Tips for Taking Better Vacation Photos

Photos are a great way to share your travel experiences with family and friends. Here are a few suggestions to help you capture vacation memories you will treasure for years to come.

PLAN AHEAD

Make sure your digital camera is in good working order before you go, and keep it in a water- and shock-resistant case. Bring two sets of rechargeable batteries and don't forget the charger and relevant cords. Make sure your camera has enough memory. Packing an extra memory card is wise, as there is nothing worse than running out of room for pictures halfway down the Grand Canyon. It may be tempting to lower the resolution so you can store more pictures, but you will regret this later as it may result in poorer quality prints, or you will be limited to smaller size prints. Set your camera at its highest quality JPEG setting and get more memory if you have to. You will appreciate this when you're viewing and printing your photos after your trip.

TAKE LOTS AND LOTS OF PICTURES

With a digital camera you can always erase the photos you don't want. Take pictures of anything you find interesting and try to focus on some of the details such as an attractive doorway or a colorful market, not just panoramic scenes or major landmarks. Let your pictures tell a story by creating a visual diary of your trip. Include street scenes, interesting signs, people you see along the way. For variety take both vertical and horizontal pictures.

READY FOR YOUR CLOSE-UP?

When taking people shots, don't make the mistake of standing too far away. You want to be able to recognize the people in your photos. Get close enough so you can see the expressions on your subjects faces. Zoom in on individuals or capture them from the waist up. Pictures are often more interesting when you can catch people at candid, un-posed moments. In posed photos, try to incorporate some of the background into your shot. Try snapping from interesting angles rather than simply head-on.

USE YOUR FLASH

When photographing in bright sunlight, setting your camera's "fill" or "forced" flash is very helpful, particularly when photographing people. Brilliant sunlight often makes people's faces look harsh, casting dark shadows under the eyes and accentuating wrinkles. The daytime fill-in flash will soften the lighting and make the images more flattering. Your family and friends in the photos will thank you!

EDIT AND ENHANCE YOUR FAVORITE SHOTS

When you get home you can edit, crop and enhance your favorites using photo editing software such as Foto Finish, Ulead or Photoshop Elements. Consider adding drama to your images by turning some of your color photos into black and white or sepia tones and then upload all your images to an online photo printing service like Ofoto or Shutterfly for fast and convenient prints. You can take your best snaps and use your photo editing software to create a photo calendar or make photo cards for personal notes, or to email your favorites to family and friends.

Most of all have fun with your camera!

Valerie Goettsch publishes the digital photography website http://www.digitalphotos101.com featuring reviews of photo editing and album software and digital photo printing services.

---

Nude Art Photography

Nude photography is the genre of art photography, whose subject is the representation of the naked (full nude) or partially naked (half nude) human body.The aesthetic value of nude photography and its boundary... Read More

Candid Photography

Candid photography is photography that focuses on spontaneity rather than technique. Your subject's focus is not on the camera, but on their current task. So we're not talking about the photo albums full... Read More

Where Do Great Ideas Come From?

At a Photo Club meeting I attended recently, the President made a comment on another meeting he had attended, where someone in the audience asked the presenter where to find good subjects to... Read More

Removing Spot Scratches in Your Treasured Photos ? 5 Minute Digital Fix

Probably one of the most common problems you will be faced with in doing any type of digital photo restoration work will be to do with spot scratches on your old photos.When we... Read More

How To Avoid Or Reduce Red-Eye

Photography with the aid of a digital camera is beyond doubt very fascinating. However, it also has many a nooks that the users of the digital camera must be aware of and also... Read More

Underwater Photography: The Wonders Under the Sea

The world of photography is an amazing one. It's been with us for quite a while now but it is constantly changing. Cameras are changing and improving. Methods of developing are changing and... Read More

Modeling Portfolio Webites

In the age of home phones and 8x10's we all wondered how anyone could ever afford to get into the modeling industry. Even after you invest a small fortune in professional training and... Read More

The Naked Truth on Shooting Nudes

There are major obstacles to overcome to get into nude photography, not least of which is the need to practise technique. By its very nature there has to be at least one subject,... Read More

Let Those Digital Photos Out! (You Don?t Have To Print Them Yourself)

What have you done with the photos you've taken with your digital camera? Hands up if they are languishing on your hard drive waiting to be printed. If your hand is up you... Read More

A Guide to Underwater Camera Cases

If you are buying a new underwater camera or video camera, you will need an underwater camera case. And this case needs to be watertight, airtight, dustproof, crush resistant and designed to keep... Read More

How to Photograph Your Baby

Babies make the best and the worst subjects to photograph. They are the best for two reasons, people are more tolerant at looking at baby photos, as well as the fact that babies... Read More

The Benefits of Disposable Cameras

Disposable cameras are cheap and easy to use. If you just want to take some snapshots and have fun then this is the camera for you. You can buy them in bulk for... Read More

Picture Framing for Photographers - Part 1

Imagine being able to frame all your own photographs just as well as a professional. You can save enough money to easily pay for all the necessary tools, and the convenience of being... Read More

Start Up a Travel Photography Business

Too many people have the idea that being paid to take photographs of exotic places is the ideal job. It may take years of effort to be paid by magazines such as the... Read More

Digital Cameras & Resolution

While analyzing any camera, one of the most important qualities of a photograph that a person seeks, is resolution. This word itself needs a brief discussion before progressing onto its implication upon a... Read More

Photographs Everywhere, But Is It Really Art?

I once heard a lady say to a photographer that she would have bought his work if it had been a painting. She liked the image, but for whatever reason didn't consider the... Read More

Everybody is Fixing Their House or Apartment Up These Days. Use That Digital Camera to Capture

That's right, you go through all the trouble of making your house or apartment nicer by hauling yourself off to the local fix it yourself store or hiring some professionals to come in... Read More

Digital Camera Bags - Purchasing and Using

Some compact cameras are small enough to fit in your handbag or pocket, but I still recommend purchasing a camera case. It will save your camera from unnecessary wear and tear.What do you... Read More

Start Your Own Photography Business from Home

Anyone with the right camera equipment, and the necessary skills can set up a home business, marketing photography. You need only to convert a room of your house into an office, and then... Read More

Terms Used The In The Stock Photography Business

So you are a small business person or web designer and you want to purchase some stock photography for your website. Great. Photography is a wonderful way to improve the emotional impact of... Read More

Black & White Photography

Photography is a diversified field of creating a spectral variety of art. It is a specialization that deals with different experimentations with colors, however it is also a fact that only shades of... Read More

Stitching Memories

Sometimes, usual photographs look so common and boring. Converting your pictures into charcoal or oil painting is a welcome change but then, a lot of people have been into these crafts already that... Read More

Digital RAW Workflow for Beginners

Having an efficient work flow is essential for photographers. In the days of film, many of the tasks in the film work flow were handled by the lab. Now, more and more photographers... Read More

Infrared Photography and the Car Thief ? Successful Digital Imaging

Infrared photography is sometimes placed on the outside edge of the mainstream photographic world. To the uninitiated observer infrared photography conjures up television images of car thieves speeding away from police helicopters during... Read More

Using a Camcorder to Record Family Events Quickly and Easily

Let's start there (but not spend too much time on it because you are probably already checked out on their use):On/Off - On some brands you actually have to find two or three... Read More

Digital Camera Reviews and Ratings De-Mystify the Choices

Shopping for a new digital camera can be quite frustrating with the hundreds of choices available. Digital camera reviews clarify this confusion by comparing camera features and options, then rating how each camera... Read More

The Beauty of Nature Photography

Nature is all around us, and its beauties are unlimited. In this fast-paced world of mocha-lattes and traffic jams at rush hour, too many of us take the beauty of nature for granted.... Read More

Canon-Powershot-A80 Review

Last month we bought the Canon Powershot A80 online for about $325 including shipping after looking at digital cameras for about a month. It had all the features we were looking for in... Read More

Guidelines for Printing Great Photos at Home

So you have this great digital camera and you've taken lots of great photos. Now what? Well you could go to a store and have them print your images for you, but isn't... Read More