Digital Photography for Next to Nothing: Free and Low Cost Hardware and Software to Help You Shoot Like a Pro

By John Lewell

Take photos like a pro without breaking the bank by using FREE and nearly FREE software and hardware explained in this book.

• Get professional looking shots from a low-cost camera
• Save money by building your own lighting rigs, tripods, monopods and stabilisers for next to nothing
• Learn how to use older lenses on modern digital cameras, and make your own macro lens, lens hoods, flash diffusers, flash concentrators, decorative Bokeh effect lenses and more
• Use dozens of FREE and low cost photo applications for processing, viewing, cataloguing, editing, creating HDR, and photo stitching
• Build powerful photography processing and editing suites with free software and plugins that go head to head with expensive tools like Adobe Photoshop and Lightroom

• Language: English
• Publisher: Wiley
• Release date: Aug 26, 2011
• ISBN: 9780470970584

Book preview

For Oi and Jonathan

About the Author

John Lewell is the Editor of PhotoSoftwareNews.com, the Internet's premier guide to photographic software. His previous books have included Computer Graphics (Van Nostrand Reinhold), The A–Z Guide to Computer Graphics (McGraw-Hill), Multivision (Focal Press), and, more recently, The Digital Photographer's Software Guide (Cengage). A graduate of Peterhouse, Cambridge, John Lewell has worked extensively in both the United States and the United Kingdom as a freelance journalist for dozens of publications. He is married to Thai cookery writer Oi Cheepchaiissara.

Acknowledgments

I'd like to thank my editors Kezia Endsley and Abi Saffrey for their many helpful comments and recommendations. I also wish to thank all the staff at John Wiley & Sons who have helped to bring this book to publication, especially Chris Webb who commissioned the original project and Ellie Scott for her meticulous day-to-day liaison.

Publisher‘s Acknowledgments

Some of the people who helped bring this book to market include the following:

Editorial and Production

VP Consumer and Technology Publishing Director: Michelle Leete

Associate Director–-Book Content Management: Martin Tribe

Associate Publisher: Chris Webb

Executive Commissioning Editor: Birgit Gruber

Assistant Editor: Colleen Goldring

Publishing Assistant: Ellie Scott

Project Editor: Juliet Booker

Development Editor: Kezia Endsley

Content Editor: Céline Durand-Watts

Copy Editor: Abi Saffrey

Marketing

Senior Marketing Manager: Louise Breinholt

Marketing Executive: Chloe Tunnicliffe

Composition Services

Compositor: Thomson

Proof Reader: Sarah Lewis

Indexer: Thomson

Preface

Every year people spend billions of dollars on camera equipment, yet the actual activity of digital photography costs next to nothing. Go click, click, click (times a thousand) and you've spent only your valuable time. By contrast, photographers who use film incur a significant cost whenever they press the shutter button. That's why owners of digital cameras take more shots and why they become accomplished photographers more quickly.

In preparing this book, I've kept several ideas to the fore, the first of which is the premise that your time is indeed valuable. You would be unlikely to find all the FREE software and low-cost DIY items described here unless you were to spend countless hours searching the Internet for similar information. Please make full use of the hundreds of links I've included and look upon this book as a key that will unlock many unexpected and hard-to-find treasures on the Internet.

My second governing idea is that there is a huge world of snapshot photography and a much smaller one of real photography to which millions of snapshooters aspire. With this in mind, I've organized the book by suggesting ways you can improve your snaps without spending much money; then I've proceeded to real photography–-by which I mean carefully considered shooting, undertaken with thought, care and preparation–-looking at all the ways you can keep costs to a minimum.

The Initial Outlay

When casual snapshooters get bitten by the photography bug they soon find a need to upgrade their camera. I don't blame them. While it's true you can take a great photograph with a really cheap camera, it's also true that you need to invest more to take pictures under a wide variety of conditions. What's important is not the capital cost of the equipment but the cost-per-photo, or rather, the cost-per-great-photo–-because great photos are your objective once the photography bug has sunk its fangs into your bloodstream.

By next to nothing, therefore, I'm not suggesting that you never make any sensible investments in cameras and lenses. Quite the opposite: I'm recommending that you save money on all those tempting accessories and software packages which can soon outstrip the cost of buying both a decent DSLR and some great chunks of glass to go with it. Digital photography is, after all, digital–-and that means it is part of the remarkable phenomenon of FREE, as described by Chris Anderson in his book FREE: The Future of a Radical Price. He writes: The rise of freeconomics is being driven by the underlying technologies that power the Web . . . Once a marketing gimmick, FREE has emerged as a full-fledged economy.

Digital photography can never be entirely FREE because you still need quality optics and various servo mechanisms to control shutter and focus. Yet by any standard, today's digital camera represents incomparable value and even more remarkably has an almost-zero running cost. When you combine this with FREE or next to nothing software, you have a value proposition that is second to none.

The Sky is not the Limit

I firmly believe it's possible to devise an ingenious, low-cost way of taking practically any type of photograph. Suppose, for example, you wish to take a photo of the upper atmosphere. Most people would think it necessary to go up in a rocket to get such a shot–-following Guy Laliberte (the first clown in space) who paid $35 million for a trip to the International Space Station. Yet four Spanish teenagers recently succeeded in getting perfect photos showing the curvature of the Earth and the layers of the atmosphere at 100,000 feet by using a helium balloon and a digital camera. The cost? $56.

Much the same approach holds true for general photography. There is the expensive way of doing it; and the cheap way. Sometimes the cheap way is equally good or even better. For example, some photographers spend money on a special lens cap to set white balance–-whereas others use a coffee filter and get exactly the same result. When professional photographers make their own accessories such as scrims, lighting rigs, or table-top studios, they do so because they know they'll achieve better lighting with a customized unit. DIY is an integral part of advanced photography. Sometimes a gift for improvization is as valuable as an eye for a great composition.

My point is this: please don't think that next to nothing involves any compromise in the quality of the final image. In fact, no compromise is my third governing idea. Most of the DIY projects in this book will enable you to get top quality shots while all the rest are grouped together in Chapter 13: More DIY Photo Fun Accessories. Even these can yield good results, especially the various types of pop-up flash diffuser. Many of the chapters are designed to introduce the reader to particular genres–-such as panoramic or high dynamic range photography–-without incurring significant costs. If, after trying my suggestions, you become inspired to go further, then you can invest in purpose-built equipment and professional software.

The Virtues of FREE Software

The day has long since passed when Adobe Photoshop was the only worthwhile photo editing package. Although it remains the software of choice for professional graphic artists–-and you need to learn your way around it if you're thinking of a career in the graphic arts–-there are plenty of alternatives, all of them a lot less costly. I have been amazed at the facilities offered by FREE photo software, not least by some of the full-service editing packages and by one or two of the top online editors. There is, incidentally, a distinct trend toward placing more and more services online, such that you can now enhance, resize, and edit your images without having any software at all other than an operating system and a web browser.

If, as Chris Anderson says, we are entering an era when FREE will be seen as the norm, not an anomaly, then there are likely to be many more FREE photo editing and sharing services on the web, supported by advertising, cross-subsidy, and the increasingly ubiquitous freemium business model (free basic service; multi-featured premium service). In this book I occasionally remind the reader to check exactly why the software is being given away. Whatever contemporary economists say, there is really no FREE lunch–-someone, somewhere, pays the bill.

Why FREE?

Finally, I must explain why I've decided to capitalize the word free in most (but not all) instances. If I say FREE, the software or service really is FREE, without a lot of strings attached. Software that comes on a FREE 30-day trial is not FREE in any meaningful sense because it expires at the end of the period. Likewise, software that leaves a large watermark on your finished images can scarcely be called FREE. I think hobbled would be a better word. In turn, this is distinct from crippled software that suffers from having useful features cut deliberately from a supposedly FREE edition. Here again I've reduced FREE to free so readers can lower their expectations.

Whatever your style of photography–-and especially if you are still developing a style of photography–-you will find something helpful in these pages. Photography can be one of the world's most or least expensive hobbies, depending on how you approach it. I think it is true to say: the more you know, the less money you need to spend. By providing this information I am aiming to save you money and help you take better and more varied pictures.

John Lewell, April 2010

Part I

Taking Better Snaps with a Cheaper Camera

Chapter 1

Getting the Best from a Low-Cost Camera

If you read what great photographers have to say about cameras, you will find two apparently conflicting opinions. Some place emphasis on buying the most expensive equipment. Edward Weston, one of whose vintage prints sold for over a million dollars, said: I was extravagant in the matter of cameras—anything photographic—I had to have the best. Others play down the need for it. No photographer is as good as the simplest camera, said Edward Steichen, whose photograph The Pond-Moonlight (1904) sold for $2.9 million in 2006.

In fact, they were both right. If you want to get serious about photography, invest in a good camera. That's why I've written this book for the reader who decides to buy a better camera but doesn't have a budget left over for expensive lenses, software, and accessories. However, you don't need an expensive camera to get some great shots. As photographer Brooks Jensen points out, All the great photographs in history were made with more primitive camera equipment than you currently own. Even a cheap digital camera is a miracle of high technology, capable of producing a masterpiece of fine art if you use it properly.

How Cheap Is Cheap?

The least expensive digital cameras cost about twice the retail price of this book. Some disposable film cameras cost even less. There has even been a craze for toy cameras such as the Chinese Holga brand, the Diana-F, and the four-lens Lomo Action Sampler. These are all much loved by enthusiasts who strive for a certain look that actually emphasizes the poor quality of the image for artistic effect—similar to wearing tatty, secondhand clothing to show a sense of style.

At the time of writing this book, I have settled on $100 as being a very low-cost price point for a compact camera. You can take this to mean just over $100 in the United States and £60—£80 in the United Kingdom—throughout the book, I don't show the £ equivalent on every mention of the $ price, and prices are always taken to be approximate. Although some cameras are even cheaper, at this price level you can currently get 10 megapixels and reasonable quality optics in cameras such as the Fujifilm A100 or Canon PowerShot A480 (see Figure 1.1).

Figure 1.1 Simple, but effective. The Canon PowerShot A480.

Image courtesy of Canon

How Much Camera Can You Get?

The two key components of a low-cost digital camera are the lens and the sensor. Today you can find both of them integrated into mobile phones, but it is still better to buy a dedicated camera because the lens will almost certainly be superior, even if the sensor is identical to the one on your phone.

For around $100, you can obtain a camera that has a resolution of 10 megapixels, a decent lens with a three-times optical zoom, built-in flash, automatic focus, motorized zoom, continuous shooting mode of about one frame per second, and shutter speeds up to 1/2000th of a second. This is all you need for great snapshots. If you pay more, make sure the money is going into a better quality lens and not into the styling of the camera.

Bigger Cameras Deliver More for Less

Despite being smaller—in fact, because they are smaller—ultra compacts cost more than ordinary compacts. Avoid them. Why pay more for less? You may as well use the camera on your mobile phone. It is far better to get a compact that has a bigger lens, a larger battery, and a better LCD screen. If size and portability are not issues, you may opt for a larger point-and-shoot at the low end of the superzoom range. This type of chunky, all-black camera with a large, permanently attached zoom lens weighs twice as much and will cost you twice or even three times as much, but it's a very good option from a photographic point of view. One example is the Panasonic Lumix FZ38, superbly specified with an 18x optical zoom, 12.1 megapixels, and a powerful movie mode (see Figure 1.2).

Figure 1.2 Bulky, but brilliant. The Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ38.

Image courtesy of Panasonic

Lowest-Cost Models

All the major manufacturers have extensive ranges of compact cameras, with prices to match. You can buy the cheapest—which are perfectly adequate for great snaps—or pay two, three, or four times as much for a model with more features. Check out Chapter 4, Choosing a Better Camera, for advice on how to buy at a rock-bottom price. Here are some of the ranges:

Panasonic Lumix

Fujifilm FinePix

Nikon Coolpix

Kodak EasyShare

Canon PowerShot

See What Other People Achieve with Each Camera

Before you buy a very low-cost camera, check out the kind of pictures that other people have been able to achieve with it (see Figures 1.3 and 1.4). How do you do this? Easy. Visit one of the FREE online photo galleries that categorizes images by the make and model of camera. One of the best in this respect is PBase.com—go to the Camera Search page (www.pbase.com/cameras) to find the right set of images.

Figure 1.3 With a $100 camera (Fuji, 10MP, at max aperture f/3.1), picture quality is great but it's hard to isolate any part of the subject.

Figure 1.4 With a DSLR (Fuji S5 Pro, 6MP, 50mm lens at f/1.6), you can throw the background out of focus and make the subject stand out.

The first point to notice is the number of photos in the database that have been taken with your model (or intended model) of camera. This is not a completely reliable guide, but it does at least give you some idea of how many people have chosen this camera. You can also look at the Most Viewed table, which gives you an indication of the level of interest being generated by a particular model. Don't take too much notice of it. Everyone wants to look at images from the latest camera—not necessarily the low-cost model you have in mind.

Some of the PBase camera index pages have hundreds of entries, so you may have to use Ctrl+F to bring up the finder and make a search. Insert the model number—and there (most likely) you are. If your model is missing, which is improbable but not impossible, it may be because it's new and no one has gotten around to uploading any pictures from it. Popular models may have tens of thousands of sample images, a random selection of which is displayed each time you click More.

When you view the images, remember that some may have been taken by incompetent photographers, so examine the better ones for sharpness, clarity, contrast, and depth of color. To do this, choose one that has been shot in natural light on a bright day with light cloud cover (ideal conditions). Download the largest size, and look at the corners as well as the center. Is it still sharp at the edge? Is there any color aberration such as purple fringing, typically found around foliage taken against the sky? Can you detect lens distortion at the edges of the image, such as barrel distortion (straight lines bowed outwards) or pincushion distortion (straight lines pinched towards the center)? Is the image noisy, especially in the shadows where the speckled effect of image noise, caused by insufficient data reaching the sensor, is most likely to show up? By looking at several examples, you will soon get a feel for the camera's capabilities. You can trust well-composed shots more than those that lack artistic qualities. They have probably been taken by people who have some technical ability.

Getting to Know Your Camera

Once you're in possession of a camera—any camera—you need to familiarize yourself with it before taking it on the road. The first step is to read the manual. It's surprising how many people refuse this obvious task, but every camera has unique features—and even if you've handled something similar you need to know what they are.

Finding Your Camera's Limits

When you've discovered what all the buttons do, the next step is to find out the camera's limitations. You'll need to bear these in mind when you're taking pictures. If you go beyond them you may—or may not—be able to rescue the photo at a later stage. For example, if you blow a few highlights because you've gone beyond the camera's dynamic range, you may be able to darken them satisfactorily using software. But if you get too close to the subject and step inside the minimum focusing distance, nothing can remove the blur from the photo.

So, what limitations should you look for? First, consider the lens that's permanently attached to your low-cost camera. What is its angle of view when fully zoomed out or in? Only optical zooming provides any real magnification. Digital zooms simply fill the live viewfinder with a cropped portion of the image, significantly lowering the resolution.

Second, consider how powerful your flash is. If you exceed the range of your flash in dull conditions you'll get dark images—one of the most common faults of snapshot photographers. With an inexpensive camera and low-powered flash, you are very likely to fall into this trap when the subject is more than four or five steps away. Cameras can automatically reduce the amount of flash, but they can't increase it above the maximum rating of the flash unit.

Third, think about the focusing distance. Luckily, focus is one of the least of your problems with modern digital cameras. They are all good at identifying your likely subject and then adjusting the focus automatically for you. Make a note of the minimum focusing distance and don't go any closer. With a typical wide-angle lens on a compact camera you will not have to worry too much about depth-of-field (the depth of the scene in sharp focus). In fact, you may often have too much depth-of-field, which is a major limitation of compact cameras, preventing you from throwing the background out of focus by opening up the aperture of the lens. The relatively small lenses on compacts are not large enough for this kind of effect.

There are other limitations to bear in mind, for example: the resolving power or sharpness of the lens; the ISO setting (such as ISO 400 or ISO 800) at which the images become noisy; and the start-up speed from when the camera is switched off. Once you know where the boundaries lie, you can operate safely within them—and take many great pictures.

Playing to Your Camera's Strengths

I have examined thousands of images on PBase and I'm constantly struck by how the same low-cost camera—whether it's a Nikon Coolpix or a Sony Cybershot—can produce mediocre images on one occasion and brilliant photos on another. Most experts explain this by saying it's the person behind the camera . . ., which is partly true but it's not the whole story.

Every modern compact camera can take great snaps in natural light under ideal conditions. As long as you don't want enlargements, say, beyond 5 × 7 inches, you can get results that rival those from any camera, especially if you tweak the image in FREE editing software. But if your subject is a long way off, or if the light is failing, or if there is a lot of movement within the frame, you will soon start to wish you had more expensive equipment. Most users get good results occasionally, when the camera is suited to the situation (by which I mean the subject and lighting conditions). Yet only by playing to your camera's strengths and not going beyond its limitations can you get terrific results consistently.

Ten Universal Questions for Every Shot

Whenever you take a photo—any photo—there are some questions you can ask yourself about the shot. It's hard to think about them all at once, but experienced photographers can come up with the answers almost automatically. The more you practice, the sooner you'll be able to do the same.

1. What Is in Front of the Camera?

This might seem obvious, but a camera can only take what's in front of it. Yet time and again a photo can surprise you, even though you saw the identical scene when you pressed the shutter release. Why is this? It's partly because there's often too much happening in front of the camera for you to take it all in until you've frozen the moment; and partly because the camera interprets the scene in its own way instead of reproducing your experience of it. What may seem ugly or ordinary in real life may look striking and even beautiful in a photo.

2. How Is the Subject Framed?

Even after all the experiments of modern art, the rectangular frame remains predominant in photography. The digital era has partially liberated photographers from standard sizes because you can now reframe the image in software. When you take a snap you need to consider whether holding the camera horizontally (landscape) or vertically (portrait) is more appropriate. Use whichever is likely to be least wasteful when you crop the image later.

3. What Is the Camera's Lens Angle?

You can fill the frame with your subject by standing close and using a wide angle, or by moving back and zooming into the subject. When you move your position backward or forward you change the perspective (that is, the size of objects in the frame change in relationship to each other). However, if you remain where you are and simply zoom, the perspective stays exactly the same.

4. What Depth-of-Field Will You Capture?

Don't worry too much about DoF for snapshots, but just bear in mind that people or objects on either side of your subject will be in focus, whereas those in front or behind may not. There are plenty of FREE ways to work out the depth-of-field (see Chapter 14, FREE Photo Calculators), but they are normally beyond the scope of snapshot photography.

5. What Is the Dynamic Range of the Scene or Subject?

This is a key question you need to consider in order to shoot decent pictures. If there is a huge difference in the values between the darkest shadow and the brightest highlight, no digital camera—least of all an inexpensive one—can capture detail in all parts of the scene. You can reduce dynamic range by lighting the shadows (fill light) or by filtering the sun's rays with a translucent material.

6. What Is the Quality of the Light?

Is it harsh or soft, warm or cool, unidirectional or multidirectional? Light makes photography, said George Eastman. Embrace light. Admire it. Love it. But above all, know light. Know it for all you are worth, and you will know the key to photography.

In landscape photography you have to rely chiefly on light from the sun, but the actual quality of light changes dramatically according to the sun's position in the sky, the amount of haze or cloud cover, and reflected light from clouds, water, and large objects. The best light for landscapes and natural light portraits is often when the sun is low in the sky, while clouds form a giant light tent overhead.

7. Will Color Play a Major or Minor Role in the Image?

On an abstract level, a photo consists of form and color. It is mostly light and shade that delineate form (shape, pattern, rhythm) while color plays a secondary role. But color can also define form quite independently of light and shade. Once in a while, you should forget content and think about these abstract elements when you take snaps.

8. Is the Exact Moment of Capture Significant?

Sometimes the exact moment of capture is the whole point of the shot: especially in sport. Yet whatever the genre, if your snapshot says this is a unique moment, it is bound to be successful on one level. Viewers will even forgive technical imperfection if you have a great capture.

9. Is the Exposure Right?

Although you can often create several successful versions of (for example) a landscape using different exposures, many snaps would be improved had the exposure been longer or shorter. If the most important feature is washed out or too dark, the exposure is surely wrong. Understand which parts of the image your automatic exposure system samples. This is especially important when the subject is off-center.

10. Is the Camera Stable?

The typical snapping technique of arms extended—camera waving in the air—is the worst for taking sharp photos. Flash will freeze most camera movement, but try turning it off and keeping the camera steady. Where possible, rest the camera on something solid. If you don't have a tripod or monopod, try new positions. Squatting on the floor and resting your elbows on your knees is a good position.

When you no longer have to ask yourself these questions, but instead start to provide the answers instinctively whenever you take a snap, that means you're well on the way to becoming a photographer.

Summary

You can take stunning photographs with even the cheapest digital camera, but not in all circumstances. If you have an inexpensive camera, you must understand its limitations. When you buy any camera, always examine photographs other people have taken with that model. Full-size images from most camera models are easy to locate on the Internet.

Even before you start to get really serious about photography, you can improve your snapshots by asking yourself simple questions each time you press the button. Bear these points in mind and you will soon be taking better quality shots. Even so, sometimes you'll be in the right place at the right time, but fluff the shot because of a technical error. Chapter 2 identifies mistakes that occur all too frequently, but are easy to correct if you know what they are.

Chapter 2

Why Most Snaps Fail to Impress

A snapshot, by definition, is a picture taken quickly without too much thought. If it has good exposure, great lighting, and satisfying composition it has the potential to be a good photograph, perhaps even a great photograph. Henri Cartier-Bresson, one of the greatest of all photographers, was a master of the snapshot and turned it into a fine art. He once said: We photographers deal in things that are continually vanishing, and when they have vanished, there is no contrivance on earth that can make them come back again.

The high level of automation in modern cameras has greatly improved the standard of snapshot photography, but it's still up to the individual to stand in the right place, frame the subject intelligently, and choose the right moment to press the button. Some people do all these things and more, but most of us don't. When the moment comes, we fluff the shot out of haste, or else we come really close to a great shot but the subject blinks or moves—and it's another lost opportunity. However, when we have time to think and prepare, the outcome is much more likely to be positive.

The point I'm making can be illustrated by visiting two websites where the quality of snapshots differs dramatically from one to the other. At Upside Down Dogs (www.upsidedowndogs.com), people take photos of dogs lying on their backs, and then turn the image upside down to make it look as if the dog is stuck to the ceiling. It's a very amusing idea, but the images would have more appeal if they were technically more accomplished. Now compare these pictures with those on the website called Cats That Look Like Hitler (www.catsthatlooklikehitler.com). Here, the contributors have had more time to think about each shot, and as a result the images are better and more entertaining.

Despite the evidence, I cannot believe that cat owners are better photographers than dog owners. The reason why the cat snaps are better is because the subjects don't change their basic appearance (they will look like Hitler whether they are sitting down or standing up), which means the photographer is not forced to hurry and take the shot.

Unfortunately, snapshot photographers—like the owners of lively dogs—are usually hurried when they take a shot. The moment is upon them before they've worked out the best angle, best framing, and right combination of settings. Afterwards, they realize: I should've turned off the flash, or What a pity one of them blinked. Before thinking about what makes a really good snap, it's a good plan to cut out the common errors.

Some Common Errors

Unless the subject holds intrinsic interest for the person viewing the photo—and even if it does—there needs to be some technical and artistic merit to make the photo worth seeing. Having looked at countless snaps, I suspect that around 90% of them would fail to impress the average person, while even fewer would impress an accomplished photographer. Most casual snaps are riddled with common errors. Here are just five examples of common errors.

Incorrect White Balance

I've put this first because it's become a glaring error in the digital age. You must adjust the setting on your camera for sunlight, shade, tungsten, or fluorescent lighting. The huge difference in color temperature can turn skin colors to amazing shades of green, yellow, orange, or even blue, if the setting is wrong. In landscapes the difference can be subtler, as illustrated in Figure 2.1. Some people prefer the scenery to look warmer than it really is.

Figure 2.1 Incorrect color temperature can be harder to see in landscapes, until you vary it in software. Too blue or cool (left) or too red or warm (right) can make the scene look as if it were taken at a different time of day. The image in the middle is the balanced one.

Camera and Motion Blur

Brave attempts to use natural light often fail when the automatic exposure uses a slow shutter speed. The result is camera shake or a failure to stop the natural movement of the subject, either of which will produce a blurred image.

Standing Too Far Away

Every day, people are taking millions of photos of subjects that are simply too distant to be the main component of the composition. Admittedly, it can be difficult to get close to many of the subjects we'd like to capture, but that's why telephoto lenses were invented. Use them, or choose a different subject.

Missing the Moment

It's easy to miss the moment—especially when there is a lengthy delay between pressing the shutter and the flash firing—and many snapshots betray this fault. The point of interest, the whole reason for taking the shot, can disappear if you're a split second too slow.

Too Much Contrast

Buildings and hard-edged machinery can look great under the intense light of the midday sun, but landscapes, people, flowers, and animals do not. Too much contrast ruins the average sunny-day snap because it removes vital information from the image (see Figure 2.2).

Figure 2.2 Even low-level sunlight creates far too much contrast between this tree and its shaded background.

Here's the good news. None of the errors I've mentioned is necessarily the result of using a low-cost camera, although blur (the wrong sort of blur) can be lessened by using a camera with a faster and more expensive lens.

What Makes a Good Snapshot?

A good snapshot captures something of significance in the world: a unique moment, a look, a gesture, an unusual juxtaposition, or even a chance arrangement of shapes and colors that seems to form a coherent composition. With a little forethought, snapshots can be engineered—at which point they edge perilously close to becoming photographs. For example, some people like to snap themselves or their friends lying down in unusual places—the middle of the road, inside a supermarket, or on top of a crocodile. These are ersatz (imitation) snaps. A true snap would occur if the subject were (respectively) run over, arrested, or bitten.

Three elements combine to create a good snapshot. At the very least, the shot needs to be technically acceptable on all main counts: exposure, focus, and color balance. After that it needs artistic input: a regard for form, texture, light and shade, and color and pattern. The third and final element is content. This is mostly the subject itself—which you may have chosen carefully or stumbled upon by chance—but it also includes the background and maybe some foreground, both of which will show up in the final image.

When a snapshot is exceptionally good, it is usually because the person who took it has (by design or good fortune) combined all three elements into one, using the technical and artistic components to enhance the special qualities of the image content.

Ten Cost-Nothing Tips for Better Snaps

It costs nothing to improve your snapshot photography. You don't even need to buy a better camera. Just follow these 10 tips and you'll be taking better snaps in no time at all.

1. Keep Your Camera Ready

If you want to capture unusual or spontaneous shots, you need first to carry your camera with you, and then to keep it ready for taking photos at a moment's notice. Imagine a gallery composed entirely of the snaps that would have been taken on all those occasions when people have said: Oh, if only I had a camera with me!

2. Turn Off the Flash

On-camera flash may give you sharp images, but its light is harsh and flat. Try turning it off in favor of natural light, especially outdoors. Digital cameras are capable of making correct exposures in poor light—but you need to discover the limits of your particular camera in this respect.

3. Stop Posing!

Not you—I mean stop posing your subjects, unless you're doing a fashion or glamour shoot. It's far better to get people engaged in some activity until they forget about the camera altogether. At this point, you'll get some great snaps that will reveal your subjects' personalities.

4. Watch the Subject

Take your cue from press photographers. They all snap at once when the subject makes any kind of gesture (and not always the visionary pointing gesture beloved of politicians). A sidelong glance, a flashing smile—miss it, and you've missed a great shot.

5. Get in Close

By getting in close to your subject, you simplify the photo, declutter the background, and make the image easier to read. There's a huge amount of information in human and animal expressions, all of which can be lost if you're too far away.

6. Find the Angle

Ansel Adams said A good photograph is knowing where to stand. After that, you need to find the right height for the camera. With children, get down to their level. Do the same for small animals and to get a fresh perspective on familiar scenes.

7. Avoid Harsh Sunlight

If your subject is people, ask them to move to the shade of a tree or a building rather than snap them in the glare of the sun. But be aware that a sunny background may appear washed out when you expose for shade.

8. Simplify the Composition

Viewers are never going to marvel at a cluttered photograph, as they might a painting. Cameras are just too darn good at showing detail. Throw the background out of focus, move closer, and do anything to simplify your composition.

A Decent Snap

Figure 2.3 shows a snap that meets all the criteria, although the direct sunlight was unavoidable. I was photographing a cookery demonstration when these musicians struck up a tune nearby—so I snapped them quickly. I used a low