How do you get great photos of outdoor Christmas decorations?

Well, your digital camera can help make it easier to get those pictures of the Christmas lights on your house to turn out.

There are 3 things you will need to get great photos of outdoor Christmas lights

1. A camera that can shoot long exposures.
2. A remote shutter release.
3. A tripod.

First, you need a camera that will allow you to shoot at long shutter speeds.

The first photo with this post is of New Glarus, WI. The shutter speeds I used while taking photos that night were from about 4 seconds to over 15 seconds long at an aperture setting of F11. The images of Michigan Aveneue Christmas lights in Chicago were from 1-5 seconds long at F11. You will need a camera that will do these long shutter speeds. It also helps if your camera has a noise reduction option for long exposures built in. In this case, I used a Canon 5D at ISO 100.

You will need a way to trigger the shutter without shaking the camera.

Ideally, you will have remote shutter release for your camera. If you do not, you can use the self-timer function.

You will need a tripod.

A tripod is one of the most important accessories you can purchase for your camera. The sturdier, the better. The trouble with photography in cold weather like this is those metal tripod legs get really cold. Some tripods come with foam to cover parts of the legs. A nice feature if you cannot afford the more expensive new composite tripods.

A tripod was also very handy while I slid down a steep, icy sidewalk in New Glarus, WI. A city that resemble Switzerland, not only in arcitucture, but in hilly terrain.

I suggest using your camera in aperture priority.

Set your aperture for resonable depth of field. Then, vary your shutter speed according to the light. This way, you can keep your composition in focus while you experiment with exposure with the shutter speed.

You should bracket your exposure.

With night-time photography, it can be hard to get detail in shadow areas while not overexposing the highlights. This is the trick. To find the best exposure for the scene you are photographing. Your cameras meter will give a good starting point. I usually shoot a stop over and under. A quick look at the preview screen can give you an idea if you are close or which direction you should bracket more in.

Using a RAW file format is ideal in this situation.

Using a RAW file format will allow you to fine tune the exposure a bit more. Also, you can adjust the color balance to your taste much better later while you are looking at a high resolution image on your computer. You can also make a bracket exposure from one RAW file.

For further improvement, you can use Photoshop to increase the dynamic range in your photo.

The latest versions of Photoshop CS2 and CS3 can combine different exposures of an image to get the best highlight and shadow detail a put it in one image. There are other programs that will add this feature to earlier versions of Photoshop. You may also be able to do this by hand. Have several bracketed shots on a tripod, or taken from a RAW file are needed for this technique. The photos in this post did not use this technique.

It might be a good idea to put a plastic bag over your camera to protect it if there is snow.

The photograph of the Christmas lights on Michigan Avenue in Chicago, Il was shot during the first real snow storm of the season. After shooting for about 10 minutes, I looked down to discover I and my camera bag were coated with wet snow. Keep a towel ready for when you get back to the car to wipe excess moisture off your equipment.

Cold weather will also cause batteries to weaken faster.

Spare batteries can be kept in a pocket closer to your body so you can keep shooting. Check your camera manual for an idea how cold weather will affect the batteries. It can cut normal use in half.

Try to start taking photos of the Christmas lights right after sunset.

The leftover light at dusk will help balance the bright Christmas lights and fill shadows. This will provide more detail. Of course, sometimes it can be too early. Just after I spent 45 minutes photographing the lights around New Glarus, WI and got in the car, the lights on the church were finally turned on.

Photographing Christmas lights is a fun challenge.

Even better is to finish it up with a drink of something warm with a loved one while you warm up afterwards.

Have you ever had a ghost in your photo?

It looked like you had it in focus. You used a flash. Still, there seems to be an additional person in the picture?

Does it look like this?

It’s called ghosting.

It is nothing to call Ghostbusters Inc about. It’s just a double exposure. One exposure is made by the flash. The other is made from the ambient light.

Many modern cameras try to balance ambient light and flash to make a more natural looking photograph.

Sometimes, it is just too balanced and it does not turn out the way we want. If there is just enough light in the room to make an exposure but not enough to get a fast enough shutter speed, you will see pictures like the one above. I have made it a bit exaggerated so it is easy to see the problem here.

There is a sharp image.

In parts of the photo, there is also a blurry double of the image (the ghost). The ghost is blurry because of movement during the exposure. Sometimes this is subject movement. More often, it is camera movement. It can be hard to know exactly when it will strike. It often seems to happen during really important pictures.

There are two different ways to fix ghosting in photos and exorcise those ghosts from your photography.

• Reduce the blur in the photo.
• Reduce the exposure of the ghost till it disappears. Sometimes, this also reduces the blur too.

You can reduce the blur by using a wider lens.

Often the blur is because the shutter speed the camera balanced the ambient light with is too slow to hand hold. A wider lens (zoom out) will not blur as much as a telephoto lens (zoom in).

You can reduce the ghost blur by using a tripod.

Often, you are using the flash because a tripod is not convienient to use. The photograph below has the same shutter speed as the picture with the ghost in it. Notice that the ghost has disappeared.

You can reduce the ghost blur by using a shorter shutter speed.

Use the fastest shutter speed your flash will sych at. This will prevent the blur from camera movement during the exposure just like using a tripod. Using a faster shutter speed may also reduce the exposure of the ghost.

Reducing the exposure of the ghost will also work.

You can increase flash power and make the exposure using flash at higher shutter speeds and smaller aperatures. In the photo below, the exposure setting was raised and flash power was increased to compensate. The reduces the exposure from the ambient light. Notice that the wonderful warm incadencent lighting is gone from the image.

You can reduce the exposure of the ghost with a lower ISO setting.

This also reduces the ambient light in the photo.

Like I said, it can be hard to expect when ghosting will happen.

If you need to use flash, but there is a lot of light in the room, you may see ghosts. If you are zooming in or using a long lens with flash, that can increase the chance of ghosting. If you are using flash and high ISO settings for subjects that are not far away, ghosting can occur.

Checking your preview on your digital camera once in while in these situations can let you know if you need to change the way you are using your camera.

For some cameras, you will not be able to make any of the exposure changes. How to take sharp photosUse the wider part of your zoom and try to hold the camera as still as possible.

Don’t forget to have a good time and make the real memories the ones you remember no matter what the photos look like.

I hope I have been able to educate you about taking sharp photos without boring you with too many details. 

In summary to take photos as sharp as possible you need to do the following:

Make sure everything you want is in focus

• Focus on subject
• Small apertures

Avoid camera movement

• Hold the camera properly
• Use faster shutter speeds
• Use a tripod
• Use flash

Avoid Subject motion

• Use faster shutter speeds
• Use flash

Get the best resolution you can

• Use 6 megapixel or better digital camera (or 35mm film camera)
• Use low IOS setting or film
• Use fine quality setting and highest file size on digital cameras
• Use good lenses (avoid cheap plastic)

Do these things and you’ll find your pictures will turn out sharp. Try to follow as many recommendations as regularly as possible so that the once-in-a-lifetime photo you take, turns out nice and tack sharp when you want to enlarge it. Just like you saw it!

This may seem like a lot to remember, but start with one or two things at a time. As you practice, your find more and more of your photos turn out sharp.

You had everything in focus.

You used a really good tripod and a remote release so the camera was rock steady. Still, your daughter looks like she has four eyes and three arms (and she doesn’t wear glasses). What happened? She moved. When it comes to subject movement, you will not have too many choices. You can use a faster shutter speed or get a slower subject. 

A sitting subject may look sharp as slow as 1/15th

You will find adults a bit easier to get to sit still than children or pets (at least sometimes). A sitting subject may look sharp as slow as 1/15th of a second. That same shutter speed will make even Grandpa look like an Olympic runner if he is walking.

 Obviously the faster the subject, the faster the shutter speed you will need

It will also make a difference what direction the subject is moving. If the subject is approaching or receding directly to or from the camera or traveling across the camera’s field of view. If Grandpa (as long as he was so kind to let us use him in the above paragraph we’ll use him a bit more- maybe he was an Olympic runner) is walking toward you, you won’t need as fast a shutter speed as if he is walking past you. Keep in mind that his arms and legs will be moving even faster than his whole body and may be blurry even though the rest of him is sharp. Obviously the faster the subject, the faster the shutter speed you will need.

 When there is any concern about subject movement, you always want to try for higher shutter speeds

For a slow person walking towards you (like good old Gramps) 1/30th to 1/60th of a second may be fast enough. A faster subject such as someone on a bicycle (or Grandpa in his Olympic days) will need a much faster shutter speed like 1/250th or 1/500th of a second. Something like a Formula 1 racing car will take speeds like 1/1000 of a second or faster. Unfortunately there are no exact numbers; it is something that takes a bit of trial and error, plus a camera (most likely an SLR of some sort) that will let you choose a shutter speed. When there is any concern about subject movement, you always want to try for higher shutter speeds.

 Again, you may not own a camera that lets you select the shutter speed.  You are then stuck with whatever speed the camera chooses. To make sure the camera chooses a fast shutter speed you can:

• Only take pictures when there is lots of light
• Use a faster ISO setting or film
• Wait until the subject stops moving
• Use the subject movement to tell the story

 How can you use a photo that is not completely sharp?

Some subjects actually look good with subject movement.

If you want to show the strength of the ocean as it crashes against the rocks you may want to use a high shutter speed to stop it sharp

Water, for instance, can look good if it is tack sharp stopped with a high shutter speed. If you want to show the strength of the ocean as it crashes against the rocks you may want to use a high shutter speed to stop it sharp.

A longer shutter speed will blur it and make it look soft and gentle

Water can also look great blurred. A longer shutter speed will blur it and make it look soft and gentle. This technique looks great for rivers and waterfalls. It depends on what kind of story you are trying to tell.

Panning is following a moving subject with the camera during the exposure

Another kind of blur that can tell a story is caused by a technique called panning. Panning is following a moving subject with the camera during the exposure. Just follow your moving subject with the camera (try to keep the same speed) and press the shutter button as it goes by. Make sure you continue to follow after you press the button (kinda like the follow through on your golf swing). This will cause the subject to look sharp and the background to blur. This is a great way to show motion and demonstrate the feeling of speed in a photo.

Panning whenever you think you may have lower light levels (an overcast day) will help you get a picture with a sharp subject. When done right; panning trades camera movement for subject movement in a way that makes a picture look sharper.

Next we’ll look at how important resoluton is to sharp photos and what is resolution anyway.

Camera movement can be hard to spot.

Usually, everything looks like it is in focus but nothing looks really sharp or you start to wonder if you need glasses (or new glasses and yours are only a month old). You spent all that money for that latest gigapixel camera, but honestly, it doesn’t seem to take pictures any sharper than the old one you gave to your spouse.

Worse, you cannot even tell which person was Julia Roberts in the photo you took when you ran into her at the supermarket (even worse, your insurance agent can’t tell if the picture is of the dent in your car or her’s).

Just taking a breath or the beat of your heart will cause enough movement to blur your photo

Even when we are standing still, our bodies have a tiny amount of movement to them. If you are really excited (like you just ran into Julia Roberts) that little movement is probably not even little.

As the shutter in your camera is open for a longer period of time, it becomes more sensitive to that tiny movement

Just taking a breath or the beat of your heart will cause enough movement to blur your photo in many situations (personally I’d rather have a beating heart than a sharp picture, given the most likely reason for no heart beat). Camera movement can be controlled two ways: faster shutter speeds or stabilizing the camera.

 Length of your lens will affect the amount of camera movement

A faster shutter speed will stop blur from camera movement (later we’ll talk about subject movement which is also helped by faster shutter speeds). Again, length of your lens will affect the amount of camera movement just like it does depth-of-field. A good rule of thumb is to use a shutter speed equal to the length of your lens. I prefer twice that speed for safety.

Most people can take sharp photographs with a 24mm wide angle lens at 1/60th of a second. Try to hand hold one of those huge, expensive 600mm lenses the sports photographers use, and you will need a shutter speed at least equal to 1/600th of a second, plus you will need a second mortgage and a good chiropractor. A safer speed might be 1/1000th of a second. The bad news again: if your not using a SLR or DSLR you may not be able to choose your shutter speed anyway because most of the cameras people buy choose the shutter speed for them just like it chooses the aperture.

 If you cannot set the shutter speed and you think you may have problems holding the camera steady enough to get a sharp picture, what should you do?

Lets look and steadying the camera.

Start by making sure when you hold it, you are holding it properly

Almost all cameras now are designed to be held in your right hand with your right index finger used to press the shutter button (sorry lefties). Brace your left elbow against your chest and use your left hand to hold the weight of the camera or cradle the lens. I have even seen a camera manual that suggested foot placement with a diagram (yes, those manuals do even show you how to hold the camera-were you already doing it right?). Just like an Olympic sharp shooter, you want to squeeze the shutter button when you take the picture. You can use a good solid wall or tree to brace the camera or brace it on any solid object you find usable.

Flash has a duration that is extremely short, acting like a very fast shutter speed

Your flash can also eliminate camera movement. Flash has a duration that is extremely short, acting like a very fast shutter speed. The only problem is that there are times you can’t or don’t want to use a flash (museums or that really dark church your daughter decided to get married in). Flash will also not help much if you are far from your subject.

A new technology that can help get rid of camera movement is image stabilization

Canon calls it IS, other manufacturers have different names. This technology moves lens elements to compensate for camera movement. Initially only available on those expensive lenses the sports photographers use, it is being included on many much more affordable lenses. It is even included now on some point and shoot cameras. This technology can allow you to shoot 2-3 shutter speed settings slower than you could hand hold without it. It still has limits and does add to the cost of the lens or camera.

A very inexpensive but very sturdy way to stabilize a camera is a bean bag.

You can mold the bean bag to a shape to hold the camera in many different positions. You can even make your own out of an old sock, (please wash it first) sown shut and filled with rice.

 The single most valuable accessory for your camera is a tripod

Perhaps the single most valuable accessory for your camera (if you are serious about taking great pictures) is a tripod. Because they need every photo to be as sharp as possible, you will almost never see a professional photographer without a tripod nearby. In fact, a good, sturdy tripod is a professional photographers best friend (it’s a lonely life).

Unfortunately, most tripods available in consumer electronic or discount stores will not do a good job of holding your camera still. You’ll find most photographers use a tripod by Gitzo or Manfrotto (formerly known as Bogen). While there are other good brands, these two seem to be the most trusted and popular. They are a bit more expensive than most of the flimsy, cheap models (sometimes flimsy, cheap models are sold expensively) but they are worth the extra cost since they actually do the job.

 A tripod that is convenient to use, is more likely to get used

Two disadvantages of a tripod are that they are heavy to carry and cumbersome to use. You can now get carbon-fiber tripods that are extremely light and still strong. Carbon-fiber tripods also cost more than the standard models but if you ever have to carry a tripod on a hike you’ll start thinking they are worth twice the cost. In the ease of use department, Manfrotto has the Neotec tripod with a pistol-grip head. The Neotec is extremely fast to set up and easy to use. A tripod that is convenient to use, is more likely to get used.

 When you use your tripod it is also important to remember, that for long exposures, the action of your finger pressing the shutter button will also cause camera movement.

When you purchase that tripod, order a remote release for your camera. Most cameras now use an electronic or an infrared remote. Just make sure it is for your make and model. If you do not have a remote release (or left it back home on the kitchen counter), you can use the camera’s self-timer. By the time the timer triggers the camera, any movement from pressing the shutter will have subsided. It will, however, take a really good sense of timing to get a photo of Junior sitting still using the timer. He probably will not sit still that long.

Junior not being able to sit still brings us to our next tip to taking sharp photos – Subject Movement

One main reason pictures turn out unsharp is because they are out of focus.

Seems simple enough? Well, there are several reasons this can happen, most of which have nothing to do with the camera being broken but all have to do with taking sharp photographs.

Too close the the subject

I have seen literally thousands of pictures ruined because of this one cause. A large portion of these are of newborn babies. Why? While we are trying to fill the frame with those tiny faces, we simply get too close to the subject to focus. Different cameras have different minimum focus distance (how close you can get).

The first step to fixing this problem is finding out how close your camera will focus.

For this we check that little book that came with your camera known as the instruction manual (you may see this theme repeated a lot here). You can usually find it (the distance – I can’t help you figure out where you left the manual) in the section that tells you how to focus the camera or listed in the camera specifications at the back of the manual.

After you know the distance, it can help to use a yardstick (or meter stick for those of you used to the metric system) or tape measure just to get a good idea how close that is and how it looks in your viewfinder. You can also use it to measure baby’s current height while it’s handy and you may want to write it down in your scrapbook next to baby’s picture. This has nothing to do with focus but you may appreciate it a few years from now. Anyway, it can be a little easier to know if your too close once you have a good idea what is too close.

Most, but not all, autofocus cameras will give you some kind of confirmation if it is focused or not or maybe if you are too close.

I know, now I tell you after you had to go search for a tape measure. Again, check your manual to find out.

The camera has focused on the wrong subject

A second reason pictures are out of focus (not sharp) is the camera has focused on the wrong subject. A common situation when this occurs is trying to take a picture of two people and there is a space in the middle between them.

Most cameras focus (or most reliably focus) on a spot in the center

Most cameras focus (or most reliably focus) on a spot in the center of the viewfinder (the little window you look through to “compose” you picture. If that spot happens to be a different distance than your subject (perhaps distant mountains), your subjects will be out of focus.

Lock focus by holding the shutter button halfway down

“So,” you say, “what’s the trick this time and do I need to look at that silly manual again?” Most cameras will let you lock the focus on a subject by holding the shutter button down halfway and recompose (fancy word for moving the camera) before pressing the button all the way to take the picture. And yes, you may want to check your manual and see what it says (besides they usually have a picture to demonstrate). Some cameras can sense if you have a subject not centered (maybe your friend is just too-way-out-of-line in which case this may not help). Maybe they use “the force”?

Some cameras have a mode that will force the camera to only focus at a farther distance

A very similar situation is when you try to take a picture through a fence or window and you have a sharp fence (or sharp reflection of you) and your subject (that million dollar horse in the field behind the fence) is not sharp. This can be a bit trickier of a situation. If you can use the recomposing method you are ok. If not, you may have to jump over the fence or break the window (I suggest to try opening it first-and don’t blame me if someone gets angry at you, I am not advocating vandalism just good photography). Some cameras have a mode that will force the camera to only focus at a farther distance. This may even make that fence magically disappear (you’ll need a magician to make the horse disappear-if you broke the window, maybe he could help you disappear). This is usually symbolized by a little picture of a mountain (but not always, sometimes the mountain picture means a wider depth-of-focus range which I’ll talk about in a second-don’t you wish we could all be more consistent with these symbols). This is definitely something you want to check that good old manual for!

One more note on recomposing. In most cases, the little changes in camera angle required to recompose will not make a difference in your focus distance. If you move too much though (step forward or backward) you may change the distance and move out of focus. It is important not to move too much when you do this.

Depth-of-field

A final focus related problem to sharp pictures is called depth-of-field. Depth-of-field refers to the total area that is in focus. This is a complicated subject that has to do with: focal length of the lens, aperture, focal distance and planet alignment (ok, planet alignment has nothing to do with it or with anything else for that matter, but focal distance does have a lot to do with physics, which is kinda like rocket science, which may have something to do with getting to planets). I’ll try to make some simple instructions.

Lens focal length refers to the length of the lens. Ok, what does that mean? Simply, a telephoto lens (or a zoom lens when you “zoom in”) has a long focal length and a wide angle lens (or a zoom lens “zoomed out”) has a short focal length. At long focal lengths, less area will be in focus

At long focal lengths, less area will be in focus. A good example of this is the lenses sports photographers use when they cannot be close to the action. The athlete or part of the athlete (lets say a close up of a baseball left fielder catching a game winning out) is in focus while the background is out of focus (fortunately we can’t see the overweight fan who is not wearing a shirt). At short focal lengths, larger areas can be in focus (allowing the photographer about to stepped on by a basketball player to have almost everything in focus (and a footprint on his forehead because everything looked so far away in the camera). If you want to have a subject close and a subject far away in focus a wide angle lens will help (in case you want that fence and the horse both in focus).

 Aperture has to do with the size of the opening of the lens. This is measured in something called f-stops and to confuse you more smaller f-stop numbers mean a larger opening and larger f-stop numbers mean a smaller hole. A larger f-stop (smaller number) will mean less is in focus. A smaller f-stop (larger number) will increase depth of field and more will be in focus. Unfortunately (or fortunately, if you find this confusing), unless you have a SLR (single lens reflex) or DSLR (digital single lens reflex) you probably cannot adjust the aperture of your lens directly anyway.

 If there is lots of light your camera will choose a smaller f-stop and you will have more in focus.

What will affect the aperture is how much light is available. If there is lots of light your camera will choose a smaller f-stop and you will have more in focus. If there is not a lot of light (brightness-while technically 40 candles on your birthday cake is more light, it probably is still dim compared to the sun) less will be in focus.

 That pretty much covers how focus affects sharp pictures. Next we’ll look at how camera movement causes blurry pictures.

Every one wants to know how to take better photos

Probably one of the biggest reasons photos do not turn out like we want is because they are blurry or not as sharp as they could be. My goal with this guide is to give you advice on why this happens, and how to take sharp photos.

If you have been disappointed in results from your camera, it may not be the camera.

Just changing a few things in the way you use your camera, can make a huge difference in the quality of your digital photos or film photography and get you sharper photos. Even pro photographers need to keep these in mind when they take pictures or else they cannot rely on getting sharp photos to sell.

You may not need to run out and buy a new digital camera.

First, try a few of these techniques for sharp photos and see if they help. While a more expensive digital camera will have a higher resolution, if your 4×6 photos look unsharp with a 3 megapixel digital camera, they will look just as blurry with an 8 megapixel camera. You will see a difference with an 8×10 enlargement with more detail from a camera with a higher resolution.

If you try the techniques in this guide and still are not getting sharp photos, then it may be time for a new camera

There has been a great improvement in photographic technology over the past 20 years in lenses. It may be hard to accept but even better quality cameras and lenses are not a match for today’s computer designed lenses from Nikon and Canon. If you are still using a film camera you may want to think about buying a digital camera.

Most of these suggestions work the same for your digital camera as well as film but I will let you know if there is difference.

The main culprits are:

• Focus
• Camera movement
• Subject movement
• Resolution

A couple are closely related but I will try to tackle these reasons for blurry photos in order. First is focus.

Or, The Dark Side Of Digital Photography

Digital photography is the future, if not already the present of photography.

Of that, there is no doubt. However, there are some potential problems in digital photography that are often swept under the rug by the digital photo zealots.

This is not meant to be any kind of discouragement to anyone still considering going into digital photography.

I myself have not used a roll of film for any use in over two years. There is a good chance I may never use a roll of film again. It is important to be aware that there those out there that are always doom and gloom and just cannot accept the change. Do not listen to them.

If you know the potential problems with digital photography, you can better deal with them.

Some problems are being addressed by manufacturers and are being researched, these problems will eventually be fixed and digital photography my eventually outdo film in these cases. Other problems are unique to the way people currently look at digital photography and digital cameras. This type of problem will only be solved by individuals changing themselves.

Alright, ready for the 5 top problems with digital photos?

First, digital cameras do not have the dynamic range that the negative film you used to use, had.

What is dynamic range? Simply put, dynamic range is the difference between the brightest white with detail and the darkest black with detail. You are more likely to find heavy shadows or burnt out highlights. A digital photo at the beach could easily give you problems with a dark subject or an overly bright sky or sand. Digital photos with flash often have a washed out highlight on faces.

Is this terrible? It is not too bad. Many pros think of digital photography like shooting slide film which has a similar dynamic range. This is one of the problems that I am sure digital cameras will improve to the point it beats film.

Second, digital photos were presented as photo quality long before many would agree they were truly equal to film.

While a 2 megapixel camera will make great 4×6 photos, nearly anyone with decent eyesight can tell the difference between a good 35mm photo and a 2 megapixel camera at 8×10 size. Not only the lack of resolution will show but color transitions will also show some problems. A three or four megapixel camera will be much harder to see a difference but film would still provide a better picture.
Who would buy a 2 megapixel camera nowadays, you think? Well, people do buy them, but that is not the real point. I just recently heard a commercial exaggerating the ability of 4 megapixel cameras. Digital cameras now do provide film quality in detail and color gradation at the six megapixel range. Of course if you thought your Kodak Disc camera took great photos, go ahead and buy a two megapixel camera. If you are really trying to economize, you may be happy with a 5 megapixel camera but I would discourage anyone from purchasing anything with a resolution less that 5 megapixels.

Third, often digital photos are presented as more easy to fix than they really are.

There is the idea, that since it is digital, a bad photo can be fixed up in Photoshop later. Bad photography, fixed in Photoshop, is still bad photography. Movies and television often show computer fixes that just are not really possible or are very expensive and time consuming. Often, people see this science fiction and think it can be done, when the opposite is actually true. The JPEG format that most cameras save images in, does not allow corrections to be made to the file without a loss of quality occurring. Whenever you make changes to a digital file, at least a small bit of information is lost. The larger the changes made, the more information that is lost. Small changes may not make as much of a difference.
Combined with the lower dynamic range, many professionals have had to start being much more careful with exposure than they were with negative film.

There are two more problems with digital photography covered on page two.

Page Two of The Dark Side Of Digital Photography

Start taking your graduation ceremony well before the ceremony.

Maybe try to get some photos of your Grad trying to get that silly hat to stay on. If the school has a tradition of tossing hats into the air you may not get one with it later. Make sure to get your photo with the Grad also. This is a good time to get the Grad with parents photos.

During the graduation ceremony, keep the camera on and flash charged but do not spend your time looking through the camera.

If a real good opportunity comes along you will be ready. Do not waste the moment though, if you are not close or there is anything or anyone between you and your daughter or son, enjoy the ceremony. Remember, its the graduation ceremony that you came for, not a photo shoot. Keeping the camera ready may use up the battery for later though. Bring a spare along with extra film or memory.

If you try to take the photo when there is someone or something between you and the Grad, your camera will get confused.

All the light from the flash will bounce off the object. Your camera will see all this light and think there is too much. Your Grad will most likely be lost in the dark with the object a bright glowing form in the front of the photo. This is what virtually all the photos everyone there will be seeing. Unless you have a real good opportunity, it is a great time to just enjoy the moment in your daughter or son’s life.

Now, for the rest of the show.

After the graduation ceremony, make sure to get photos of the Grad with his or her friends.

These are the photos they will want to put on the Web and email to friends. You will want to get in a few with your Grad again too.

When you are taking these photos, it is important to find a good background.

Preferably something without crowds of people in it. You will want to keep the attention on your subjects. Indoors, try to find a wall or even better something with the school logo on it. Watch out for windows and glass cases of trophies that might cause a reflection. Having school related background will add to the feeling of the photo.

If the weather and time of day work out, take some outside, using the school as a background.

Try in front of the school doors (make sure not to keep others from getting through). Try to frame the Graduates with the school name over their heads. A photo like this with your Grad’s best friends will be a photo they will always treasure. You may not have too much choice about having other people in the background for this. The importance is your Gradate with friends in a place they will remember (hopefully fondly) for life.

Some schools do not have the ceremony at the school.

Still look for a place you can take the photograph with the school logo. You may have to share it with others trying to do the same thing so don’t hog it. Look for a nice background outdoors. You may find a nice wall or some trees nearby. Do not just settle for the crowd as a background.

When you outdoors, try using fill flash for some of the photos.

That is using the camera flash to fill in shadows form the sun. DOn’t use it for all the photos, just some, because sometimes it can look wrong.

By taking lots of photos of your Grad with his or her friends you’ll find them more willing to pose for a few with the parents. Maybe one of the more responsible friends can take the photos that include you.

Just remember, its the moments that count.

Not the photos. Don’t drag it on too long. Remember your graduation ceremony? Your Grad will probably want to get past the photos and spend some time with friends or family celebrating.

One final though. make sure drinking and driving is not part of the celebration for anyone. You want there to be many more things in life to celebrate, remember, and take more photos of.

Graduation is one of the most important events in your son or daughter’s life.

Are you ready to get great photos of this event? Many people take their camera and spend the event snapping away. It is not till later that they discover they have missed it. It only happens once.

Taking better graduation ceremony photos is not hard. You may need to change your expectation of what photos to take. By just changing your perspective about the photos will help you not only take better graduation ceremony photos, but also make the whole graduation event much more meaningful to you.

When I was printing photos in the lab, every May and June we would see the same photo.

It consists of the back of a row of chairs, topped by a row of very bright, glowing, overexposed heads. Occasionally, a few more rows of chairs with heads would be visible, but that is all you see. It was always disheartening to see the look on mom’s face when she sees them. Yet, everyone does it. The sad truth is, the pictures were doomed from the start. And mom did not even have a good view of the actual event, because she was looking through the camera the whole time.

While, if you are real close, it may be possible to get good photos at a graduation ceremony, I’ll go on record that much of the time, it is nearly impossible to get a great photo during the ceremony.

If your are a parent, unless you are within 20 feet of your son or daughter, you will not get a good photo of the event.

This is because most camera flashes have a maximum distance of 20 feet. It may be even less. There are other things going against you too.

What I suggest, if you are not allowed to go forward (or maybe even if you are) and take photos closer to the graduation ceremony, just put the camera down.

This is an event you do not want to miss. Enjoy the moment. Live the moment. Make it something you will remember without a photo. Why limit yourself to watching this moment through the tiny window of a camera? If the school has a professional photographer on hand, buy one of his photos when it is available if you really feel you need that photo.

Now that you’ve decided to enjoy your son or daughter’s graduation ceremony, let’s talk about taking some great photos that will really be important for the rest of time.

You will find these ideas will help you really get some great photos that tell all about the graduation ceremony that everyone will enjoy.

Go to How To Take Better Graduation Ceremony Photos Page 2