20 Easy Techniques For Improving Your Photos

1. How To… Spark Up Your Lighting:

The difference between satisfying and blah portraits can be as simple as adding a second light. For indoor flash pictures, it can add color, depth, a sense of place, or visual texture in the form of highlights and shadows. Let it illuminate a subject from behind (called a rim light) or above (hair light) to add interest and dimension, as well as separate your subject from a dark background.

Your second light can be an inexpensive shoe-mount flash set on a flash foot or lightstand. Because it must fire simultaneously with your main light, though, you'll need a synching device. With an accessory flash that packs wireless TTL capability (a good idea), the camera itself triggers the flash. Otherwise you'll need a slave trigger. The least expensive option is an optical slave (activated by the light from your main strobe, not from radio or infrared signals). Optical slaves are built into some flashes or are hot-shoe add-ons often called "peanuts." Look for one that can be programmed to ignore the preflashes that many DSLRs fire to determine exposure-accessory slaves such as the Wein HSD ($70, street) and flashes such as the Metz 28 CS-2 ($120, street) do the trick.

With synching issues resolved, the fun begins. Customize your second flash with a diffuser, colored gels, or light modifier such as HonlPhoto's Speed Grid or Speed Snoot ($30, each, direct; honlphoto.com).

2. How To… Show Motion With Flash:

If you take a flash photo with a slow shutter speed, a moving subject will appear as a sharp image amid a blur, an effect called ghosting. It can be used to depict motion dynamically within the frame. But there's one problem: Because flash synchronization usually occurs at the beginning of an exposure, forward motion will look like it's going backwards as the ghostly blur extends in front of the subject.

To remedy this so the blur trails behind, set the flash to trailing sync. Also known as second-curtain sync, this mode fires the flash near the end of the exposure. On your camera, the control can be found anywhere from an external switch to a menu selection, so check your instruction manual.

Try shutter speeds in the 1/8-1/30- sec range for walkers, runners, cyclists, or skateboarders. The faster the motion, the longer the blur trail will be. Slower shutter speeds also elongate the ghost. If you want the effect of frantic motion, pan with your subject at a slightly slower rate than its speed-this will add a streaky, smeared background. As with many special effects in photography, practice is key.

3. How To... Get The Deepest Focus Possible:

When you want your most distant subjects in focus, you could rack your lens out to infinity. But then closer elements might turn out blurry. How to set focus to get all the depth of field you can? Figure out your hyperfocal distance.

If your lens has a depth-of-field scale, switch to manual focus and simply line up the infinity focus mark with the line for the aperture you're using.

No DOF scale? With your aperture set, switch the lens to manual focus and trigger depthof- field preview (most DSLRs have this). Start with the lens focused close, and gradually dial to a more distant focus until the farthest object sharpens. (If you don't have a light-tight viewfinder eyecup, cup it with your hands.)

At smaller apertures (f/11, f/16, etc.), the finder image may be too dim to evaluate focus. If your DSLR allows live view in the LCD, you're home free-in live view, stop the lens down with DOF preview on, and gradually focus the lens back to get infinity just sharp. Use the live-view zoom magnifier to get it perfect.

Without live view, just guess the hyperfocal distance using the DOF preview, and take a picture. Use the image magnifier in playback to check the focus in the frame. Infinity not sharp? Focus the lens a little farther away, and take another picture. Infinity in crisp focus? Focus the lens a little closer, take a test shot, and see if you can squeeze some more foreground into focus.

4. How To… Get The Most From Your Polarizer:

Most people use a polarizing filter to enhance blue skies, but you shouldn't overlook the purpose for which it was invented: controlling reflections. When you photograph a window, it'll reveal objects behind the glass. Shooting architecture? Cutting reflectivity can enhance a building's appearance.

You can also reduce or eliminate reflections and glare on water- deepening the blue in sunlight and allowing you to capture what's under the surface. With a twist of the polarizer, enhance the greens or yellows or reds of foliage and flowers. It can even cut atmospheric haze in broad mountaintop scenics.

With any SLR, or any digital camera that has live view, adjusting the polarizer is simple: Just rotate the filter until you get the look you like in the prism finder or LCD. Keep in mind that a polarizer can't completely eliminate spectral reflections-highlights with no tone at all-especially those coming off metal.

5. How To… Separate Autofocus And Metering:

By default, DSLRs autofocus and meter the exposure simultaneously when you press the shutter button halfway (or all the way) down. But sometimes you don't want to meter and focus on the same thing. And sometimes you want the button to activate only the shutter.

Say you're shooting tennis on a variably cloudy day. Since most players dress almost entirely in white, metering off them would result in serious underexposure, and the moving clouds would likely require frequent remetering. You'd also want to pick a point of focus that doesn't change when you press the shutter button.

In a situation like this, first set your exposure manually: Press the shutter button halfway to meter, then dial in the aperture and a shutter speed fast enough to capture the action. Pressing the shutter button now will not change your exposure, so you must meter and adjust again when the lighting changes.

Next, hunt for a button most DSLRs have on the back-usually within easy reach of your right thumb-that can be customized to activate AF. On Canon DSLRs, it's marked with an asterisk; Olympus models label it Fn. Using the custom function menu, assign AF to it (Nikons have a dedicated AF-on button already), and you can use this to set your point of focus independent of metering, auto or manual.

6. How To… Get Amazing Night Skies:

The blue hour is the narrow window between sunset and the black of night when skies turn a deep cerulean. Night shots gain depth, and many subjects pop better than they do in daylight.

Because the blue "hour" rarely lasts more than 15 minutes, it helps to set up in advance. Find your subject and camera position while there's still sun. For distant subjects that you can't light with flash, you'll need a tripod-have it in place, your camera mounted, and all its controls where you want them. If your camera offers a special long-exposure mode, use it.

Play with white balance to get the most exciting shades of blue in your background. Pick subjects suited to the Tungsten setting- cityscapes, well-lit buildings, amusement parks. For portraits lit by mixed ambient light, arrange the shot so your main light (and WB) is Tungsten. But the deep azure of the blue hour is usually intense enough that even Auto WB will yield cool photos.

Flash opens up other blue-hour possibilities. For portraits, try attaching a warming filter such as a Rosco Cinegel #3420 ($6.50, street) over the flash head and set WB to Tungsten. Set your flash to trailing sync, and set a long shutter speed-1 sec or more. (Beware: Too long can wash out the background blue.) Then, as the shutter opens, have your subject take a slow step backward, striking a pose just before the flash fires near the end of the exposure. Your subject will be rimmed by a halo-like dark shadow.

7. How To… Straighten Out A Skyscraper:

Stand at the base of a tall building and look up. You see the building narrowing as it gets higher, but your eye/brain computer allows you to perceive it as perfectly rectangular. But take a picture of it, especially with a wide-angle lens, and it will look too wide at the bottom and too narrow at the top. This perspective distortion is called keystoning, after the trapezoidal building block.

Serious architectural photographers use tilt-shift lenses or view cameras to deal with keystoning, but you can often fix the picture without pricey gear.

The trick is going to an even wider focal length. Move back as far as you can while still keeping an unobstructed view of the entire building, and shoot with the camera perfectly level. (A hot-shoemounted bubble level helps with this.) Sure, you'll have a whole expanse of unwanted foreground at the bottom of the frame, but that's what cropping is for.

8. How To… Set The Right White Balance:

Think of your camera's white balance (WB) settings as a set of electronic color filters. They counteract color casts in the existing light to render a neutral or near-neutral color balance in your photo.

Automatic WB usually works well, but there are times when it pays to set it manually: In a scene with a single predominant color, automatic WB can be fooled into overcompensating-throwing an amber filter over a field of dense blue flowers, for example. And in some scenes you may want a warmer or cooler, rather than neutral, tone.

The simplest manual WB setting is a preset. Cloudy WB acts as an amber warming filter to counteract chilly blue light. The Tungsten preset acts as a strong blue filter to compensate for the yellow of household incandescent bulbs. The Fluorescent preset uses a magenta tone to cut down the green color cast of standard fluorescent lights.

Most DSLRs also let you set WB in Kelvin color temperature. The higher the number, the warmer (yellower) the filter; the lower the number, the cooler (bluer) the filter. Many cameras let you use a Kelvin setting to fine-tune the WB presets.

Finally, you can create a custom WB. Place a photo gray card (not a white card) in the light falling on the scene, and make a WB reading with your camera. (The procedure differs from camera to camera, so you'll have to consult the manual.) You usually can fine-tune this setting with the Kelvin controls.

Of course, if you shoot in RAW format, you can fiddle with WB when you convert your files.

9. How To... Dive In Using A Compact:

One of the hottest current trends is also wet: Compact waterproof cameras that can capture photos and video while submerged. (See The 5 Best Waterproof Compact Cameras, for some of the top new models.) But shooting underwater requires some special techniques to get the best pictures:

• Move in. Light falls off much more quickly underwater than in air, so get closer to your subject than you normally would. Having a wide-angle lens with good closefocusing capabilities is a particular boon below the surface.

• Forget the flash. Don't count on your built-in flash to add light. Since it's so close to the lens, it will illuminate any small particles between you and your subject (an effect called backscatter).

• Check your white balance. Some waterproof cameras have more than one underwater WB setting because what's appropriate for a swimming pool differs from what you'd want while snorkeling in the Caribbean.

• Get creative. When composing underwater, make the most of what you've got. In a pool? Try capturing the bubbles that form when someone dives in. Also try shooting up from just below the surface, as partially submerged subjects provide a perspective you'd never get on dry land.

• Use the strap. Most waterproof compacts can be submerged only to 10-33 feet while maintaining their watertight seals. If you drop the camera, it might sink down too far, so attach a strap or flotation device. Want both? Olympus makes a floating wrist strap for its underwater compact models.

• Keep it clean. Always rinse your waterproof camera in plain water when you're done, to clear out any chlorine or salt water.

10. How To... Take High-Key Portraits:

High-key portraits pose lighthued subjects against white backgrounds, with important subject contours defined by shadows-exactly the opposite of low-key, in which a dark subject is defined by highlights. The highkey effect is one of visual and emotional lightness and simplicity.

This technique suits young children, romantic renderings, and anyone with problem skin. Your subject's expression should be happy or at least neutral. It's counterproductive to use highkey to convey depression, anger, or uncertainty, and inherently dark subjects (your Goth cousin, say) resist the treatment.

Because you will be reproducing the face as light as possible, it often makes sense, especially for women, to use a light application of eyeliner and/or eye shadow so the eyes don't wash out. (This works for children, too.) And use a light red lipstick, even for men and children.

Err on the side of overexposure. Push the histogram to the right, and if it falls off the chart, no worries- with high-key, losing a little highlight detail is often a good thing.