Fog, rain and even snow can make great photos.

I really like the effect of light through fog. It allows you to see the beam of light clearly. It makes a very powerful photo.

Rain also has its own strong points.

Rain tends to increase the natural color saturation. Wet objects often seem to have deeper color and more contrast in photos. No wonder a common technique in the movie industry is to hose down a road or parking lot with water before shooting a scene.

Of course bad weather also has its own photography obstacles.

Water (in any form) is not great for your camera. You need to keep the camera dry and make sure you do not get water spots on the lens when shooting. In a pinch, a plastic sandwich bag placed over your camera can help keep it a bit drier. Use a rubber band around the lens to hold the bag on. There are also many weather and waterproof cases available, so expensive and some very affordable.

Cold weather can affect camera batteries. A spare battery kept warm close to your body can become an important cold weather accessory. Tripod legs seem to become the coldest objects on earth. Wrapping foam around tripod legs and make a tripod much more comfortable to touch in cold weather.

Always be careful when  moving your camera from a cool temperature to a warmer or more humid environment.

This will cause condesation on or inside your camera and this can lead to corrosion and shorten the life of the camera or break it altogether. The can happen from cold outdoors moving indoors or even from air condition indoors to hot or humid outdoor weather in summer. Keep your camera in a plastic bag for a period of time for changes in the environment like this. No bag handy? Leave it sealed in your camera bag.

The photography above is the Wind Point Lighthouse in Racine, Wisconsin.

A few days earlier, I had been to the lighthouse during the day doing a portrait for a friend. I suddenly had a desire to photograph the lighthouse in fog. Just a day or two later, the weather was rain and fog. Looked to me like a short trip to the lighthouse would be perfect.

There is a lot of light shining on the lighthouse itself.

This caused a slight problem. The additional light was being pickup up by the fog and made the lighthouse light seem much dimmer by comparison. The beam from the Wind Point Lighthouse on a much higher axis and appears washed out by the ground lights. I found as I got farther away it appeared a bit brighter. I ended up nearly standing in Lake Michigan.

I ended up using a Canon 24mm-70mm zoom wide open at an aperature of 4.5.

I used the bulb setting for the shutter and held the shutter open while the beam from the lighthouse swept a limited arc. This kept the ground light from washing the beam out. This was about 5-6 seconds.

The image above recieved  very limited adjustment in photoshop.

Mostly a bit of color adjustment to compensate for the three different colored light sources. I also did a little dodging and burning with the tools in Photoshop to bring a bit more of the beam. Contrast was adjusted in Canon Digital Photo Professional as well as some additional noise reduction in addition to the noise reduction done in camera in the Canon EOS 5D DSLR. A tripod and remote release were also used.

There are many ways a photo like this could be enhanced in Adobe Photoshop.

Multiple exposures or the same exposure processed differently could be combined. Using layer modes and layer masks the beam could be brightened or added to. This would allow the beam to be even brighter while keeping the ground lighting darker. This technique can be even more effective if multiple exposures are made with this purpose in mind. Digital photography has added many more options than photographers had in the past.

I am very happy with the way the image of the lighthouse looks now.

Of course, I may decide to do more with it later. But for now, I like the way it was captured in camera.

Well, your digital camera can help make it easier to get those pictures of the Christmas lights on your house to turn out.

There are 3 things you will need to get great photos of outdoor Christmas lights

1. A camera that can shoot long exposures.
2. A remote shutter release.
3. A tripod.

First, you need a camera that will allow you to shoot at long shutter speeds.

The first photo with this post is of New Glarus, WI. The shutter speeds I used while taking photos that night were from about 4 seconds to over 15 seconds long at an aperture setting of F11. The images of Michigan Aveneue Christmas lights in Chicago were from 1-5 seconds long at F11. You will need a camera that will do these long shutter speeds. It also helps if your camera has a noise reduction option for long exposures built in. In this case, I used a Canon 5D at ISO 100.

You will need a way to trigger the shutter without shaking the camera.

Ideally, you will have remote shutter release for your camera. If you do not, you can use the self-timer function.

You will need a tripod.

A tripod is one of the most important accessories you can purchase for your camera. The sturdier, the better. The trouble with photography in cold weather like this is those metal tripod legs get really cold. Some tripods come with foam to cover parts of the legs. A nice feature if you cannot afford the more expensive new composite tripods.

A tripod was also very handy while I slid down a steep, icy sidewalk in New Glarus, WI. A city that resemble Switzerland, not only in arcitucture, but in hilly terrain.

I suggest using your camera in aperture priority.

Set your aperture for resonable depth of field. Then, vary your shutter speed according to the light. This way, you can keep your composition in focus while you experiment with exposure with the shutter speed.

You should bracket your exposure.

With night-time photography, it can be hard to get detail in shadow areas while not overexposing the highlights. This is the trick. To find the best exposure for the scene you are photographing. Your cameras meter will give a good starting point. I usually shoot a stop over and under. A quick look at the preview screen can give you an idea if you are close or which direction you should bracket more in.

Using a RAW file format is ideal in this situation.

Using a RAW file format will allow you to fine tune the exposure a bit more. Also, you can adjust the color balance to your taste much better later while you are looking at a high resolution image on your computer. You can also make a bracket exposure from one RAW file.

For further improvement, you can use Photoshop to increase the dynamic range in your photo.

The latest versions of Photoshop CS2 and CS3 can combine different exposures of an image to get the best highlight and shadow detail a put it in one image. There are other programs that will add this feature to earlier versions of Photoshop. You may also be able to do this by hand. Have several bracketed shots on a tripod, or taken from a RAW file are needed for this technique. The photos in this post did not use this technique.

It might be a good idea to put a plastic bag over your camera to protect it if there is snow.

The photograph of the Christmas lights on Michigan Avenue in Chicago, Il was shot during the first real snow storm of the season. After shooting for about 10 minutes, I looked down to discover I and my camera bag were coated with wet snow. Keep a towel ready for when you get back to the car to wipe excess moisture off your equipment.

Cold weather will also cause batteries to weaken faster.

Spare batteries can be kept in a pocket closer to your body so you can keep shooting. Check your camera manual for an idea how cold weather will affect the batteries. It can cut normal use in half.

Try to start taking photos of the Christmas lights right after sunset.

The leftover light at dusk will help balance the bright Christmas lights and fill shadows. This will provide more detail. Of course, sometimes it can be too early. Just after I spent 45 minutes photographing the lights around New Glarus, WI and got in the car, the lights on the church were finally turned on.

Photographing Christmas lights is a fun challenge.

Even better is to finish it up with a drink of something warm with a loved one while you warm up afterwards.

You crop images the same way in Photoshop as well as many image editing software programs.

Why crop and size a photo before you email it?

In the video below, the image was origianally over 8MB as a Jpeg file. This would take a long time for the person you are emailing to download. It would take even longer to send it. Nearly all the time, these images are only looked at on the computer. There is no need for a big file. Croping and resizing your photography before you email it is a nice thing for the people you are sending it to.

Why not just shoot a lower quality image setting?

I recommend that you always use the highest quality image setting your camera offers you. This way, you will be ready when that once in a life time image occurs (it happens a lot more than once in a lifetime). You can always make a photograph smaller but if you do not have the detail to begin with, you cannot make it larger. Keep your camera at the highest quality setting.

I made the video below to show both cropping the photograph and compressing it.

This is nearly the same in Photoshop as it is in Photoshop Elements. I am also using an early version of Elements. Later versions work the same way. The save for Web feature is somewhat unique to Adobe products. It is very convienient as it allows you to see the effect of compression as you try to make the image smaller.

In the following video I take an 8MB file and shrink it down to about 17k.

This makes it very fast to download. If you think someone might want get a print of the photo, let them know you can send a higher resolution version if they want to print it.

I hope you find the video useful.

Online Videos by Veoh.com

Unfortuanately, it was not thick enough to cover the ground completely. Fortunately, there was no need to shovel the driveway either.

How do you get pictures of snow when there is not that much?

I used my Canon 100mm macro lens to get in real close. I often like to get in real close and look at things in a way that people otherwise never get to see.

The snow had  melted a bit and refroze by the time I got around to photgraphing it.

I found this particular patch that also seemed to have a frosty look to it. Almost like a sea of diamonds.

The best way to focus using a macro lens:

The trick to getting macro photos in focus is to set the lens to manual focus. Set the lens to it's closest focusing distance. Then move the whole camera back and forth to focus on the spot you want. This way, you can keep the magnification the highest.

I wanted to see what would happen with a bit of image adjustment on the computer.

I used the levels adjustment in Photoshop Elements to make make an adjustment. Moving the shadow slider up, I noticed the dark areas turn blue. I then switched the levels to adjust the blue channel and got the final result below.

I like the way this looks with the blue shadows.

You will often find a lot of blue in the shadows of snow photos. This is usually a reflection of the sky. Our eyes tend to fool us into thinking everything is white.

It is easy to compensate for this blue cast with a digital camera.

Often, just the auto white balance will take care of it. You can also set your white balance manually to something like cloudy.

The best way is to use a RAW file format and fix the color cast on your computer.

This way, you can fine tune the color and make sure you get a good balance between the blue in the shadows without making the white too yellow or warm.

If you are shooting film, it is a bit harder.

With color negative film, the printer can make a correction when making a print. With slide film, a warming filter must be used when you take the photograph.

Which photograph do you prefer?

For many, it is also a great time to try to take family photos. Many family members who are normally out of town are together and visiting. It's a great time to get a picture of the whole family at once.

For many, it is time to take the annual Christmas card picture.

For others, is just a time when everyone is together and they want to treasure the memories. After all, family is one thing to be very thankful for. It is often nearly too late to have a professional portrait done in time for Christmas.

A couple years ago, I decided Thanksgiving would be a great time to get a portrait of my grandpa and grandma.

While they were both still in reasonably good health, I knew that there would not be too many more chances to get a great photo of both of them together. Although I had access to professional equipment that few people can use, I made a few mistakes that prevented me from getting the portrait that I wanted. My grandfather died recently, and I was never able to get that last portrait that I wanted.

Here are five rules for getting great family photos this Thanksgiving.

5. Don't try to take the family photo at the table.

   It can be very difficult to get everyone in focus while sitting at a table.  Those closer to the camera will appear larger in the photograph and those that are back farther away from the camera will look smaller. Find a place where you can keep everyone closer together and about the same distance from the camera.  Also, your flash will tend to be too bright on the people in front and to dark on the people in back.  Bouncing the flash off the ceiling can help with this problem if you still want to take photos at the table.

4. Try to find a simple background that will not be too distracting.

You want to make sure the emphasis is on the people in the photograph and that they are not getting lost in a distracting background. If the weather is nice, you may want to try a photo outdoors. Again, try to find a place outside that looks nice, but is still not going to be too busy of a background.

3. Decide who is going to be in the photo before you start.

If you are going to be in the photograph, make sure you have a tripod ready.  This might be a good time to invite a friend with no family over for Thanksgiving if you don't have a tripod. In my case, I just wanted to get Grandpa and Grandma together and before I got a real good photo everyone else got into the photo. If you are going to do a group, I always start with the biggest group first and then work to the smaller groups unless there is something that is more important the the whole group photo.

2. Make sure you can see everyone in the picture.

Make sure you have everyone posed so that they can see the camera and the camera can see them.  Also make sure that no one will be hidden in a dark shadow.  Make sure that everyone will be looking at the camera.  This can be especially hard with children.  At the same time, you don't want a picture of mom pointing at the camera what she is trying to get the child to look at. Be patient and keep a good sense of humor.

1. Most importantly!  Take the photo before anyone eats.

This will avoid that red cranberry stain on dad's white shirt.  They hand out napkins at restaurants because accidents do happen.  Also, after everyone eats that wonderful meal, no one is going to feel like going through the work of taking a photo.  Everyone can just relax after they eat then.  It also ensures that grandma won't be fainting from grandpa's onion breath!

Enjoy your Thanksgiving and remember to be thankful for the other blessings in your life.

It looked like you had it in focus. You used a flash. Still, there seems to be an additional person in the picture?

Does it look like this?

It's called ghosting.

It is nothing to call Ghostbusters Inc about. It's just a double exposure. One exposure is made by the flash. The other is made from the ambient light.

Many modern cameras try to balance ambient light and flash to make a more natural looking photograph.

Sometimes, it is just too balanced and it does not turn out the way we want. If there is just enough light in the room to make an exposure but not enough to get a fast enough shutter speed, you will see pictures like the one above. I have made it a bit exaggerated so it is easy to see the problem here.

There is a sharp image.

In parts of the photo, there is also a blurry double of the image (the ghost). The ghost is blurry because of movement during the exposure. Sometimes this is subject movement. More often, it is camera movement. It can be hard to know exactly when it will strike. It often seems to happen during really important pictures.

There are two different ways to fix ghosting in photos and exorcise those ghosts from your photography.

• Reduce the blur in the photo.
• Reduce the exposure of the ghost till it disappears. Sometimes, this also reduces the blur too.

You can reduce the blur by using a wider lens.

Often the blur is because the shutter speed the camera balanced the ambient light with is too slow to hand hold. A wider lens (zoom out) will not blur as much as a telephoto lens (zoom in).

You can reduce the ghost blur by using a tripod.

Often, you are using the flash because a tripod is not convienient to use. The photograph below has the same shutter speed as the picture with the ghost in it. Notice that the ghost has disappeared.

You can reduce the ghost blur by using a shorter shutter speed.

Use the fastest shutter speed your flash will sych at. This will prevent the blur from camera movement during the exposure just like using a tripod. Using a faster shutter speed may also reduce the exposure of the ghost.

Reducing the exposure of the ghost will also work.

You can increase flash power and make the exposure using flash at higher shutter speeds and smaller aperatures. In the photo below, the exposure setting was raised and flash power was increased to compensate. The reduces the exposure from the ambient light. Notice that the wonderful warm incadencent lighting is gone from the image.

You can reduce the exposure of the ghost with a lower ISO setting.

This also reduces the ambient light in the photo.

Like I said, it can be hard to expect when ghosting will happen.

If you need to use flash, but there is a lot of light in the room, you may see ghosts. If you are zooming in or using a long lens with flash, that can increase the chance of ghosting. If you are using flash and high ISO settings for subjects that are not far away, ghosting can occur.

Checking your preview on your digital camera once in while in these situations can let you know if you need to change the way you are using your camera.

For some cameras, you will not be able to make any of the exposure changes. How to take sharp photosUse the wider part of your zoom and try to hold the camera as still as possible.

Don't forget to have a good time and make the real memories the ones you remember no matter what the photos look like.

In summary to take photos as sharp as possible you need to do the following:

Make sure everything you want is in focus

• Focus on subject
• Small apertures

Avoid camera movement

• Hold the camera properly
• Use faster shutter speeds
• Use a tripod
• Use flash

Avoid Subject motion

• Use faster shutter speeds
• Use flash

Get the best resolution you can

• Use 6 megapixel or better digital camera (or 35mm film camera)
• Use low IOS setting or film
• Use fine quality setting and highest file size on digital cameras
• Use good lenses (avoid cheap plastic)

Do these things and you'll find your pictures will turn out sharp. Try to follow as many recommendations as regularly as possible so that the once-in-a-lifetime photo you take, turns out nice and tack sharp when you want to enlarge it. Just like you saw it!

This may seem like a lot to remember, but start with one or two things at a time. As you practice, your find more and more of your photos turn out sharp.

Usually, we think only digital camera's have resolution, but film has resolution too (some think that digital cameras are a revolution but we are just concerned with resolution right now). I am also going to tie film grain and digital noise into resolution, even though they are different from resolution because the end result in the real world is the same (less grain or noise will appear to be a higher resolution in many cases).

Resolution is the amount of information your camera records when you press the button. With a digital camera the light causes an electronic process in the camera. With a film camera the process is a chemical one. It is most easy to understand in digital terms. 

A six megapixel camera will produce a file of about 18 megabytes in Photoshop.

In a digital camera, the sensor chip is made up of little circuits that change when light hits them (to put it very, very simply so I can understand it). Each circuit records a speck or pixel of information about the light hitting it (again, this is a very simplified, inaccurate way of describing it but you get the picture). The number of pixels (basically dots) that make up the picture equal the resolution. The first digital cameras had a sensor with about 640×480 rows of pixels or dots. This equals about 307200 pixels or  about .3 megapixels (this was loudly proclaimed photo quality by the manufactures – a term they used for several generations of digital chips which still tends to give digital a bad name around some professionals). This is also typical of many mobile phone cameras today. The size of file this actually about 921600 pixels when you open with Photoshop in a computer. A six megapixel camera will produce a file of about 18 megabytes in Photoshop.

A good 35mm negative shows about 24 megabytes of information

By comparison, a good 35mm negative, when scanned into a computer, shows about 24 megabytes of information. You'll find that a 6 megapixel camera will produce quality that is equal to a 35mm. This is why I recommend if you are looking for a digital camera you start looking at 6 megapixel cameras.

It is amazing how often that "once-in-a-lifetime" shot occurs

It is true that most people will never make anything larger than 4×6 or maybe 5×7 prints from their photos with maybe an occasional 8×10. A 2 megapixel camera will give an ok 8×10 and is just fine for 4×6's. Why do I recommend a 6 megapixel camera if all you want are 4×6's for your scrapbook?

Chances are, sooner or later, you will take a picture where you just cannot get close enough to the subject (maybe you don't really feel like getting into the swamp for a close up of that alligator).

If you want to crop around that alligator you will actually be using a smaller number of those pixels. If our alligator takes up a quarter of the original picture, your 4×6 will already be more that equal to that 8×10 in actual information. What are the chances that photo will also be the one you really want to make 8×10 for the starting page of your vacation scrapbook? Because we view smaller photos more close up, you may not have as much detail when you crop as you would like (those sharp teeth may look more like dull white blobs up close). I can't tell you how often I saw situations like this in the film processing business. It is amazing how often that "once-in-a-lifetime" shot occurs.

A 6 megapixel camera will provide a level of quality equal to 35mm

The standard in photo quality that most are used to has generally been the 35mm photograph. A 6 megapixel camera will provide that level of quality that we have become used to in terms of resolution. If you are really into photography one of the 8 megapixel cameras will make you happy for years.

What about grain and noise? Do they have an effect on resolution?

While a bit different than resolution, grain will make a difference in how much detail you see in a picture. Grain shows up as speckles in a photograph. It is very dependent of film speed. 100 – 200 ISO film speeds (or less) show very little grain. A 400 ISO film will show moderate grain. High speed films such as 800 ISO and higher show excessive grain. Again, at 4×6 size grain (even in high speed films) will not bother you much. As soon as you crop or enlarge those photos, that grain will become very apparent.

The film companies can charge a lot more for an 800 ISO film than a 100 ISO film

A few years ago, many film companies started to suggest higher speed films as do everything films (or even calling them "self adjusting" films – an extremely liberal use of the term – I won't say dishonest, but….). While higher speed films do have an advantage when it comes to exposure latitude (the amount your camera can goof up the correct exposure) and stopping action (remember those high shutter speeds we wanted to eliminate movement), you may be sacrificing useful resolution for speed.

Not to mention. the film companies can charge a lot more for an 800 ISO film than a 100 ISO film.

I personally recommend not going above 400 ISO unless you are trying to shoot indoors without flash (and without a tripod). If you are looking for the absolute best photos you can take, and it is bright and sunny, use 100 ISO film. If your shooting fast subjects (sports like Grandpa in the Olympics mentioned above), or it is cloudy out, use ISO 400. Many point-and-shoot cameras are really designed for ISO 400 and if you need one film that will work in almost all situations use ISO 400.

What is noise anyway? (I don't hear anything from my photos)

With digital cameras we have something that acts just like film grain only it's called noise. Ever try to watch a television program on a channel that did not tune in good? Those little specks of color (the "snow") are noise. Noise is almost exactly like grain, the faster the ISO setting on the digital camera the more noise you get. For the moment, just like film, you'll see little noise at ISO 100 -200.

Most consumer digital cameras lose out to film at ISO 400 and higher

This is where things change very drastically between digital and film. As I write this (early 2006), most consumer digital cameras lose out to film at ISO 400 and higher. In fact, combine a 400 ISO and a lower resolution camera or file setting (maybe 4 megapixel) and things will look more like that out of tune TV than a photo. This is very dependent on the camera. High quality new SLR cameras like the Canon D20, D30, 5D, and the 1D and 1Ds actually do better than film at higher ISOs. Typically the smaller chips used in point-and-shoot cameras are more sensitive to noise (even higher resolution models). While they are currently a little behind film (for the most part), I expect that within the next year we will see this change as the new cameras will improve on noise even at high ISO settings. Very soon I believe ISO settings will not matter at all as far as noise is concerned and will be an additional creative tool.

Always, always use the highest quality (jpeg) setting you have 

One other difference between digital and film is the quality setting on a digital camera. Always use the highest setting you have. Something that I can never figure out is why someone would spend hundreds of dollars more for the latest gigapixel camera and then use the lowest quality setting so they can fit more on a memory card. Buy a cheaper camera! (Sorry I feel like screaming.) Then spend the extra money on memory cards.

One last, minor factor on resolution is lens resolution and image size 

A lens also has a resolution or at least resolving power. A cheap plastic lens with simply not give you as much detail as a high quality lens from a top camera company will.

As we increased film resolution and began to use smaller formats the importance of having sharp lenses increased

In the early 1900's camera lenses were no where near as sharp as current lenses. Photographers used larger sized film to help make up for this (along with the higher grain film had back then). The larger film formats would be less sensitive to lens imperfections. As we increased film resolution and began to use smaller formats the importance of having sharp lenses increased. Almost all digital cameras today use a sensor the size of an APS film format (about 1/3 the size of 35mm) or smaller. The only exceptions to this are very expensive professional level cameras.

This is something I have not seen mentioned in most digital photography discussions

What this smaller image size means is the quality of the lens is very important. It will actually have to be sharper than the lenses used for 35mm film cameras to produce the same level of detail. This is something I have not seen mentioned in most digital photography discussions. For the most part lenses today are extremely sharp but I suggest staying away from consumer electronic brands that so not have a reputation for optics, although many have lenses made by well known lens makers,like Zeiss.

Some manufacturers may do this to make their camera appear to make sharper pictures vs. a manufacturer that doesn't sharpen as much but has a camera that produces more detail

Some digital cameras also tend to over sharpen the image when the camera is processing the image. This is something you won't notice till you have an enlargement made and the halo around object is noticeable from over sharpening. Some manufacturers may do this to make their camera appear to make sharper photos vs. a manufacturer that doesn't sharpen as much but has a camera that produces more detail. Some cameras will let you set the amount of sharpening done to a file. All digital photos will need to be sharpened at some point. It is usually best to go with moderate sharpening in camera and let the real sharpening be done as the photo is printed.

Here is the conclusion to this guide to taking sharp photos.

You used a really good tripod and a remote release so the camera was rock steady. Still, your daughter looks like she has four eyes and three arms (and she doesn't wear glasses). What happened? She moved. When it comes to subject movement, you will not have too many choices. You can use a faster shutter speed or get a slower subject. 

A sitting subject may look sharp as slow as 1/15th

You will find adults a bit easier to get to sit still than children or pets (at least sometimes). A sitting subject may look sharp as slow as 1/15th of a second. That same shutter speed will make even Grandpa look like an Olympic runner if he is walking.

 Obviously the faster the subject, the faster the shutter speed you will need

It will also make a difference what direction the subject is moving. If the subject is approaching or receding directly to or from the camera or traveling across the camera's field of view. If Grandpa (as long as he was so kind to let us use him in the above paragraph we'll use him a bit more- maybe he was an Olympic runner) is walking toward you, you won't need as fast a shutter speed as if he is walking past you. Keep in mind that his arms and legs will be moving even faster than his whole body and may be blurry even though the rest of him is sharp. Obviously the faster the subject, the faster the shutter speed you will need.

 When there is any concern about subject movement, you always want to try for higher shutter speeds

For a slow person walking towards you (like good old Gramps) 1/30th to 1/60th of a second may be fast enough. A faster subject such as someone on a bicycle (or Grandpa in his Olympic days) will need a much faster shutter speed like 1/250th or 1/500th of a second. Something like a Formula 1 racing car will take speeds like 1/1000 of a second or faster. Unfortunately there are no exact numbers; it is something that takes a bit of trial and error, plus a camera (most likely an SLR of some sort) that will let you choose a shutter speed. When there is any concern about subject movement, you always want to try for higher shutter speeds.

 Again, you may not own a camera that lets you select the shutter speed.  You are then stuck with whatever speed the camera chooses. To make sure the camera chooses a fast shutter speed you can:

• Only take pictures when there is lots of light
• Use a faster ISO setting or film
• Wait until the subject stops moving
• Use the subject movement to tell the story

 How can you use a photo that is not completely sharp?

Some subjects actually look good with subject movement.

If you want to show the strength of the ocean as it crashes against the rocks you may want to use a high shutter speed to stop it sharp

Water, for instance, can look good if it is tack sharp stopped with a high shutter speed. If you want to show the strength of the ocean as it crashes against the rocks you may want to use a high shutter speed to stop it sharp.

A longer shutter speed will blur it and make it look soft and gentle

Water can also look great blurred. A longer shutter speed will blur it and make it look soft and gentle. This technique looks great for rivers and waterfalls. It depends on what kind of story you are trying to tell.

Panning is following a moving subject with the camera during the exposure

Another kind of blur that can tell a story is caused by a technique called panning. Panning is following a moving subject with the camera during the exposure. Just follow your moving subject with the camera (try to keep the same speed) and press the shutter button as it goes by. Make sure you continue to follow after you press the button (kinda like the follow through on your golf swing). This will cause the subject to look sharp and the background to blur. This is a great way to show motion and demonstrate the feeling of speed in a photo.

Panning whenever you think you may have lower light levels (an overcast day) will help you get a picture with a sharp subject. When done right; panning trades camera movement for subject movement in a way that makes a picture look sharper.

Next we'll look at how important resoluton is to sharp photos and what is resolution anyway.

Usually, everything looks like it is in focus but nothing looks really sharp or you start to wonder if you need glasses (or new glasses and yours are only a month old). You spent all that money for that latest gigapixel camera, but honestly, it doesn't seem to take pictures any sharper than the old one you gave to your spouse.

Worse, you cannot even tell which person was Julia Roberts in the photo you took when you ran into her at the supermarket (even worse, your insurance agent can't tell if the picture is of the dent in your car or her's).

Just taking a breath or the beat of your heart will cause enough movement to blur your photo

Even when we are standing still, our bodies have a tiny amount of movement to them. If you are really excited (like you just ran into Julia Roberts) that little movement is probably not even little.

As the shutter in your camera is open for a longer period of time, it becomes more sensitive to that tiny movement

Just taking a breath or the beat of your heart will cause enough movement to blur your photo in many situations (personally I'd rather have a beating heart than a sharp picture, given the most likely reason for no heart beat). Camera movement can be controlled two ways: faster shutter speeds or stabilizing the camera.

 Length of your lens will affect the amount of camera movement

A faster shutter speed will stop blur from camera movement (later we'll talk about subject movement which is also helped by faster shutter speeds). Again, length of your lens will affect the amount of camera movement just like it does depth-of-field. A good rule of thumb is to use a shutter speed equal to the length of your lens. I prefer twice that speed for safety.

Most people can take sharp photographs with a 24mm wide angle lens at 1/60th of a second. Try to hand hold one of those huge, expensive 600mm lenses the sports photographers use, and you will need a shutter speed at least equal to 1/600th of a second, plus you will need a second mortgage and a good chiropractor. A safer speed might be 1/1000th of a second. The bad news again: if your not using a SLR or DSLR you may not be able to choose your shutter speed anyway because most of the cameras people buy choose the shutter speed for them just like it chooses the aperture.

 If you cannot set the shutter speed and you think you may have problems holding the camera steady enough to get a sharp picture, what should you do?

Lets look and steadying the camera.

Start by making sure when you hold it, you are holding it properly

Almost all cameras now are designed to be held in your right hand with your right index finger used to press the shutter button (sorry lefties). Brace your left elbow against your chest and use your left hand to hold the weight of the camera or cradle the lens. I have even seen a camera manual that suggested foot placement with a diagram (yes, those manuals do even show you how to hold the camera-were you already doing it right?). Just like an Olympic sharp shooter, you want to squeeze the shutter button when you take the picture. You can use a good solid wall or tree to brace the camera or brace it on any solid object you find usable.

Flash has a duration that is extremely short, acting like a very fast shutter speed

Your flash can also eliminate camera movement. Flash has a duration that is extremely short, acting like a very fast shutter speed. The only problem is that there are times you can't or don't want to use a flash (museums or that really dark church your daughter decided to get married in). Flash will also not help much if you are far from your subject.

A new technology that can help get rid of camera movement is image stabilization

Canon calls it IS, other manufacturers have different names. This technology moves lens elements to compensate for camera movement. Initially only available on those expensive lenses the sports photographers use, it is being included on many much more affordable lenses. It is even included now on some point and shoot cameras. This technology can allow you to shoot 2-3 shutter speed settings slower than you could hand hold without it. It still has limits and does add to the cost of the lens or camera.

A very inexpensive but very sturdy way to stabilize a camera is a bean bag.

You can mold the bean bag to a shape to hold the camera in many different positions. You can even make your own out of an old sock, (please wash it first) sown shut and filled with rice.

 The single most valuable accessory for your camera is a tripod

Perhaps the single most valuable accessory for your camera (if you are serious about taking great pictures) is a tripod. Because they need every photo to be as sharp as possible, you will almost never see a professional photographer without a tripod nearby. In fact, a good, sturdy tripod is a professional photographers best friend (it's a lonely life).

Unfortunately, most tripods available in consumer electronic or discount stores will not do a good job of holding your camera still. You'll find most photographers use a tripod by Gitzo or Manfrotto (formerly known as Bogen). While there are other good brands, these two seem to be the most trusted and popular. They are a bit more expensive than most of the flimsy, cheap models (sometimes flimsy, cheap models are sold expensively) but they are worth the extra cost since they actually do the job.

 A tripod that is convenient to use, is more likely to get used

Two disadvantages of a tripod are that they are heavy to carry and cumbersome to use. You can now get carbon-fiber tripods that are extremely light and still strong. Carbon-fiber tripods also cost more than the standard models but if you ever have to carry a tripod on a hike you'll start thinking they are worth twice the cost. In the ease of use department, Manfrotto has the Neotec tripod with a pistol-grip head. The Neotec is extremely fast to set up and easy to use. A tripod that is convenient to use, is more likely to get used.

 When you use your tripod it is also important to remember, that for long exposures, the action of your finger pressing the shutter button will also cause camera movement.

When you purchase that tripod, order a remote release for your camera. Most cameras now use an electronic or an infrared remote. Just make sure it is for your make and model. If you do not have a remote release (or left it back home on the kitchen counter), you can use the camera's self-timer. By the time the timer triggers the camera, any movement from pressing the shutter will have subsided. It will, however, take a really good sense of timing to get a photo of Junior sitting still using the timer. He probably will not sit still that long.

Junior not being able to sit still brings us to our next tip to taking sharp photos – Subject Movement