If a picture is a thousand words, a great picture is a million. Pictures can capture life’s most precious moments. As you probably know, digital photography in particular has become the method of choice for photographers because of convenience, more advanced technology, and lesser cost in film and developing. Like any learned skill however, there are a set of basic skills that one must master to be able to capture those great moments. In this article we will explore three digital photography basics you must learn to taking amazing pictures.

The first basic is: know your camera controls. Just like a carpenter needs to know his tools to be able to know which one to use for a particular job, so does a photographer need to be familiar with and know the controls of his camera. The first ones you need to know about are the shutter speed, aperture, and the preset camera modes. Your owner’s manual is the first place to learn about these controls, where they are on your camera and how to adjust them.

The shutter speed setting determines how fast the shutter of your camera opens and closes. The slower the speed the more time your digital sensor is exposed to light and vice versa. The aperture setting works with the shutter speed. It’s an opening inside the camera lens that you can set to control the amount of light that passes through the lens. The bigger the opening the more light passes through. The smaller the opening the less light. The aperture along with the type of lens you use and the distance of your subject to the lens also controls the depth of field. This is the setting you will use to get those nice looking blurry backgrounds for portraits or sharply focused landscape shots. The preset camera modes are modes programmed into most cameras for specific type shots. The shutter speed and aperture are automatically selected in those modes so that you only have to turn a dial and point and shoot. These modes are convenient when starting out or when you don’t have much time to set up a shot.

The next skill to master in photography is composition. Like composing a piece of music, composition is how you compose or put an image together. The decisions that you will have to make that affect composition are things like depth of field, which was mentioned previously, where to center your subject, using an imaginary grid to frame a shot (also known as rule of thirds) to call attention to specific areas of a picture, taking the shot vertically or horizontally, or having the subject look at the camera or away. This is a skill that with time and practice will allow you to develop an “eye” for composing a shot and in short time you will be able to skillfully put amazing pictures together.

The last skill we will be covering is lighting and color. This particular skill is what either makes or kills a shot. Lighting is the most important aspect of photography. As a matter of fact, photography is just the recording and capturing of light. Therefore, it makes sense that how we control the amount of light and how we add additional light when needed, is crucial in capturing those timeless moments. The first thing to understand when it comes to lighting is your camera’s light meter. This tool in your camera takes into account your shutter speed and aperture and tells you what amount of light will reach your camera. With this tool you can determine whether you need to under expose (decrease the light) or over expose (add light) to your image. You will need to use the light meter in conjunction with the shutter speed and aperture speed to set the exposure that you want for a particular shot. Other tools to control the lighting available to photographers are reflectors and fill flashes. With these additional tools you have everything you need to control the light in your image and turn an otherwise average photo spectacular.

When you learn the basic skills of photography you will position yourself to learn more advanced photography methods. By learning about camera controls, composition, and lighting, and applying them you will be well on your way to creating amazing pictures that you and others will enjoy for years to come.

By: Kay Porter

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If you believed that learning digital photography would be hard or take years to master, I am here to tell you that neither idea is true.

This editorial will show you some basic tips that should prove that learning digital photography techniques are quick and simple. Also, your photographs will get better from the very first click of the shutter.

This first tip positively proves why learning digital photography is so simple. It is used in art in general, not only for photography. Do not let its simpleness fool you, it is very powerful. This simple tip has refined my photographs the most.

This tip is known by the phrase “the rule of thirds”. Most people and I am included, will take a photograph and the subject is in the center of the frame. To create a better photograph, move the subject off center.

Here is how it works, look through the view finder and with your mind, create a tic, tac toe grid that divides the screen into 9 equal squares. If the subject is centered on one of the four places where the lines intersect, the photograph should improve greatly and have stronger composition. I call these the power points. Believe it or not, it is that easy. And you thought that learning digital photography would be hard.

One more issue that I use to have, similar to putting the subject in the middle of the photograph, is the angle. This tip requires rotating the camera. Rotate the horizon to turn it from flat to angled.. If you want to make the photograph more interesting, you should tilt the camera and “boom” the picture has more character. What angle you ask? Try it at a lot of varied angles and see which one is best. Remember that every photo is unique.

When taking pictures using a tilted angle, it creates an off balance effect and shows something that they were not expecting. It takes the real world and distorts it slightly. It surprises the viewer.

The most important thing that I stress about learning digital photography is practice. Similar to learning to play an instrument, the way to get better is to practice.

These are a few simple tips to help make learning digital photography simple and fast.

By: Russell Roberds

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Digital technology has significantly altered the way video is shot, processed, and edited. Standard analog video signals consist of smoothly varying voltage levels that closely mirror the original image. Digital technology, on the other hand, divides a signal into tiny segments of time and measures the quality of the signal within each segment. The segments and their measurements are expressed in binary digits, a complex series of positive (one) and null (zero) values. Binary digits are more easily processed than analog signals and can be copied without the generational loss of quality that occurs with analog signals.

Nowadays, is almost common knowledge to all digital video enthusiasts that digital technology in video often depends on converting analog signals to digital signals. Analog-to-digital converters and digital-to-analog converters accomplish these functions. Graphics may thus be created in the digital domain and integrated into an analog system.

There are four primary digital formats in use. Like analog video recording, digital video can be either component or composite. The D1 recording format, developed by Sony, and Ampex digital format, called DCT, both have separate Y, R-Y, and B-Y portions (component recordings). The D2 and D3 formats, developed respectively by Ampex and Panasonic, feature composite recording. Since the composite signal requires less processing, D2 and D3 are less expensive than D1, but D1 offers superior quality and is ideal for effects and graphics work. If all the editing equipment is kept in the D1 digital domain, hundreds of generations of copying can be performed with little signal degradation.

By: Willis J. Watson

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Taking photography as a hobby is as easy as picking up a camera and starts shooting but getting the camera before one can actually start can be pretty much a tough task. In simple terms, it will all come down to what one wants to do actually. What taste does a person have! These are some things which should be clear before one can start thinking about a camera. One easy way can be borrowing a camera from a friend or relative and playing with it for some days, going out and just taking pictures, to get a feeling for it and try figure out what he or she wants to do. But still, this might not come easy.

A digital camera is just like an analog camera but with a electronic photo-sensitive sensor instead of a film. It has a lens in the front with a sensor behind it, some mechanism (mechanical or electronic) to show a live picture to the user(so he/she can she where is the camera pointed at), some electronics for controlling the exposures and shutter speeds and settings and some buttons and controls to set these available settings.

There are literally thousands of digital cameras on the market nowadays. Tens of brands produce hundred of models. Cameras can be generally divided into two classes,which are:

Compact SLR (Single Lens Reflex)

A compact is any small, usually pocket size digital camera. It might be fixed focal length or might have a zoom, have an eye piece or may not and so on. They are small in size and can easily fit in a pocket. They have an advantage of size over the SLRs but they are generally very incapable. To a normal person their pictures might seem of very high quality but a trained eye will really tell how good the pictures really are. These camera, depending on the make and model are very limited with functions and options, e.g. an external flash cannot be normally added to a compact flash. Later on we’ll learn that an external flash is a necessity for low light photography and the on-board or built-in flash in not enough.

As its names suggests, everything on the compact camera is also compact, even the lens and the sensor behind it. The sensor is an analog component and as its size becomes smaller, the noise level it gives out on its signal becomes higher, they are inversely proportional. And this is one of the reasons, pictures from a compact will seem of low quality, they seem to have higher noise levels. If the camera is used in darkness, the camera will try to amplify the signal, as it does that it also amplifies the inherent noise in the signal which results in usually worse quality pictures in the dark. The lens on a compact suffers from the same size problem i.e. it has to be small to fit in the smaller camera body and it becomes harder to produce high quality optics in that size also. Plus when the lens is smaller, lesser amount of light will fall on the sensor, which then requires slower shutter speeds or signal amplification by the sensor.

SLR cameras on the other hand are bigger in size mainly because they house a prism to redirect the light through the lens to the optical eye piece. There is a mechanism inside it, which allows the light to fall on the image sensor when a picture is being taken. SLR are bigger in size and they house bigger, higher quality image sensors. As the sensors are bigger in size they produce lesser noise even when the light is low. SLR cameras provide much more manual settings and options for photography. External flash units can be used, a variety of lenses can be uses for different purposes which in case of the compact would not be possible. But this all comes with a price tag and some weight on ones shoulder.

In general, compacts vs. SLRs is a give and take situation. One would have to think about what he or she wants to do actually. Photography with a compact is fun but with an SLR its on completely different level.

By: Muhammad Sohail Khan

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You do not have to spend a fortune on the most sophisticated camera available. In fact, it is quite possible to take great pictures with an average digital camera. However, one area that should not be skimped on is media card.

It is a good idea to get the largest media card you can afford, as this will ensure that you never miss a shot. Typically, if you have a 3 mega pixel camera, it is advisable to use a memory card of at least 256MB. A 4 mega pixel camera, on the other hand, should have at least 512MB of memory and if you have 6 mega pixels or above, you should consider a 1GB media card.

In some situations, it may be prudent to invest in other pieces of equipment, such as a tripod. Of course, in the majority of circumstances tripods are a cumbersome nuisance. However, if you can afford to spend a little extra money, it is possible to find a lightweight, compact tripod that can be easily placed into a bag or even a pocket.

Tripods are particularly useful when taking shots of landscapes, flora and fauna. So, whether the tripod is a necessary part of your equipment will depend on your interests.

When it comes to taking digital pictures, be aware that you do not have to stick to the default or auto setting on your camera. In fact, this setting will not always produce the best shots.

Therefore, it is advisable to experiment with your settings regardless of the conditions. In other words, try using the flash outside even on bright days, check out the effect that using a cloudy setting has on the tone of your pictures. Try to remember which shots were taken with which settings, so you will be able to compare and contrast.

Remember that a large part of what separates mediocre photographs from great photographs is composition. In other words, where your subject is positioned in the frame, what is in the background of the shot, what is in the foreground etc.

However, this does not mean that the composition of your photographs has to be complicated. On the contrary, sometimes simplicity really is best. The best shots have something interesting and eye-catching about them.

When learning digital photography, the most important thing to remember is to take photographs and lots of them. The best way to discover which setting work best and how to capture an interesting composition is to practice.

One of the best features of a digital camera is that you can easily delete those shots that didn’t work out, so you’ve got nothing to lose by experimenting.

By: Joan Yankowitz

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Digital Camera Basics… The Vocabulary

Shopping for a digital camera can be a difficult task considering the sheer number of choices out there. The number of manufacturers, models, and price ranges that need to be sorted out make the process difficult enough, but throw in all the buzz-words that need to be understood, and even a short list of cameras can become difficult to analyze.

This Tech Tip will take a look at a few key words that may come up when researching a digital camera, and will hopefully reduce the headaches associated with the process.

Pixels

Digital images are composed of thousands or millions of tiny squares called picture elements, or pixels for short. Each square has its own color assigned to it, and the compilation of all of these little colored squares allows for images to appear smooth when viewed at original size. If an image is magnified several times, the appearance of the pixels can become more obvious, and at high magnifications each colored pixel can be distinguished individually.

Megapixels

Basically, the term megapixel means one million pixels, and it is used to describe the maximum number of pixels found in an image produced by a digital camera. It is generally the criteria used to classify cameras, and checking the Geeks.com selection (http://www.geeks.com/products.asp?cat=CAM) shows that their cameras are all sorted into ranges of megapixels (MP).

Many people assume that because cameras are marketed so heavily by their megapixel specification, that this is the single most important criteria when choosing a camera. More megapixels do not necessarily equal better images, they mean larger images (both in physical size and in file size).

The megapixel count is achieved by multiplying the number of pixels in one horizontal line by the number of pixels in one vertical line. So, if a camera can produce images at a maximum resolution of 1600 by 1200 pixels, it is a 1.92 megapixel (1,920,000 pixel) camera.

It is not fair to assume that the images from the 5.0 MP Kodax CX7525 are automatically better than those from the 4.0 MP Kodak CX7430 strictly based on their megapixel count. All it means is that the maximum image size of the CX7525 is 2560 x 1920 and the maximum image size of the LS743 is 2408 x 1758. Many other features in the cameras can impact the quality of the images they produce, and may be far more important for the typical user to consider than the maximum overall size of each image.

Larger image size may do nothing for a user who only wants to view images on his computer screen, or for use on the web, but the higher megapixel images are important for those looking to make prints of their images. Generally, higher pixel counts in an image translate to the ability to create larger prints.

Sensors – CMOS and CCD

Digital cameras use a small sensor to capture the image before transferring it to flash memory for storage. Equivalent to a negative in a film camera, these sensors come in a variety of sizes, with most being between 20 and 40 millimeters squared. There are two types of sensors that may be found in cameras: CCD (Charged Couple Device) and CMOS (Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor). CMOS sensors are usually found in cheaper cameras and offer lower image quality than a CCD sensor that would probably be found in a more expensive camera.

There is an exception to the rule that CCD is better than CMOS, and that is with the Digital SLR-type (Single Lens Reflex) cameras. They use a much larger sensor (greater than 300 millimeters squared) and can provide excellent image quality, but the quality does come with a much higher price tag.

Zoom – Optical and Digital

Most digital cameras offer some sort of zoom, but it is important to identify which type is being provided. Optical zoom functions just as on a film camera, where the lens physically moves to produce the magnification. Digital zoom uses circuitry to enlarge a portion of the standard sized image and crops the content outside of the zoomed area. The quality of images produced using digital zoom suffer due to the nature of the process, and optical zoom is a far more desirable feature.

The price of a camera with optical zoom may be a good deal more than one with digital zoom, but the quality of the images cannot be compared. The Kodak CX7330 and the Kodak CX7300 are comparable cameras in many regards, but the CX7300 features only digital zoom, while the CX7330 features both optical and digital zoom for about $30 more.

Memory – Digital Film

The two important things to consider when choosing flash memory for a digital camera is that the right format is chosen, and that a quality module is chosen that can record quickly and be ready for the next picture as soon as possible. A photographer looking to snap a rapid series of high resolution images on their Kodak DX7440 has many options in SD (secure digital) memory to choose from but, they would be far better off with something like the SanDisk Ultra II SD card capable of a sustained write speed of 9 MB/s, than with a generic SD card capable of a burst speed rated at only 2.5MB/s.

Aliasing

Even if you think you know the basic definition of this term, it may seem confusing in the context of digital cameras. Aliasing refers to the appearance of jagged edges generally seen on diagonal or curved surfaces in images. This effect is caused by the fact that all pixels are square, and that even non-square shapes in an image need to be created with square components.

The solution to aliasing is not surprisingly called “anti-aliasing.” Through software, the edges generally affected by aliasing are blended and the jagged appearance can be made much smoother. Video game enthusiasts may be familiar with anti-aliasing and the impact the varying levels of it can have on the overall performance of game play. Although the technology is similar, the personal importance of having the best digital images possible makes applying anti-aliasing just about a no-brainer.

Aspect Ratio

Aspect ratio describes the shape of a digital image, or any image for that matter, where the first number represents the width of the image and the second number represents the height. People may be familiar with the term as applied to televisions (as 16:9 wide screen televisions are now all the rage to replace traditional 4:3 units), and the concept is the same here.

Standard film cameras generally use an aspect ratio of 3:2, but most digital cameras have adopted a 4:3 aspect ratio so that images better fit on a standard computer monitor. Monitors with typical resolutions of 800×600, 1024×768, or 1280×960, for example, all have an aspect ratio of 4:3, so it only makes sense to produce images that will fit well on these screens. Although images can be manipulated to print on any size paper, special photo-quality paper is available to allow for high-quality prints to be made at the correct aspect ratio.

Connectivity

The pictures taken by a digital camera have to be extracted by some means in order to get them onto a computer, or perhaps directly onto a printer. In general, cameras provide a cable to connect to a computer either via serial, USB, USB 2.0, or Firewire.

Serial ports are just about extinct at this point due to their slow connection speeds and lack of plug-and-play support, but some older or lower-end models may still offer serial connectivity.

USB may be the most common form of connectivity, and if speed is important to you, look specifically for USB 2.0 support, as it is up to 40 times faster.

Some specialized cameras may take advantage of the high speed Firewire protocol for connecting to a computer. Just about all modern computers come with at least a pair of USB ports, but not all computers include Firewire. Firewire capabilities can be added to any computer with an available PCI slot by using an expansion card such as this one.

Some cameras don’t require any cables at all, as they can transmit the images to a PC wirelessly. The Concord EyeQ is such a camera that utilizes Bluetooth technology in lieu of wires.

Even with all the modes of transmitting images listed so far, one other method may serve as a universal replacement for all of them. Many people find flash memory card readers to be a quick and convenient alternative to using the camera’s native means of connecting. You simply remove the memory from the slot on the camera and pop it into the appropriate slot on the reader, and then the computer system can access the card like a local disk drive.

Final Words

Every high-tech field has its own set of specific buzz words, and digital photography is no different. Although by no means an exhaustive resource of digital photography terminology, this Tech Tip provides insight to a few key terms worth knowing in order to make shopping for a digital camera just a bit easier.

By: Joel Taylor

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This article will discuss the three basic steps that are essential for a proper lighting setup. A basic studio setup includes a main light, a fill light and a background light. Once you master this simple approach, you can relax knowing that you are almost always going to be on the right track to getting the effect you want.

The first step will be to set up your main light. This will typically be a floodlight. But where do you place it? It depends on the effect you are looking for, but usually this light is placed at about 45 degrees to the side of your subject and slightly about. Remember however, this is only one location. Your placement of the main light establishes the basic lighting mood. Try moving the light around to see the different effects it has.

Because the main light will cast deep shadows, we will also introduce a fill-in light to help with revealing some details hiding in the darkness. The reason for adding this light is that shadows look darker in a photo than they do in real life. So we need to add a little light to make the image appear more natural. Experiment with both the location and intensity of your fill light to achieve dramatically different looks.

As a final piece, you might consider adding a background light. This light is aimed at the background behind your subject and is used to help separate the subject from the background. Again, this is an area where small changes can have drastically different effects. Try using a floodlight in one scene and a spot in another, then compare the two. Now try moving them around or using a different intensity.

You may ask if all three light lights are necessary every time. No is the simple answer but go through a mental checklist for each setup. What is the effect you want? If you observe how each light affects the scene, you can experiment with each to come up with a package that suites your needs the best.

By: Thomas Luttig

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If there’s one thing that digital photography has no shortage of, it’s confusing vocabulary words. Aliasing, which is a common word in the world of digital everything (video games, CGI, photography), is one of those words that everyone has heard, but may not quite understand. And the anti-aliasing feature found on many digital cameras doesn’t do much to explain why you should use it. Not to worry though, for anti-aliasing is no where near as complicated as it may sound.

The Basics About Pixels

Most digital images are made up of square units known as pixels. If you take any of your digital photographs and zoom in a few times, you will notice that the closer you get, the more blocky the image appears. This blocky appearance is the result of the individual pixels becoming more pronounced as the digital image is increased in size.

Your camera’s resolution is directly related to the number of individual pixels it can capture in a given frame as is often referred to as the mega pixel value. The higher the resolution, the more pixels you get. The more pixels you have, the smoother the lines in your image. For example, think of a staircase where it looks blocky up close but as you move further away it looks more like a diagonal line. This is how pixels work to create shapes in an image.

The Basics About Aliasing

When you look at your image and see the pixels that make up the edges of round or diagonal lines this is aliasing. When you see this pixels drawn rigidly and in only one color, the lines will look more noticeable and jagged. This may not be immediately visible if the pixel is surrounded by others of a similar color, but as the colors increase in contrast, the pixel will increase in visibility.

Aliasing is not usually obvious unless an image has been taken at a very low resolution. Most modern digital cameras shoot at resolutions that make aliasing nearly unnoticeable to the naked eye, however it is easy to spot once these images have been blown up from their original size. Unfortunately, no matter how good the camera is, all digital cameras have some degree of aliasing.

So What is Anti-Aliasing?

Anti-aliasing allows the colors at the edge of pixels to bleed into one another, creating a sort of blurred effect. It may sound counterintuitive, but blurring the edges of each individual pixel will result in sharper images with smoother lines and more natural color differentiation.

As an experiment, try taking one of your digital photographs and dramatically reducing it in size. This will cause the lines of objects in the pictures to look smoother as the size of the picture decreases in size. As the pixels in the image shrink, they become less visible to the naked eye. This is a similar effect to anti-aliasing – slightly blurring each pixel makes it stand out less and blend more smoothly into the image.

Most good digital cameras will come with a built in anti-aliasing feature so your pictures won’t have the “blocky” look. Anti-aliasing will make your photographs look more natural and will help to offset any loss of quality caused by a lower resolution camera or setting. Although it is always good idea to shoot at the highest resolution possible, anti-aliasing will help to make sure your images look great.

Although you may not have realized how important anti-aliasing was before, once you understand the impact on your pictures you won’t want to shoot without it. Jagged lines are one of the major downfalls to digital imagery, and anti-aliasing helps to bridge the gap between ultra-high-resolution cameras and equipment that falls more in the price range of the average hobbyist. If your camera has an anti-aliasing function, make sure to always have it on and your pictures will certainly thank you.

By: Autumn Lockwood

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Shooting with a camera and adjusting the settings manually can be an intimidating task to the new photographer. Most veteran photographers will no doubt remember the first roll of film they ruined by reading the light wrong or the photos they missed by having a closed lens cap. A photographer’s job is to be the conductor of a symphony of moving parts, influencing each element to make sure the end result is more than just the sum of the parts.

Without understanding each element of photography, it’s impossible to know how they relate as a whole. So let’s begin our trip into the inner-workings of photographs with one of the most unfamiliar topics: Aperture.

What is Aperture?

Aperture is simply what controls the amount of light exposed on the film or your digital camera’s sensor. It can be opened and closed using the F-Stop on your camera, which is usually a ring located around the lens in between the focus ring and the body of the camera. If you’ve ever looked into someone’s eye as light was shone into it and watched the pupil get smaller, this is how the aperture works too.

Most cameras have an f stop range of 1.7/2.0 to 22 with the range of values usually increasing with the quality and cost of the camera. You can see your camera’s range by looking at the numbers around your lens. Lower F-Stops are more open and expose the film to more light, while high F-Stops close the aperture and shut the light out.

How Aperture Can Impact Images

Using your F-Stop to purposefully manipulate the camera’s aperture will allow you to change the depth of field in your photographs. If you’re unfamiliar with the term “depth of field,” it describes how much of your photograph is blurry, and how much is sharp. Aperture directly affects the amount of time a frame is exposed. And, the more time the film has to absorb light, the more clarity and depth will come through the final image.

For instance, if you were to take a photograph of a line of dominoes from one end using a low F-Stop number (an open aperture), you would probably see one or two dominoes clearly and the background ones as blurry. Open apertures create a shallow depth of field. If you were to take the same photo with a high F Stop (a closed aperture), you would see a lot more dominoes down the line.

Fun Experiments with Aperture

Playing with the aperture on your camera can be great fun once you have a bearing on what it does. Here’s a couple of ideas to try the next time you’re out shooting and you want to test it out:

Take every photograph twice – once at a high F-Stop, and once at a low F-Stop. Challenge yourself to take an entire roll at one F Stop and then switch it up. Put your camera on full manual and adjust the F-Stop on the fly to adjust for light

Don’t forget to adjust the shutter speed of your camera to allow for more or less light (faster speeds for more light, slower speeds for less), or you may end up with overexposed or underexposed images. Many digital cameras have a fantastic option called “aperture priority mode” which lets you choose an F Stop and will then adjust the shutter speed automatically. It’s worth noting that the best types of lighting for experimenting with aperture are cloudy or overcast days. When faced with low or bright light, your options for F Stop values will become limited.

Of course, the best way to improve your images is to never stop taking pictures. Now it’s time to get out there and have fun taking pictures!

By: Autumn Lockwood

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Having a really nice DSLR (Digital Single Lens Reflex) camera is quite a nice feeling. The fact is that you can capture amazing images from wherever you are it is just a question of knowing how and what to look for. This might at first not seem like such a great deal, but if your photographic efforts are being limited exposing the possibilities to what can easily be achieved is like opening a door and seeing a whole new world.

By reading through this entire article you should at the very least gain some new ideas on how you can take certain pictures and how to produce great photography results, but hopefully you will discover the key to open that door that was previously mentioned.

I treat my digital camera like my best friend and take it absolutely everywhere I go, that includes even just a short journey. You never know what opportunity is going to arise in the form of a great picture and there is nothing worse than sitting there thinking it would have made a great picture if I had my camera.

There should be no restrictions, it might even be dull and raining, but what a great chance to capture a picture of a rainbow or if really lucky a bolt of lightning, it really is a question of seeing opportunity everywhere.

A lot of people tend to start or get interested in photography by taking their digital camera on vacation, daily excursions, or using it as or for photographing their hobbies, but what about looking for the picture instead of taking random pictures of what comes your way.

Instead of ending up with some nice vacation pictures you will come back with a great holiday album that is jam packed with so many interesting and appealing pictures. If you see a tall building that you are allowed to go to the top of then this is a great place to start. Things look so different when up high.

Native flowers and plants are another great photograph opportunity as these will more than likely not be seen growing wild in your home country, as well as the insects that visit them.

Animals running on the beach or shaking water off of themselves after getting out of the sea, it is a question of knowing what is going to happen in some instances that goes into the making of a great shot.

Sunsets and sunrises go without saying, but try and think of something that would look good in the foreground, palm trees, boats, horse rider, etc.

It is an ideal place to practise panning techniques when on holiday as a lot of the birds near a coastline tend to ride the sea thermals giving a great chance to photograph bids in flight, not only that but seagulls tend to be an easy bird to follow with a lens while flying.

There are many, many more holiday ideas, but without going into massive detail it would be difficult to cover and give ideas to cover every taste and type of location, but needless to say that you will find some great pictures no matter where you go on holiday.

That is all very well if you are abroad, but what about if your own country?

Ok, back home now and time to start using some of those manual settings that are on each DSLR digital camera. The first basic setting is the ISO button, which in easy to understand terms works something like this.

If it is a bright day with plenty of sunlight you will get better results by setting your ISO to a low setting of around 100, but if it is a little dull you will want to use between 200 and 400 and then so on up the scale depending on the light available, but be warned, the higher the ISO that you use the grainier the picture will appear.

It is a good idea to constantly check each picture as you take it if you are altering the ISO levels. You should be able to do this by viewing the picture in your LCD screen at the rear of the camera. Zoom in on the picture you have just taken to the point of how you will display it. If it is not grainy then continue with that ISO setting.

When taking pictures of the moon you will probably be better off with a 70-300mm lens or a 2 times converter on your normal lens and an ISO setting between 100 and 400, this is because the moon is in fact a lot brighter than most people think.

Most new cameras come with an aperture priority setting or F-number, which is normally indicated by the letter A on a thumb dial on top of the camera along with other various priority and subject style settings.

You should also be able to change or alter the F-number manually. The smaller the F-number then the foreground and background of the subject will be blurred, while the higher the F-number means that you should also have the background and foreground in focus.

You cannot check this outcome in the viewfinder, but by taking the picture and viewing in the LCD screen you should be able to see which way that you need to adjust to make the picture better. It is worth practising this as it will help when out and about using manual settings.

There should be many other settings that you can use and experiment with on your DSLR digital camera, but the ones covered here tend to be the most important.

It is well worth your time in familiarizing yourself with these as it will also start to give you a much better understanding about taking better photographs and how to use your camera.

By now you should have a good understanding of basic digital camera photography and using a digital single lens reflex camera.

By: Clive Anderson

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