14th, 2008 at 9:21 am
I have a Nikon D40 but it leaves that horrible shadow when I take photos. I need an external flash. But seriously, $300-$400 for a flash? ouch. That was how much the camera was (and I thought that was extravagant).
Sarah | March 25th, 2008 at 5:02 pm
This might sound dumb but I have “trained” my kids- when I sy “eyes to me” they look at me no matter what they are doing. They don’t put on a cheesy smile- they just have to look at me.
Sometimes it is for direction or instruction on what they are doing/making but most times it is so I can get a few good photos.
deanna | March 31st, 2008 at 10:58 am