Source: Personal experience, I take lots of pictures.
By Karen from Arnold, MO
Use a soap container to carry your camera in. I bought one at the Dollar store for mine, it fits perfectly. It's easy to carry it around in your purse and there is less chance of breaking it.
An excellent published professional photographer once told me that it's often best to do outdoor photography on cloudy days. Colors of flowers and leaves look much more vibrant on overcast days and there are fewer shadows to deal with.
Protect your camera from the rain, sand, and elements (at the beach, etc.) by putting it in a plastic bag such as a Ziploc bag.
When you are on vacation, taking pictures of family/friends or just scenery you want to save, remove the memory card from your camera when going through the airport security check points and put it in your purse.
Diffuse the flash on your camera with a coffee filter to soften the brightness. You can also try putting coffee filters over lights or lamps to lessen the harshness when taking indoor photos.
Remember those photos many years ago where the subject was so far away you could barely tell who it was? Get your shot ready in your camera screen, then take a couple steps closer to your subject, making sure you still have the subject totally within the screen.
How do you take a black and white picture with a digital camera?
By Carol S from Greensburg, KY
Some cameras offer the option in the menu. If yours does not, then you have to manipulate it to remove the color in your computer. If you do not have software to do so (it often comes with the camera), you can download Picasa for free from Google. It is really a nice program (recommended to me in a photography class), and not hard to use.
Check your camera instructions. Piknik is also a great site for working with digital pictures, including making them b/w from color shots, adding focal color to b/w, etc. (see pix for example).
If you have no pencil with which to write down information, take a photo with your camera phone.
Getting the right angle, and composition in a picture isn't easy, but when my son was skateboarding with his friends, he took this shot, and I was blown away by how well it came out.
When picture taking outside, I noticed the pics looked really dull. So I always get the kids to dress up in bright colored clothes or use bright back grounds.
I took this picture as we were driving down the street in Tinley Park, IL. My tip when taking pictures in a moving vehicle; steady your arms against your body to eliminate movement. Movement causes blurry pictures.
Camera memory cards can be misplaced easily or stolen. To insure return of a memory card, a person can make a computer business card with pertinent information regarding their name, address, phone number, email address, etc.
When going out to take photos, don't take the camera case with you. This is like putting up a "Steal me" sign. I use one of the soft padded containers people use as lunch boxes.
