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- Look
your subject in the eye
When taking a picture of someone, hold the camera at the person's
eye level to unleash the power of those magnetic gazes and mesmerizing
smiles. For children, that means stooping to their level. And
your subject need not always stare at the camera. All by itself
that eye level angle will create a personal and inviting feeling
that pulls you into the picture.
- Use
flash outdoors
Bright sun can create unattractive deep facial shadows. Eliminate
the shadows by using your flash to lighten the face. When taking
people pictures on sunny days, turn your flash on. You may have
a choice of fill-flash mode or full-flash mode. If the person
is within five feet, use the fill-flash mode; beyond five feet,
the full-power mode may be required. With a digital camera, use
the picture display panel to review the results.
On cloudy days, use the camera's fill-flash mode if it has one.
The flash will brighten up people's faces and make them stand
out. Also take a picture without the flash, because the soft light
of overcast days sometimes gives quite pleasing results by itself.
- Move
in close
If
your subject is smaller than a car, take a step or two closer
before taking the picture and zoom in on your subject. Your
goal is to fill the picture area with the subject you are photographing.
Up close you can reveal telling details, like a sprinkle of
freckles or an arched eyebrow.
But don't get too close or your pictures will be blurry. The
closest focusing distance for most cameras is about three feet,
or about one step away from your camera. If you get closer than
the closest focusing distance of your camera (see your manual
to be sure), your pictures will be blurry.
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Move
it from the middle
Center-stage
is a great place for a performer to be. However, the middle
of your picture is not the best place for your subject. Bring
your picture to life by simply moving your subject away from
the middle of your picture. Start by playing tick-tack-toe with
subject position. Imagine a tick-tack-toe grid in your viewfinder.
Now place your important subject at one of the intersections
of lines.
You'll need to lock the focus if you have an auto-focus camera
because most of them focus on whatever is in the center of the
viewfinder.
-
Lock
the focus
If
your subject is not in the center of the picture, you need to
lock the focus to create a sharp picture. Most auto-focus cameras
focus on whatever is in the center of the picture. But to improve
pictures, you will often want to move the subject away from
the center of the picture. If you don't want a blurred picture,
you'll need to first lock the focus with the subject in the
middle and then recompose the picture so the subject is away
from the middle.
Usually you can lock the focus in three steps. First, center
the subject and press and hold the shutter button halfway down.
Second, reposition your camera (while still holding the shutter
button) so the subject is away from the center. And third, finish
by pressing the shutter button all the way down to take the
picture.
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