Photostockplus Creative Blog

 It can be argued that the most effective way to learn is from making mistakes. In photography, trial and error is a given. It is very seldom that you can capture the perfect shot at the first try. Even seasoned photographers sometimes experience setbacks. To help you avoid the frequent errors in photography, here are some tips and explanations on how to rectify common photo mistakes.

Mistake #1 You want everything in the shot to appear in focus but some portions in the background appear to be blurry.

This could mean your depth of field is shallower than you would like. When you use a small aperture, you get a bigger depth of field. Adjust your f-stop and compensate with a slower shutter speed to stretch you focal length.  Blurry objects in the background could also mean that they were moving while the shot was taken. A slow shutter speed captures signs of movement. By adjusting it to a faster setting, anything moving will now appear frozen.

Mistake #2 You have taken your shot, fixed it up in post processing using photo editing software. It looks great on your computer monitor but when you have it printed, it looks pixilated or the image size is smaller.

Did you do any major cropping? When you crop out a portion of the original image, it gets resized and therefore the print size gets smaller. If you use ‘Save for Web’ instead of ‘Save’ or ‘Save as’, this also affects image quality because saving for web will lessen the file size. If you blow up or enlarge a small sized image, the pixels are magnified and become visible in print although the image might look fine in the computer. A higher megapixel camera is ideal in this case because your blown up image will have less visible pixels when printed.

Mistake #3 Your subject’s eyes have red dots.

This is a photographic effect called ‘red-eye’ and it happens when the camera’s flash triggers off close to the camera lens during low light conditions. The light from the flash enters the person’s or animal’s eyes up to the choroid (found behind the retina), and then reflected back to the camera. The blood in the choroid is the red color that the camera captures. Most digital cameras have a red-eye reduction feature although there are times when it is not successful in removing the effect. You can also remove red-eye effect in post processing with photo editing software. To lessen or avoid getting this effect during the shoot, don’t use the flash directly on the subject’s face. Instead, bounce the flash off the wall or a reflector so that only diffused light will illuminate the eyes. Try to adequately light the scene so there is no need for using the flash.  

Mistake #4 Your subject comes out either looking too dark or too light in the shot but everything else in the background is exposed properly.

Your camera most likely has a light meter that measures the amount of incoming light and averages it across the viewfinder. Under normal circumstances this would be fine, but it won’t work as well if the main focus of the photograph is lighter or darker than the secondary elements or the background. If your foreground subject is too dark, try using a fill flash to illuminate it. If it is too bright, either shade your subject off the frame with an umbrella or use a spot meter to make sure that at least your point of focus is exposed just right.

Mistake #5  How you foresaw the picture through the lens of your camera did not come out in the same way in the shot, but rather a muddle of objects that look unattractive. 

Always remember that the camera is synonymous to an all seeing eye and it captures details that you don’t usually notice.  There might be items or elements around the subject that you don’t pay much attention to or might overlook when using a rather small viewfinder or an LCD screen. It is only when you upload your image in the computer or have it printed that you suddenly see all those extra details that now appear distracting and messy. The best way to avoid this is to train yourself to be observant and aware of what the camera sees. Look at the scene and check if there is anything that might detract the viewer’s focus from the subject. Remove them from the scene, if possible. If they are mostly in the background, use a shallow depth of field to blur them out while keeping the subject sharp and clear. You can also crop out unnecessary areas in post processing, although this works best if they are found at the edges of the frame.