Having a digital camera, whether you have a plan to make a career out of photography or you are simply a hobbyist, is obviously important. But before buying a digital camera, there will be a lot of things to take note of. Camera accessories are one but an important feature is photo software. Many are available in the market while you can also download some in the internet. Also, digital cameras cost more out of the box than regular cameras, but offer the convenience of immediate viewing, multiple image storage, computer connectivity - and there's no film to develop. Compare additional features you might want: interchangeable lenses, steady-shot, burst mode, auto exposure, automatic white balance, voice memo, variable shutter speeds, manual focus and self-timer.



If you use a flash in a dark environment, you often get a red eye effect. This is because the light of the flash is reflecting from the retina, which is covered with tiny blood vessels. The more open the pupils are, the redder eye effect you get in your photos. Red eye is more pronounced in people with light eye color. It is also more pronounced in people with blond or light-red hair and in children. Many cameras have a built-in red-eye reduction pre-flash that helps reduce the incidence of red eye. Red-eye reduction works by having the flash shine a light into the eyes of the subject prior to taking the picture. This causes the pupil to contract. However, you have to make sure the subject is looking at the camera. If not, this technique won't work. Also be wary of using red-eye reduction feature when not necessary, because it may cause your subject to blink.

Understanding how your camera focuses will help you get better pictures. Just about all digital cameras these days have autofocus with two-step shutter release. In dark lighting, you will notice that when you press the button halfway down, a red light appears for a moment, but not in areas that are lighter. Then, when you press the button down fully, there is a flash. When you hold down the button halfway, that focuses the image, and when you depress it fully, the camera takes the focused image. If you want the subject of your photograph not to be in the center but still focused, first center them in the middle of the picture and focus the frame by pressing down halfway. Without removing your finger, reframe the picture with your subject in the right position, and take the picture. Your subject will still be focused. One aspect of taking a pleasing photograph is depth of field. When you look at a picture, you will notice that all the area surrounding the focused subject is also focused. This area is called depth of field. In order to change the way the depth of field in a picture is seen, focused, and lit, you must change the width of your lens. The wider the lens is, the smaller the depth of field will be. To decrease the depth of field you can also move closer to your subject. To increase it, you can use a smaller lens or move further away from your subject.

Color laser printers, once the stuff of dreams (or professional print shops); have rapidly become both more economical and more photo-friendly. The latest and greatest color laser printers cost under $300, produce high-quality color output, and features like PictBridge (that allows direct connection to many digital cameras) are starting to appear in this class. It's looking like color laser printers may finally start to break into the huge home-office market, partly on their photo-printing strengths. Even without going to specialized photo paper, you can improve the quality of your printer's output by careful paper choice. 24lb weight paper is best for most photo printing, though more expensive than normal 20lb paper, used for most printing. Lower weights will often bleed through too much ink; higher paper weights can cause reliability problems in typical home office printers.

While many consider themselves amateurs when it comes to taking artistic photographs, with a little study and an independent experimentation, most anyone with persistence could quickly become an expert in photographing works of art. What is the market for such a skill? With the Internet and e-mail the market for photographing works of art is growing by leaps and bounds. Those artists that have made it to the level of giving exhibits around the nation need excellent pictorial representations of their art work to market to various galleries. The greater exposure they enjoy the more art they will sell. One company sends sales people from one farm to another with an aerial photograph of their home in hand. There are few homeowners that will turn down a readily available heirloom photograph of their land unless they already have one. One other important market is to take photographs of buildings for insurance companies or architects who have just created an award-winning design of a life-time.

Explore different camera angles: Small kids have some interesting facial features. They have cute button noses, big eyes and cherry lips. Experiment with different points of view. Don't be afraid to turn everything on its head to find the perfect way to express the moment. Take tons of pictures: Children change so quickly. Both in the long term and the short. They are so dynamic and can offer you tons of amazing opportunities for great pictures and incredible headaches. With this said, you can use this to your advantage if you just take tons of pictures. If not, you can expect hours of frustration caused by just missing or rushing the perfect shot.

As news photographer becomes ever more popular it is important that you know the basics. Photographers in the field learn as much from their errors as their successes. It takes quite a bit of work but once you get it down pat then you can get professional shots. Here are a few expert tips on taking news photos: You need to zoom with your feet and not with your lenses. It is better to have a clear picture of what is happening by getting closer with the subject. Zooming the camera may create a blurred and low quality material. Do not use a camera light when it's not necessarily needed. You may create a little angle on the light and not directly light the entire subject. You may flatten out all the images if you make the picture too bright for the background. Making great news photography needs a lot of skills and mastery in taking featured news shots. You should be creative and try different angles so that you will enjoy every situation you may encounter. Most importantly, it is through practice that you will make every shot a perfect catch.