Photography Tips from an Amateur

I have tried to collect a few points I learnt from my few years as an amateur photographer. There are lots of magazines and books which tell you how to go about clicking great pictures with which you can win contests or mount and display proudly. Be assured, I have read and still read lots of such books, but very few ever give tips to someone who wants to do some hobby photography. I hope the following help you as much as they help me, irrespective of whether you have a focus free point and shoot or an SLR.

You have a camera which you got as a gift or bought to have some fun. You click your family, friends, yourself and a few places you visit and would like them to come out well so that you can keep them as memoirs of happy moments. I do the same things but I find that a few things kept in mind result in really great memoirs...

What to look for in a Camera
If you are buying a camera for the first time since you plan to carry it on the trip to Grand Canyon or to New Orleans for Mardi Gras, it would be better to buy an auto-focus than an SLR. Here is a basic list of features to look for in a camera

Auto Focus
Make sure that you buy an auto-focus camera and not a focus free camera. There is a vast difference between the two. Focus free always focuses at infinity so the sharpness is not good, whereas auto-focus changes its focus so you get sharper pictures.

Easy Film loading
Most of the good cameras come with a facility where you put the film in, shut the back flap and film loads by itself. Try to avoid cameras in which you have to insert the film into the spool. I have been burnt several times when the film did not latch onto the spool and i was clicking the whole time not knowing that the film was not moving.

Auto Flash with manual override
The reasons for choosing an auto flash are obvious if you are a beginner. A manual override i.e. ability to switch the flash on at will is something not immediately obvious. You need a flash for taking photos even in daylight when shadows are on faces, I'll explain it more later.

Viewfinder Size and Position
Since most of the time you will be spending looking through the viewfinder for something to photograph, make sure it is good. It should be comfortable to look through, should be large enough to avoid excessive tiring of eyes and bright enough. Usually some cross-hairs and boundary lines will help too. You have to be extra careful with zoom cameras since they have two sets of lines for the two extremes of zoom lengths. People wearing eyeglasses will have an additional problem in making sure the viewfinder is comfortable even with glasses on. You usually would have to rotate your head to see the full viewfinder. Also ask around if any of the cameras come with a possible attachment for a spectacle cap or if the viewfinder has dioptric adjustment (these are features unfortunately available only in SLR cameras).

Red Eye Reduction
This a really important feature since most people buy a camera for taking photographs of self, family and friends. Red Eye phenomenon is the red spots that you see in the eyes of people you photograph with a flash. It occurs because the flash reflects of the retina behind the eye lens which is red in color. Make sure that you buy one of the cameras with red eye reduction, which have two flash pulses. The first pulse dilates the pupils of the eye and makes them smaller, and the second flash takes the actual photograph.

To Zoom or not to Zoom
This is one of the biggest questions since the price changes a lot based on the zoom feature you choose. It is not actually necessary since 90% of the amateur photographers I have seen do not know how to use the zoom effectively. Zoom lens is useful for framing and also for photographing human and animal subjects (especially animals in zoos and wildlife parks, children and blondes on the beaches unobtrusively). In case you are reading this or are a sort of person who would start reading such things once you buy a camera I would advise you to buy a camera with zoom lens. I think a simple 35-80 zoom would do since if you are considering going for a better lens for more serious photography you can always go in for an SLR where you can buy lenses and interchange them unlike auto-focus where you are stuck with one. Also remember that it is more difficult to make a good 35-180 than a good 35-80, so the picture quality and price do not scale linearly.

The APS Question
In short, NO! I just avoid it for the reason that I cannot get them developed as freely wherever as I can get the film roll developed. There are also several drawbacks to the APS technology and there is a war raging on rec.photo newsgroups, so I will not discuss in detail here.


You should be able to get a camera with the above mentioned features and a good brand for about $100 in one of the sales that electronic stores have. The price range that I have seen is from $80 to $200. You can always look at cameras and search for prices on the web too. Buying cameras through mail order is a very good and cheap option and I have bought my Canon Elan IIe by mail order from B&H Photo, New York. There is also a FAQ on buying mail order on the web if you are interested.

Know your Camera
The first thing that you do after you buy a camera is to sit and read the whole manual from cover to cover. If you spent money on all the glitzy features then you better learn how to use those features. Just knowing where the click button is, is not enough. Know how to switch on and off the automatic date printing on your photographs. I wouldn't want to print the date on my grand canyon photographs and spoil them whereas i would like to print the date on my nephews birthday photographs. Learn how to set the correct date etc. ......

Film Selection
Many people are not sure about the film that should be used in taking photographs. The off-the-shelf films that are available in the shops are marked as ASA 100, 200, 400 etc. This number indicates the Speed of the film and is indicative of its response to light. A higher number means better response to lower light. So if you are planning to shoot more photographs with at night with a flash then you should be using 400. If you plan to shoot more during the day in sunlight then you should use ASA 100 film. ASA 400 works even for daylight photography too. The advantage of ASA 100 is that it is sharper. The reason, to say in computerese terms, is the difference in pixel size (or grain size in film language). Higher number means larger grain size and hence fuzzier pictures. ASA 200 was a compromise which I personally never liked. I usually stick to either 100 or 400.

Holding a Camera
Now that you have loaded the camera with a roll its time to click a few! Typical Point and shoots do not have too much of a problem with shooting. You should be careful when using the camera at night and when using it in zoom mode. There is more chance of a shake and the photograph coming out as fuzzy or shaken. The best way to hold a camera (includes SLRs too) is in both hands, with hands wrapped around the sides of the camera. Take care to develop a holding grip which does not cover the flash, lens or any other glass holes on the camera. Brace both your elbows against your chest. Now take a breath, hold your breath and click. You needn't always go through such a complicated(!) routine but I have taken even exposures of 4 or 5 seconds using such a method without a tripod. And they have come out well too. Finger over the lens is the most common mistake by beginners since in simple cameras the viewfinder and the lens are different unlike SLRs.

Using the viewfinder
One of the most important things to learn is to actually see what is in the viewfinder. There are two different things you can do
• See what you are clicking (your girlfriend, neighbors dog, etc.) in the viewfinder
• See what is appearing in the viewfinder
These two viewpoints make a vast difference in the final output. The earlier you learn to develop the second type of viewpoint the better your photographs are going to look. Sometimes it is even possible to visualize a great photograph without lifting your camera to the eye when you develop your camera eye - learning to see what the camera sees. In addition to getting photographs, you will also learn to appreciate the beauty of nature itself better. Many a time the photograph loses the impact because of all those grass and bushes that appear around the beautiful roses that you wanted to photograph. Learn to defocus your attention. Moving your eye around the viewfinder helps you notice the clutter and eliminate it by moving closer to the object or moving laterally to get a clear background for the main object.

Framing the picture
In addition to what is appearing in the viewfinder you might want to study alternate views to enhance the quality of the images. Did you ever wonder why all those grand vistas of the Grand Canyon or the Swiss Alps appear so bleak and flat in the final photograph? Add some depth to the picture by bringing in additional elements into the picture. A light pole which is a few meters from you as a border to the photograph of the Manhattan skyline can bring depth to the picture and make the photograph more dramatic. Similarly add some foreground such as colorful flowers or corners such as overhanging leaves of a tree when photographing hills and waterfalls. The image of the Taj Mahal taken from a window is sometimes more appealing than when it is photographed from the front.

Use of Flash
Cameras nowadays are very intelligent and can decide on their own when they need the flash to get photographs. Unfortunately cameras can only measure the complete light falling on the lens and not whether your face has enough light. If you can see that the sky behind the subject is brighter than the subject, use the flash forcefully. This is one reason why having a camera where you can force the flash is useful. Also harsh sunlight on faces of subjects can throw shadows under the eyes and the nose and the chin. It is a good idea to use the flash even on very bright and sunny days to avoid these shadows. And when photographs at night, remember that most flashes work only for a few feet. Sorry, but lighting up the Hollywood sign from Griffith Park is not really possible. The only night photographs you should expect from a point and shoot are those of people in or outside houses but no background.

Choosing a viewpoint
Zoom lens tend to make people lazy. The photographer tends to stand at a point whirring his lens to Wide and Tele mode trying to figure out the viewpoint. I have always found it more helpful to walk rather than trying to use the zoom. For one, zoom lens become worse at close-up points. Secondly, you discover more when you move to figure out the best way to capture the image. A classic example is trying to avoid the poles out of the head phenomenon - keep an eye if any tower, pole or plant seems to grow out of the subjects head. Move around to avoid such goof-ups. Did you notice how walking closer to the beachfront to avoid the boundary wall dramatically increases the appearance of the sun setting over water?