So whether it’s fair or not, the bottom line is the photographer will be considered responsible for the outcome – good or bad, regardless of who’s at fault. I’ve worked on Hollywood shoots and productions for years, so I know all to well about this dilemma. Fortunately, I’ve learned quite a few tips and tricks along the way, which I will share with you.

Wardrobe

More often than not, the subject being shot will often want to wear something that is busy looking; plaids, stripes, bright colors, etc.  While these may look nice in-person, they rarely do on camera; these things become distractions in the photo.  This is why muted colors generally work best.  When it comes to stripes, I have found that tiny pinstripes can work but anything bigger doesn’t.  Occasionally plaids can work if their colors are extremely muted.

Skin Care

Thanks to Photoshop, today we can usually fix skin blemishes with the click of a mouse. But when it comes to changing actual skin tones, it can be a bit trickier; editing pale skin to make it tan or vice-versa can be a lot of work. This is why I recommend you try and create the desired skin tone before you shoot. Of course lighting plays a big part, but the use of a little sunless tanner or bronzer can work wonders too. But be careful not to overdue it; you don’t want your subjects looking orange or too dark. If you are going for a glowing, more radiant look instead, a skin lightening gel like kojic acid may be able to help.

Posing

This is a whole art in itself, so it’s impossible for me to cover this in a single paragraph. But I do have one valuable tip which can make your shoot a lot easier: Before shooting, explain to your subject that when you tell them to turn their head a certain way for a shot, less is more. For example, when you tell a subject to turn their head a little to the left, more times than not they will drastically turn to the left. The difference between the perfect shot and the worst shot may only be 1 or 2 degrees in the rotation of their head, so explain this to them before you begin – subtle movements are better.

Eyes

Growing up, we are taught to “say cheese” and smile for the camera.  But any seasoned portrait photographer will tell you the eyes are just as important, if not more so. Take a look at a “fake” looking smile and a real one, and usually the only difference are the eyes.  So be sure and explain this to your subject before the shoot. I’ve always found the phrase “smile with your eyes” helps tremendously. Also it’s important to note that editing eyes in post can be tricky, so be sure the subject’s eye makeup is good to go. If dark circles are present, using a dark circles eye cream may not be a bad idea. However, under eye blemishes like dark spots and eye bags can easily be edited out.

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Amongst all the types of poster printing methods, digital poster printing has come a long way. In digital printing, the digital presses make use of electro prints and photography, with special toners or inks and are able to print variable data, which is like a replica of text and images. Digital poster printing is able to provide you eye catching colorful posters for special events or business, making your vision run imaginatively. There is a wide array of the kinds of paper you can use for printing the posters like the high quality satin, matte, or photographic glossy paper.

Then there are the photography posters which are becoming very popular now days, featuring several photographs are taken in a unique, artistic and professional way and merged to form one single poster frame. People love to decorate their homes with such posters featuring landscapes, forestry, wildlife, animals, sea creatures, insects, flowers or buildings. Many companies are coming up with better digital photography software to improve the posters, making them more eye catching and soothing to the eyes. The digital cameras capture the finer points to perfection, and make the viewer believe that he or she is looking at a real object and not a poster. With the help of digital color printing a poster tends to look more colorful and alive, making your house or office look unique, forcing people to stop and take a second look in admiration!

Custom poster printing make your posters stand out. It allows you to customize, fashion and designs posters the way you like it to the finest details, making it as distinct as possible. Such posters can easily be laminated, varnished and can maintain your logo through the color spot. The length and width of the custom posters can be dictated suiting your requirements. You could even add features that maybe no other posters would have, like create pockets on them to hold a number of cards.

Poster printing software is largely used now days to produce good posters. They could be of any size; it could be the large format size or the simple regular size. The software has the capability to unite the word processing, graphics and desktop publishing packages all together with different characteristics in order to produce large banners or posters. With this poster printing software you can create your own color combinations, shades, and textures and enhance your posters. Thus it helps you obtain quality poster prints.

Good poster printing companies should be capable of both wide and large format printing. They should also have the knowhow to print posters varying in size and dimension. Posters can be printed with the help of offset printing mainly used for quality, at lower prices. They are also printed on vinyl which is made into vinyl banners. The posters printed on artist canvas gives a lot of details for the photographs or the reproduction of artworks. Posters are also printed on adhesive material or static cling material.  A professional poster printing company will answer all your printing questions, and you can also ask them about laminations, coatings and grommets.

So go ahead and let your imagination run wild. The better the poster printing company, the more options you have of printing a poster and  better your results will turn out to be!

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Liven Up Your E-mails
When sending pictures to your relatives or friends, there’s a lot you can do to make the e-mail more appealing than just sending photos as attachments. If you’re using an e-mail client such as Outlook Express or Mozilla Thunderbird, you can use their inbuilt HTML editors to embed the pictures in the body of the mail. The advantage here is that you can add captions beneath the photos, and even arrange them the way you want them to be seen. You can go crazy with formatting adding lines, tables and even backgrounds to really give the e-mail a photo album effect. Though it may be time consuming, your recipients are sure to appreciate the effort.

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Shooting Fireworks
This can be especially tricky, since most people make the mistake of using longer exposures to capture fireworks when in reality it works the opposite way. Capturing fireworks with long exposure will mostly end up generating artifacts on the picture due to bursts of fast moving lights. Use low exposure settings and a tripod when shooting fireworks.
These are just guidelines, not absolute rules. You should try playing with your digital camera settings to get different results. Experimenting is what will help you in the long run, and with a digital camera, it won’t cost you a thing!

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Keep it Stable
Do your pictures look like you shot them while travelling on a bus on some of the worst roads in world ? Were you actually trying as hard as possible to remain motionless when clicking? Chances are you’ve been cursed with the worst possible combination in photography a digital camera and shaky hands. This problem is only made worse at night, and if you want to be able to shoot better photographs, get a tripod or place your camera on a sturdy, stationary surface when clicking. You can also use the self-timer function on your camera to completely avoid blurry images position the shot, set the timer and gently click, so that when the camera actually clicks the photograph, you are not touching it, causing it to shake.

Higher Exposure
If you’re shooting at night, chances are that you want every hint of available light captured. For example, when shooting a cityscape from the top of the building, you would want to
Capture the light on the streets as well as the light coming from the windows of the buildings, to give your photograph a full effect. If you click with automatic settings, you will only get the street lights the surrounding buildings will be black. To start with, change your exposure settings to ISO 400-or even ISO 800 in case you do not get the desired effect at first. This setting will allow you to capture light at a faster rate, which is a necessity for low lighting at high shutter speeds. If you have the option of keeping the shutter open for a longer period,  try setting this between three and five seconds to allow the light to settle. Remember, if you keep the shutter open for too long there may be some multicolor artifacts it’s best to stick to fast shutter speeds at higher ISO levels.

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The Rule Of Thirds
One of the most popular rules of photography, it applies to both traditional, as well as digital photography. According to this rule, if the frame of the viewfinder were to be divided into thirds, both horizontally and vertically, then the four intersections are the best places to put your subject, instead of the centre of the frame. This yields an appealing image.
In case of a landscape shoot that needs an emphasis on the sky, get the horizon on the lower horizontal grid.

Foreground And background
Zoom in and choose a large aperture setting for sharper foregrounds and blurred backgrounds. This setting is appropriate for portrait photos. Zooming out and choosing a small aperture results in an equal focus on the background and foreground.

Shooting Fireworks
Snap up those beautiful fireworks using a digital camera with a shutter speed longer than a second. Ideally, opt for a shutter speed between 2 to 10 seconds to capture all the sparkle and razzmatazz. You will also need a tripod to avoid jerky, haphazard photos. Eliminate even the slightest possibility of vibration by using a camera that comes equipped with a remote shutter release. Set ISO to the lowest setting to reduce noise the tiny dots across such snaps. Enable long exposure noise reduction, if the camera comes with it. Preview the shot on the LCD screen, and accordingly adjust the aperture so that it’s just the right size to get bright sharp photos. Keep spare batteries with you.

Warm Tones
Normally, the default white balance setting for most digital cameras is set to ‘Auto’. Though this is fine in most cases, sunny landscapes and portraits taken in bright light could turn out dull. Hence, change its setting to ‘Cloudy’ to get warmer reds and yellows that make the picture look better.

Polarizing Filter
Polarizing filter is used for outdoor shoots since it reduces glare and reflection, and results in more saturated colors, especially in the case of sky. Use your sunglasses in case your camera doesn’t have support for one. Place the glasses as close to the camera as possible, check the LCD to see that its frame does not obstruct the view and shoot. For better results, use it when the light source and the subject are at right angles, i.e., when the sun is exactly over your head. Further, set the white balance to ‘Cloudy’ for warmer photos.

Flash Modes
Normally, digital cameras have three flash modes Auto Flash, Fill Flash and Red Eye Reduction. Auto Flash mode is used for general photography. In this mode, the flash   determines whether it needs to be fired or not, based on the amount of light present. This mode is represented on the LCD by a lightning icon with a capital A’. In the case of Fill Flash, the flash is always fired. This is useful when the subject is sitting in the shade with bright sunlight around. If set to Auto, the flash would not have fired, resulting in dark spots around the eyes. In the Red-Eye Reduction mode, the flash is fired several times before the shutter actually opens. Thus, the eye-pupils are contracted and the red-eye effect reduces. Use this mode when there is very little light and the photo depends on the flash.

Snapping Water
A camera with a shutter speed that’s slower than a second or two can be used to shoot flowing water and make it look like a painting. Set your camera on a tripod. Adjust the aperture either to f-8, f-11, or f-16 for better depth of field. Now, set the shutter speed to 2 seconds, and shoot. Since you are using long exposures, make sure that the subject is positioned in the shade. Use polarising filters to enhance the effect.

Master the Modes
Digital cameras have many presets, called modes or macros that let you click photos differently. Some of the common modes are Auto, Portrait, Landscape, Sports and Night. Auto mode is the general picture-taking mode. When you use this mode, the exposure, focus, and flash are set automatically. When this mode is active, there is usually a small camera icon on your LCD to indicate it. Portrait mode, usually shown on the LCD as a face, sharpens the subject and leaves the background out of focus.Landscape mode is indicated by mountains on the LCD, and is suited for shooting subjects that are at a distance. Often, a slower shutter speed is chosen and hence, it’s better to use a tripod while using this mode. The Sports or Action mode provides a faster shutter speed and is use to shoot fast moving objects. Night mode, as the name suggests, is used to shoot in poor light conditions. Since this also means longer exposures, use of a tripod is recommended.

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