Even a steady hand can’t rival three metal legs when it comes to capturing crystal-clear images. A tripod is particularly handy when you want to zoom in on a subject, such as a flower. Of course, your hand may have to suffice if you’re trying to shoot fast-moving animals or insects.
Use Manual Setting
Don’t be afraid. You’ll have much more control over lighting this way, even if you just use the “sunny” or “cloudy” settings found on most digital cameras. More advanced shutterbugs should learn how to read the light meter on their camera and make adjustments if images are coming in under- or overexposed and for those tricky back-lit situations.
Pay Good Attention to the Lighting
If you plan to take pictures of landscapes, you’ll get better results if you shoot in the morning or late afternoon when the sun isn’t directly overhead. If you’re trekking through a heavily wooded area, shoot in the middle of the day when the light filters through the tree canopy.
Try to Zoom on Little Things
Zoom in on the little things; they often make the best images. Instead of standing back and shooting a grove of trees, consider focusing on one branch, or even a flower on that branch. You’ll be pleasantly surprised at the results.
Use Raw Data Format
The more bits of data you capture in an image, the higher the quality. So set your camera to save images in their “raw” form instead of smaller settings like “large jpeg” or “small jpeg.” That way, you’ll capture the most information possible each time you take a shot. You can always scale down the image before sending it in an e-mail or saving it to your hard drive.