Camera Tips to Improve Photography Skills

There are many factors that contribute in making a good picture. Some of these factors are technical, some are theoretical and some are just applications. If you know about the technical factors pretty well, then applying them to practice is easy. The technical factors are all about your camera settings and functions. Knowing your camera settings, features & functions in detail and in depth will help you excel. After that, applying theories is just a cake walk. To improve your photography skills, the first step is to learn and understand your camera, its settings and its features.

Here are some of the basic tips that you should practice to improve your photography:

1. Auto-focus or Manual Focus?

If you ask the experts in the industry they will tell you not to rely completely on your camera's autofocus. Sometimes, it may be misleading and may not give you desired results. So it is better to keep the steering in your hand and focus manually. It is not only a better option but gives you the flexibility to choose the focus.

2. Which AF points to use?

There may be various options to choose your AF point. But, for most of your shots you need just one AF point. If that is the case, which AF point to choose. To be on the safe side, always use the AF point that is in the center. Place this over your subject, half-press shutter button to lock the focus and then simply recompose the shot.

3. Shoot more than you need:

Digital photography is cheap. Clicking pictures doesn't cost you anything, then why not use it to the fullest? Click as many shots as you can. With different settings and in different modes. Select the ones that fits in your requirement and delete the rest.

4. Use Preset exposure modes:

If you are a professional photographer, ignore this point. And if you are an amateur or a beginner, then this might be helpful to you. the Preset modes on your camera have some in-built adjustments and settings that control the exposure. For example a 'Landscape' mode will set a small aperture and boost saturation whereas the portrait mode will combines a wide aperture with more muted colors. So, till the time you do not master your camera settings, you can use these preset exposure modes.

5. Use Optical Zoom not Digital:

When you use an optical zoom, the lens moves physically far from the camera sensor. Whereas in Digital zoom, the camera is forced to create the picture from one portion of the sensor. Avoid using the digital zoom, you can do the work of a digital zoom yourself using image editing software without messing up with the resolution.