Digital SLR Camera Tips For Beginners and Pros

During my career as a photographer, I picked up lots of ideas that would help a newcomer start off on the right foot. The tips I am going to share in this article are my personal suggestions and should not be taken as state of the art truths.

1. The ISO setting is the only highly important technical detail you have to know about your DSLR. When taking pictures in an improperly lit room or outside at night, you can dramatically improve the quality of your shot by increasing the ISO setting. By raising it, the lenses will stay open for a shorter amount of time and the photo will be less influenced by the natural slight movement of hands.

2. When taking a shot in dim light, it’s always best to find something to brace the camera on. Ideally, you should use a tripod, but a table, chair, bar or even a telephone or light pole could do the trick.

3. Don’t get cheap when buying for a tripod. If you are on a low budget, it would be better to wait, save some money and buy a good one. Cheap tripods will break when you need them mostly, shake when the wind is blowing and sometimes not keep your camera at the right angle. You know the saying: you get what you pay for; this is especially true with tripods.

4. The power is in the lenses. I know it sounds like a quote from a Jedi master, but it’s as true as it can be. There is a tremendous difference between the quality of a picture taken with, say, an 135 prime L series lens and the low level stock one that comes with each digital SLR camera. Experiment with a few good ones (I would recommend any Canon L series lens) and choose your preferred one.

5. Buy and learn to use Photoshop. I can’t stress this enough. No matter how great a picture may be, you can always make small adjustments, like alter the contrast, sharpness or color saturations, to make it even better. There are many Photoshop tutorials out there, some of them are even free. And it’s not very expensive, the low end version of Photoshop costs only $75.

As a final tip, don’t forget to have fun! Photography is a great hobby and can be lots of fun. Stay creative. Take lots and lots of photos. Explore. And, again, have fun!

Getting the perfect SLR camera, is never an easy thing, especially with the way digital technology is constantly changing. Fortunately, there are plenty of helpful websites online, that can narrow down your search and help you find the DSLR camera with all the features important to you.