Eight stupid methods to take digital photos

Nowadays, digital cameras are becoming more and more powerful, and some functions are not even available for Professional-level optical cameras, for example, white-balance adjustment, surrounded photography, scene-mode photography, multi-point area evaluation, multi-point focus and offset focus, and so on, and the automatic exposure function is becoming more and more powerful and perfect, so it is inferred from the truth, it seems that it is not so easy to take photos with a digital camera.

If you want to take more photos, especially in harsh environments, you must be familiar with and have a deep understanding of your photographic equipment, it also requires basic photography knowledge and aesthetic cultivation. More importantly, it also requires long-term experience, which can be achieved by success, this is not an easy task. I am a new recruit in digital photography. I have little experience, but I have a lot of nails. I often have a few satisfactory photos. I would like to remember them carefully, we can also summarize some things. The following "stupid tricks" may be of reference value to those who are still exploring their experiences. These stupid tricks are:

Multi-beat Selection

"Multi-shot" means Multi-practices and accumulated experience in a macro sense. Specifically, you may wish to try multiple shots to win more, select more, or repeat a specific scenario after discovering the optimal solution. This is a clumsy trick, but it is indeed a trick to give full play to the advantages of digital cameras. it is not legal to take optical photo albums. You see, an optical camera uses film for photography. If you are not satisfied with the photo, you must wash it out before you know it. To be more competitive, we must waste a lot of film and the cost is too high. Therefore, optical photo-taking friends often cherish "Mirrors" such as gold, so they will not easily press the shutter, it's time to capture the camera and repeat it. You can only know the result after you go back and rinse it. If you are not satisfied with the result, it's hard. It's too late to remedy the problem of time-crossing migration, therefore, our friends often lament that optical photography is an art full of regrets.
Digital photography is different. The images are now stored on the magnetic carrier of the machine and can be replayed for observation. This is a major advantage of digital photography. So now I usually determine a topic first, and select several scenarios around the topic. Each scenario is first circled around it, the shooting scheme under different angles and different lighting conditions (backlight, sunning, metering, and supplemental lighting) was proposed, and then the shooting scheme was cool, sometimes there are several copies of the same solution from the same angle, and then they stop and play back the images. If you are not satisfied with the scenes, you will delete them on the spot. Generally, you can leave only two or three pieces of the primary election results. Then, take a shot of the next scene, and follow the prompts until a topic is completed. Generally, only 200 or 300 or even 400 or 500 shots are returned. Save the data to the hard disk, and then use ACDSee to zoom in and play back the data. Then we use the ACDSee editing function to play back the initial image processing. Generally, the first is to correct the skew, and the second is to crop it when necessary to improve the diagram, third, the "Automatic level" function is used to correct the deficiencies in the exposure of individual photos. After this process, the photos can be considered as preliminary products, and then be taken back to ACDSee for playback, which is too mediocre to be deleted again, in this way, there are only 20 or 30 or even dozens of other topics.

Do not underestimate the focus and metering settings.

Focus is the most basic operation of photography. It can be said that no one can do it. But when I self-check why some photos are not good, sometimes the problem occurs in focus. If you are using a fully automatic photography method, make sure to lock the focal point in a half distance; otherwise, the subject may be blurred due to defocus. If you are using a program control method (program normal, semi-automatic photography method. It is characteristic that the aperture and exposure time are automatically selected by the camera, while the metering method, focus mode, and white balance conditions can be manually selected), the situation is different. This method and function exclusive to digital photography are not available in optical cameras. If you are not good at using its characteristics and treat it like fully automated photography, you may be self-defeating, instead, it is dragged down.
The focus mode under program control usually includes area focus, focus, Vision Focus, close-range macro focus, etc, when focusing, you can also change the focal point to a specific location away from the center (different cameras have different functions), so you can no longer treat complex functions in a static and simple way, be good at applying different functions according to different situations. In general, the default focus mode is focus. Years ago, I went to Huacheng City to take a photo of flowers. Because the dancing orchid was very small, it was very close, but it was not clear how to take it, and even caused a loss of focus, later, I realized that the focus was not changed from the default mode to the near-distance mode. For example, if you are shooting a person in the shade of the tree, you must pay attention to the use of the key light measurement and heavy (single) point focus, but also pay attention to the half-distance lock focus of the shooting subject, otherwise, it is difficult for you to produce satisfactory works.

Maintain camera stability during exposure

For new users and old friends, sometimes photo and Image Blur is not caused by inaccurate focus, but by unstable camera hold. Generally, when the exposure speed is lower than 1/60 seconds, Imaging Clarity may be affected. For veterans, if the exposure time is longer than 1/30 seconds without relying on it, there may also be problems. To keep the camera stable, first, it is necessary to hold the camera posture and strength correctly, and second, it is necessary to press the shutter key appropriately. It seems very easy to practice this basic skill, but it is not a day's work. If people are old, they may not be able to practice it. What should we do? I have a few tricks: One of the simplest is to find a reliance on the body or hand; the other is to hook the camera belt around the neck and pull the camera forward to the belt, the three points of support have been formed, and the stability of the camera has been greatly improved. I have used this method to take a lot of clear photos when the exposure speed reaches 1/8 seconds. You may also try it; the third method is to add a shutter trigger to the tripod. However, some cameras do not have a shutter interface, and the shutter line is expensive. The effective alternative is to use the delay function. If your camera has a 2-second delay function, it would be better. "tripod + 2-second delay" is the most stable and convenient way. It doesn't matter if you don't have a 2-second latency function. It's easy to use a 10-second latency, just a waste of time, and the effect is just as good.
Speaking of corner frames, I have to buy a better one. In order not to pay more for this, I have bought two cheaper tripod servers. As a result, the first foot tube is too thin, and it will tremble and be easy to shrink; the other is that horizontal rotation is not flexible after a long time. I had no choice but to buy the third one again. I spent enough money to buy more than one top-level brand name.

Easy to use flashlight

According to some articles, when a photojournalist uses a flashlight, it seems that the flashlight is indispensable and an indispensable condition for taking a good photo. However, I often lose the chance to paint pictures and tigers. Think about it. Maybe I have swallowed up my hair. Maybe someone else uses an external high-power auxiliary flashlight, right ?! In terms of built-in flash, the power is so limited, and the illumination distance and range are so small, it is impossible to take all the scenes in a large range and the illumination is balanced, this is my first experience. Second, take the flashlight to take pictures of people indoors, often the image flat, lack of layers, or the contrast is stiff due to a single light source, sometimes the red eye, it is even more difficult for a friend who wears glasses. His eyes are often blurred with silver, with no expression, and I am annoyed with him.
Therefore, I could not afford it. Since the age of optical photography, I have tried to avoid using the built-in flash. The indoor light is not enough. I would rather use the night view function to improve the photosensitive function. Now we have used a 4 million-pixel digital camera, which greatly improves the photosensitive performance. Generally, we can produce good photos in light conditions, which is even more serious, "Force Not flash" is a basic means of indoor and outdoor photography. However, this does not mean that the flash is useless (when the light is too bad, you still do not need to use it), just put the use of the flash to the second place, as an important means of completing light. For example, when shooting a person in the background or in the shadow, using a flashlight can greatly improve the image quality, sometimes even lack it. In indoor photography, if the light source is too single, resulting in abnormal light and shadows, you also need to use the flashlight to fill the light. This category is of great use.
Of course, I am not a photography master, not a flash master. I may have been wrong in this regard. If there is anything wrong, please kindly advise.

Avoid being short

The photography response of a digital camera is relatively slow. The time from the shutter to the start of photography is obviously much longer than that of optical photography. Therefore, when shooting an object in motion, it is often unable to capture or cannot grasp the camera. A video player with the camera's camera function may wish to use this function to make up for its shortcomings.

Make a picture first.
There have been many articles that teach us how to use the principles of golden division and well grid focus, so we don't need to be so talkative. I just want to add one point, that is, there is a principle of Painting: Pay attention to "white", that is, do not fill the picture too full, it is equally useful for photography.

Some friends like to make photos highly symmetrical. For me, unless I want to highlight the symmetry of the subject, I would rather take a shot from a certain angle, because it is too symmetrical to give people a feeling of being "rigid.
The lines are too horizontal, vertical, and easy to flow in the rigid, you must learn to use another set of lines to break the control of the main line.
The use of colors is very important, but I think light intensity and contrast are more important factors that affect the artistic conception.
These ideas should have been demonstrated with some specific images, so that they will not be abstracted as the Zen theory. However, because too much space is occupied, we have to wait for the discussion to begin later.

Make full use of photography Processing Technology

There will always be defects when the photos are taken well. It doesn't matter. image processing software can help you. Modern photography technology includes three basic links: data acquisition, data (image) processing, and data storage and output. Unprocessed images are only half-finished products. After image processing and storage or output (such as printing or printing), they are mature final products. I have seen some photography competitions that emphasize the use of original photos and that image processing is not allowed. I am very confused. It is unfair to video friends who use entry-level cameras. This kind of competition will essentially become a disguised camera competition and will become a propaganda salesman for high-end cameras intentionally or unintentionally. The level of photographic works should be comprehensively reflected in the level of field photography and the level of indoor image processing. The primary purpose of image processing is to improve the reproduction of photographic achievements and the artistic performance of themes. Therefore, it should not be excluded. For example, a well-received image in the March movie competition shows a hazy beauty. I don't know if this image truly reproduced the shooting scene, but even if the shooting subject is clear, I think no one will deny the success of an imaginary (soft) lens. Similarly, indoor image processing can also blur or soften the subject of photography, for example, if the "Blur" or "soften" function in the "filter" function can easily achieve the same effect, what is the essential difference and cannot be selected?
The most famous image processing software is Photoshop and ACDSee. ACDSee features are simpler, but easier to learn and use. I use ACDSee for macro processing of photos. Photoshop is very powerful, but it is complicated to use (I don't want to learn it all). I usually only use some of its basic functions to supplement the details of individual photos.
Generally, after entering the results on the computer, I will use ACDSee to "pass" all the photos. Including:
Correct skew. Originally, the photo is a little skewed and does not affect the overall situation, and may even have a taste. However, unless it is intentionally placed at a certain angle, I usually correct the unintentional skew, because it does not conform to our visual habits and makes people look "not pleasing to the eye ". When correction is made, line scenes such as the horizon or building are often taken as the benchmark. Parallel lines are tilted to a certain point due to the perspective principle during the back-up or over-shooting. In this case, the midline of the photo prevails.

Crop the image and make it a satisfactory image.
Generally, x1200 pixels can meet the needs of home applications. However, for images that may need to be cropped, I will use the 2240x1680 specification for shooting and adjust it to 4: 3 after cropping, to ensure imaging is no less than 16x1200 pixels.
Adjust the brightness and contrast. The "automatic level" function of ACDSee is a very effective way to correct the brightness and contrast. In particular, the photos taken by low-end cameras are often less sensitive, and the effect is more obvious, if you need it, try it. The disadvantage after "automatic level" is: Sometimes a slight color bias occurs after use. In this case, you can use the "red, green, and blue" function in the "adjust" item to adjust the color reproduction of the photo.

Under the category of "software"
However, the material is the guarantee of success, and your skills are high. Without a good camera, you will still be able to make it difficult to make it easier. (In turn, "soft" and "hard" are complementary to each other, ), so as long as the economic conditions permit, after completing the entry exercise, you should make up your mind to upgrade a high-end camera.