In this new age of digital photography it seems that we should be able to take much better pictures by default. New digital cameras offer so many new features for the beginning photographer that it does, in fact, make it a lot simpler in many ways. This article contains a few beginning photography tips that will assist you in improving your photographic skill level

All of the automatic modes on these new cameras offer us a new way to somewhat predict the results we might get when we take a photograph in certain environments and conditions. To predict these auto modes we first must understand what they “do” with the settings in the camera to produce different results.

If you look at the controls / menus you’ll find a series of little “photos” or “icons” depicting different photographic techniques. Here are some tips on what those little icons mean. Find a small photo of person (waist up). This signifies a “portrait”. Use this setting when doing photographs of people/children in that type of composition and crop. There is often an icon with mountain range or tree – this one signifies a scenic or landscape. Another icon you’ll find is usually one of a flower – this is telling you to use this mode to do a close up of an object (flower or something of similar size). You should also find one that is for sports – this will be a person and a ball or a person jumping. Use this mode to shoot sporting events during the day; kids playing or a soccer game. There will be some type of icon symbolizing a night scene. Usually this one is a house with stars in the sky or something similar. Some cameras might have an icon that shows a person at night with a star in the sky – this one is for night portraiture.

So, if you take a moment each time you pick up your camera and think about what it is you’re shooting you can now choose the correct mode on the camera. There is a lot of technical stuff that happens inside the camera when you choose one of these preprogrammed auto settings. Things like the background going out of focus on the portrait setting happens automatically if you use that mode and crop.

Here’s another one of my better beginner photography tips. If you want to have your backgrounds go out of focus more often – like you’d see in a professional portrait make sure that you have your zoom lens extended to the maximum length – in other words, you’ve made the subject size the largest on the screen; often time resulting in you (the photographer) backing up some. This is a trick that you can use on any of the auto settings.

I hope this helps you bring your photographic skill level up just a notch or two. As we learn more about our cameras we’ll find our photographs improving each and every time we learn some new information or a new technique.

Great Shooting to All!