Digital Photography Basics

There can be several reasons why the photograph is not clear.

The first thing is to check your focus. If you are using auto-focus, hold down the shutter button halfway so the camera can reset its focus. If you are doing manual focus, adjust the focus ring at the end of the lens so the image is sharp and in focus. The aperture setting will determine the focal length and what will be in focus.

After checking the focus, is the lens steady while the shutter is open? If you have a slow shutter speed, then you will need something to keep the camera steady. This is where a tripod will come in very handy. If you do not have a tripod, you can use almost any stationary item to keep the lens steady.

A difficult thing for me is to take photographs at night. I’ve been able to get some photographs of the moon, but it can be tricky getting the settings correct. It is tempting to set a long shutter speed, an open aperture and a high ISO. However, these settings can cause problems when editing the image. For example, a high ISO can make the image look good on the camera screen. However, when you start editing the photograph, noise can be introduced into the photograph and can take away from the photograph itself. The best thing is to go with a lower ISO, maybe 400 or less, and then try different aperture and shutter speed settings.