How do I take nicer pictures with my digital camera?

Question

I bought a Kodak digital camera and I have since realized that I really enjoy taking photographs and looking at them. My camera is not the best nor the worse, a 6.1 megapixel with some advance settings. I have been to places (mostly at night) with beautiful scenes or landscapes but unfortunately, haven't been able to capture them in my pictures. Of course I only use the regular settings of the camera because I know little of what "aperture, shutter speed" and such terms mean, when applied to different sets of pictures. Can anybody help me understand how to take quality pictures with my digital camera? For darker settings, such as indoor and outdoor night situations, or people in movement specially!! I would really apreciate it!!

My pictures are often dark, and flash won't help me most of the times because I'm far away from my subject :(

Answer 1

First, read and study your Owner's Manual. Then read and study it again.

A correct exposure is a product of the relationship between light, aperture (aka f-stop), ISO and shutter speed. Lets look at a hypothetical example with the camera set in Aperture Preferred Mode (you set the f-stop, the camera selects a shutter speed), using ISO 200 in bright sunlight.

f2 @ 1/1000
f2.8 @ 1/500
f4 @ 1/250
f5.6 @ 1/125
f8 @ 1/60
f11 @ 1/30
f16 @ 1/30

All 7 of these exposures are IDENTICAL. If you use ISO 100 the shutter speeds will be reduced by 1/2. ISO 100 is less sensitive to light so it requires a longer shutter opening.

As you can easily see the shutter speed gets longer as less light is admitted by a smaller and smaller f-stop. At f2.8 1/2 as much light is admitted as at f2; at f4, 1/2 as much light is admitted as at f2.8 - and so on. Less light entering requires a longer shutter speed.

Taking good night photos is not easy. You'll need your camera on Manual Mode, a tripod and a cable release. You must be able to set the shutter to "T" or "B" so you can hold the shutter open for a long time.Your camera has to accept a mechanical cable release. Suppose you wanted to take a photo of a city skyline in the distance. (I'm using my FotoSharp 'Day & Night Exposure Guide' here.)

Using ISO 200 here are some sample exposures:

f4 @ 4 seconds
f5.6 @ 8 seconds
f8 @ 15 seconds
f11 @ 30 seconds

Now lets look at home interiors, bright light using ISO 200:

f2 @ 1/15 second
f2.8 @ 1/8 second
f4 @ 1/4 second
f5.6 @ 1/2 second
f8 @ 1 second
f11 @ 2 seconds
f16 @ 4 seconds

In order to photograph indoors with available light we have little choice but to increase the ISO. Lets look at ISO 800:

f2 @ 1/125 second
f2.8 @ 1/60 second
f4 @ 1/30 second
f5.6 @ 1/15 second
f8 @ 1/8 second
f11 @ 1/4 second
f16 @ 1/2 second

So even at ISO 800 we're going to be shooting wide open (f2) to get a shutter speed that might stop slow movement.

Hope this hasn't confused you. If you have any questions just email me.

Answer 2

The camera is not the end of the road, only the beginning. You have the mechanical tool, now you need the knowledge to use it properly.

If I put a calligraphy pen in the hands of an amateur, I do not get great writing. However, with practice and knowledge, that amateur can be good.

Same goes with photography. Go to the library and get books on photography. Learn the basics through the internet and through practice(digital is cheap). I'm a self taught pro, so I know it is possible.

Learn about, aperture, shutter speed, ISO, white balance, composition, lighting, depth of field. When you think you've learned enough...learn more!

These suggestions should get you on a good start.

Answer 3

yes, lighting and angles....and.....I use my digital camera for a living, and take 1000 pictures per day. If you put it on manual, and look in the viewfinder, start changing the shutter speed......from 20 to 40 to 60. the image in the viewfinder will become brighter or darker. Also flash will help spread an even light. Get good photo software, like ACDSee Pro. Can buy it online. expose the pictures, and crop out the nice part of the picture...hope this helps! Oh yeah, motion? I dont know for sure, but experiment with those shutter speeds....hint. low shutter speeds take a blurry picture, which might not be a bad thing for motion. also see how fast you can get the camera to take pictures automatically...mine will take one picture per second and will take ten pictures in 10 seconds.

Answer 4

You can find out about shutter speed and aperture in your camera's manual. But here's a very basic thing about it:

Since camera is all about light, shutter and aperture controls how much light that is allowed to enter the camera.

Slow shutter speed = more light, but at certain point it'll blur your picture because of your shaky hands or moving object.
Fast shutter speed = less light, and it'll able to freeze actions such as sporting athlete and cars.

large aperture (small f number) = more light. allows a shallow depth of fields which means if you focus on the foreground the background will be blurred.
small aperture (large f number) = less light but allow a deep depth of fields - at a certain point it will allow focused background and foreground at the same time.

This is the two basic thing you need to know - but in reality you'll also need to do a lot of practice and understanding how the camera works.

Answer 5

just look at the mega pixels. there are some cameras for cheap with higher mexapixels. they take decent pictures for a camera around 150-200 dollars. if you want a nice camera with clear hots expect to pay over 200-500..

Answer 6

Well, it all depends on certain lighting and angles