How to Take Better Pictures

I purchased a digital SLR back in October 2007. I spent a lot of time researching, trying to decide which camera would best suit me and my needs. I found various review sites that I researched: kenrockwell.com, popphoto.com, dpreview.com. It's hard to tell who to believe and what to believe, but I decided that I liked what Ken Rockwell had to say and how he said it. He really seemed to know his stuff and so I went with his recommendation to buy the Nikon D40. He basically said that it was a great all around camera, the least expensive and the one he grabs first of all his many cameras. I'm no expert and I don't pretend to be one but I do know a clear picture from a blurry one and I had had enough sucky pictures of important family events. I went through a handful of horrible point-and-shoots that would take one decent shot of five (if I was lucky) and that just had to change. Admittedly, my Nikon D40 can still take bad shots but most are decent, several are exceptional and only on occasion do I get duds.



I did find one older model big and clunky point-and-shoot that takes the most beautiful pictures and quite consistently at that, rivaling my SLR. It is the Canon PowerShot S50. You can find them used on ebay for cheap but you have to be careful, there are a lot of broken ones out there (make sure they have high feedback rating). I love this S50 camera! Cathleen dropped mine and the battery hinge door broke off. But I would buy that camera again in a heartbeat it is that good. You would not be disappointed with that camera (except for the size), and it does video too (DSLRs can't do video). I can not say much good about any of the newer Canon point-and-shoot cameras that I've tried/owned (sd800, sd1000), though I do like the size and the video quality is pretty good too.



I love my D40, but I know Canon owners love their DSLRs too. Some will say you don't need a DSLR, that a point-and-shoot works just as well. I disagree 100%. You still will want a point-and-shoot for video capture and for the portable convenience factor (they of course do a much better job than cel phone cameras). Though, another option that you might want to consider, if you still have your old legacy 35mm SLR, you can take beautiful pictures with it and have the photos digitized quite reasonably at Costco and they'll look great. But of course you don't get the benefits of instant gratification that DSLRs offer. Those 35mm are dirt cheap any more, most people have one in a closet that they're not using (including me) which means they're selling for peanuts on ebay. So if a DSLR is not in your budget yet, you might want to consider the 35mm option instead of the point-and-shoot, you'll probably get more consistent better pictures.

I'm including some picture-taking pointers that I cut and pasted from somewhere that I researched back a year ago. I apologize that I don't have the reference to give proper credit but suffice to say, I didn't come up with this stuff myself. Perhaps these tips will help you in your quest to compose a better or more interesting picture. In the heat of the moment, I snap spontaneously and worry about composing later when I post process using Phanefare, Photoshop, Elements, ACDSEE or Paintshop Pro. Of course I can't always easily crop out trashcans after the fact that I seem to often manage to get in my shots... Let's just say that I find trashcans artistically appealing (after all, art is a personal and subjective thing)...

How to Take Better Pictures





I'm quite fascinated by photography, but I currently fall into the "capture the moment, record history" category. I was just so tired of red-eye, blurry, grainy, poor exposured shots that I can never get again. I just wanted clear pictures of my family at this stage in my life, pretty minimal requirements. If you have higher expectations, you might want to do a little more research but be prepared to spend more money. Someday when I'm retired (LOL, OK resurrected) and have time to hike around in nature at early sunrise and during late sunsets, I'll consider a more professional grade camera.

Happy clicking!