Top 3 Digital Shooting Mistakes And How To Prevent Them*
By Peter K. Burian
Compact digital cameras are great devices, offering far more capabilities than conventional,
film-based models. The increased versatility makes a high-tech camera very useful
for serious image making. For the very best results though, it's important to recognize
common mistakes and learn how to prevent them. That's the process I've gone through
while testing many digital cameras.
Fortunately, these common mistakes have been great teachers, prompting me to find
creative solutions. I invite you to learn from my mistakes. To maximize your own
enjoyment of digital imaging, consider the following common errors and preventative
measures.
1. Excessive contrast
If you've shot on days with harsh sunlight, you've probably noticed that many of
your digital images exhibit extremely high contrast. Such pictures include dark
shadow areas and ultra-bright highlight areas. Excessive brightness is the most
serious problem, with "burned-out" or "blown-out" highlights that obscure detail
in, for example, a bride's white gown or a snow-covered hillside.
With the image-editing features in Windows Vista it's easy to solve certain technical
problems. However, it's almost impossible to fully correct blown-out highlights.
While these can be darkened, you cannot add detail or texture that was not recorded
by the image sensor.
The Fix
In order to minimize this problem, remember the following tips:
• If your camera offers a contrast level adjustment control, do not select the high
option. Even in the soft light of a cloudy day, the standard setting should produce
snappy contrast. If your camera does not have a contrast control feature, try to
take pictures when a cloud drifts over the sun. The contrast will be lower under
those conditions.
• In extremely harsh, contrast light—as on a sunny day—select a slightly lower contrast
setting. This will minimize excessively bright highlights and extremely dark shadow
areas. After downloading images to a computer, use image-editing software to increase
contrast if the pictures seem a bit "flat." (The software is more effective in increasing
rather than reducing contrast.) When taking pictures of people, ask them to move
to a shady area and use flash to maintain a bright effect.
• In direct sunshine, use the camera's "Flash Always On" option for nearby subjects
to even out the lighting. The burst of extra light can moderate contrast by brightening
shadows. If your camera's flash unit produces ultra-bright highlight areas, don't
use it with white subjects.
• Overexposure compounds the problem of contrast by making highlighted areas excessively
bright. After taking the first picture of any subject, check the exposure in the
camera's monitor. If the image seems too bright, set a negative exposure compensation
factor such as -0.5. Re-shoot the picture and check it again. A slightly dark image
can be corrected later with image-editing software, using the fill-flash or lighten
tools.
2. Inadequate flash range
A flash unit simply does not provide adequate reach for a distant bride and groom
during a ceremony or the quarterback at a night football game. Nor can flash light
up the vast interior of a cathedral, castle, or cave.
A built-in flash unit may have a range of 10 feet at the camera's ISO 100 setting.
A high-powered accessory flash unit may have a range of 20 feet.
If you've used flash for very distant subjects, you've seen the results: underexposed,
dark, and murky images. Some pictures may have been completely black. As opposed
to overexposure, severe underexposure cannot be properly corrected even with professional
imaging software.
The Fix
First, play with the ISO setting. The camera's ISO 400 option can increase the effective
flash range by about 50 percent. After taking a picture, check the image in the
camera's monitor; if it's much too dark, you cannot shoot that scene with flash.
Or, turn off the flash. Virtually every digital camera includes a flash-off setting.
With very distant subjects, select this option. To prevent blur from camera shake
during long exposures in low light, use a tripod or brace your elbows on something
solid. (And unless you want motion blur for creative effects, avoid shooting a moving
subject because it will be blurred during the long exposure.)
For faster shutter speeds when shooting in low light without flash, some cameras
allow you to select an ISO 400 or ISO 800 setting. That option can be useful, but
remember this. At high ISO settings, many cameras produce digital noise (artifacts
resembling grain). However, you may decide that the noise is preferable to a grossly
underexposed picture made with flash or a blurry picture made at the ISO 100 setting.
Electronic flash is a valuable tool but it has limitations. With or without flash,
some situations—the action at an indoor sports event or the distant tapestries inside
a dark castle—can be impossible to photograph effectively unless you use professional
equipment. Press photographers make great images because they set up numerous remote
flash units but also because they can get close to the action. When you cannot take
good pictures, put your camera away and simply enjoy the experience.
3. Excessive JPEG compression
Image Quality
The better the quality, the higher the resolution, and the more pixels each image
will contain. With more pixels, you get superior definition of detail. A low-quality
image has a lower resolution and is composed of very few pixels. Many digital cameras
offer several image quality options, from low to super fine.
File Size
In addition to choosing image quality, you can usually choose the image-file size,
from small to large. The larger the file, the lower the compression, and the higher
the image quality. A small file is extensively compressed with internal software,
which produces a major loss of important image data and results in poor image quality.
These two features, image quality and file size, work together. When selecting a
JPEG-capture mode, you can choose a combination that will make high resolution/large
files (for the very finest quality), medium resolution/small files, low resolution/large
files, and so on.
Each camera manufacturer uses its own terminology for image quality options and
for image file-size levels. Some cameras offer only basic quality options such as
normal, better, and best. Read your instruction manual closely to determine what
options your camera provides and their actual designations.
The Mistake
It's tempting to use the camera's default setting, which provides medium-level quality
and a fairly small image file. Some people, trying to maximize the number of images
their 16 MB memory card will hold, even select the lowest image quality option and
the smallest file size. Unfortunately, neither combination produces images that
will make for excellent prints.
The Fix
Buy a high-capacity memory card and you'll be less tempted to use the low-quality
setting or a high-compression option. A 128 MB or a 256 MB card can save many large/high-resolution
image files. Regardless of the card, you should frequently review your pictures
and delete unsuccessful images. This makes space for new, better pictures.
With a 2- to 4-megapixel camera, use the large/super fine combination if you plan
to make 5 x 7-inch or larger prints. If you rarely make prints larger than 4 x 6-inches,
you can get by with the medium/fine setting. This will still produce an image file
with an adequate number of pixels and a medium level of JPEG compression that should
maintain decent image quality.
For the best results, always use the highest image quality option, ideally with
a large file size setting. But what should you do if your memory cards are almost
full? Select the "Small File/Super Fine" combination. The JPEG image will be extensively
compressed but the high pixel count should still assure acceptable quality in a
5 x 7-inch print.
Have fun taking pictures during the Holidays!
If you have any computer questions, please send them to us in an e-mail.
Contact_Us@EagleSecureSolutions.com
We'll try to answer them as soon as possible.
*Eagle Secure
Solutions, LLC, assumes no liability for any actions taken by a computer user after
reading the information on this page. Nor does Eagle Secure Solutions, LLC, assume
responsibility for any lost business, resources, health or money as a result of
a readers actions after reading this information.