photography problem solving

22 Common photography problems (and how to fix them)

You never have to be in doubt ever again

Common photography problems can really take the enjoyment out of taking pictures. As one of the more technical pastimes you can pursue, it can be pretty confusing at times.

Whether you're just starting out or have been taking pictures for a while, chances are you keep encountering the same nagging problem. Don't worry though - you're not alone and this is where we come in.

We've put together some of the most common photography problems you encounter and offered solutions to get round them, so you never have to be in doubt ever again!

We've offered a mix of camera tips, explanations, definitions and more to help answer your questions. And we've also provided links, where appropriate, to some of our photography tutorials covering these problems in more depth.

Problem No. 1: Will changing lenses mean I end up with dust on the camera sensor?

So much has been said about 'dust bunnies' (small particles of dust that can land on your camera's sensor and cause dots in images) that many DSLR and mirrorless photographers seem paranoid about changing lenses. Yet being able to use the best lens for any particular shot is one of the best attractions to DSLR and mirrorless photography.

Don't be afraid to change lenses when you need to, but take a few precautions. Always switch the camera off, as this removes any static charge from the sensor that can attract dust particles. Where possible, choose a dust-free, non-windy location when changing lenses too. If that's not possible, at least shield yourself from the wind.

Next, get the replacement lens ready to fit so that you don't have to waste time with the camera internals exposed. Finally, keep the camera's lens opening pointing downwards when changing lenses, to minimise the risk of anything falling into it.

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Problem No. 2: Should I use a skylight filter on my lens?

Skylight filters have two jobs. One is to reduce the cool, slightly blue color cast that you might see in some of your shots, especially those taken in shade under a blue sky. With the sophisticated white balance abilities of today's cameras, this is less critical than it was when photographers were using film (especially slide film).

However, skylight filters play a second role, protecting the front element of the lens from accidental scratches and splashes. If your camera resides permanently in an orderly studio, this might not be an issue, but if you do most of your photography in the great outdoors, it certainly will be. Replacing a filter is a lot cheaper than writing off a lens!

Learn more: 5 essential photography filters

Problem No. 3: Should I Delete All or Format to remove pictures from a memory card?

Formatting the card is quicker, so is nearly always the better option. However, if images are 'Protected' during playback, they won't be erased when you press Delete All but will be wiped if you format the card. You can flag photos as 'Protected' by pressing the appropriate button.

Problem No. 4: Should I use Continuous or Auto Reset for file numbering?

We tend to stick with the Continuous file numbering option because, even after removing a memory card, copying the files and then formatting it, the numbering system will carry on from where it left off. This is also true when swapping memory cards. The advantage is that, even over long periods, all of your camera's image files will have unique file names.

Problem No. 5: What's the difference between raw and JPEG image quality settings?

Put simply, it's best to think of JPEGs as high-street prints and raw files as negatives. You camera's already applied an number of adjustments to a JPEG file, as well as compressing it at the same time.

A raw file lets you make all those creative choices, allowing you to control exposure, white balance, color mode, saturation, contrast, sharpening, as well as a host of other settings. It's more time consuming, and you'll need to use a raw converter like Photoshop Lightroom , but the results are worth it.

Learn more: The A to Z of Photography: Raw

Problem No. 6: Should I use sRGB or Adobe RGB?

The Adobe RGB color space was developed to enable the largest gamut when printing an RGB image on a CMYK printer. The sRGB colour space ('s' stands for standard) is best for viewing images on a screen or distributing them electronically. It's also the best option for inkjet printing, even if you're sending your files to a printing lab.

Problem No. 7: Many of my indoor photos have a nasty yellow cast. Am I doing something wrong?

The likely cause of this is an inaccurate white balance. The Auto White Balance setting of DSLRs typically does a good job of reacting to varying daylight conditions, such as bright sunshine, cloudy skies or shade, but the color temperature of indoor lighting generally falls outside of the range covered. The usual result is that interiors lit by general-purpose lights have a nasty yellow color cast.

The quickest remedy is to change your camera's white balance setting from Auto to Tungsten (also called Incandescent on some cameras) if you're shooting under standard interior lights, or the Fluorescent setting for strip lighting.

Things get trickier when you have a mix of lighting - when daylight is streaming in through a window and you've got interior room lights switched on as well, for example. If you have time, you might want to experiment with your white balance settings, but our recommendation would be to shoot in raw. As we've mentioned above, unlike JPEG files, it's easy to change the color temperature of raw files at the editing stage.

Learn more: The A to Z of Photography: Kelvin

Problem No. 8: I took some sunset photos, but they don't look very colorful. Why is this?

The problem is that the auto white balance of digital cameras will typically try to cancel out any shift in color temperature, with the aim of producing results that are more neutral. As a result, the AWB setting can leech all the orange light out of sunset and sunrise shots, giving rise to insipid, neutral images as a result.

The solution is to switch to a preset white balance mode. The regular Daylight or Sunlight setting will often yield fairly accurate results, but the best way to emphasise the golden quality of low-level sunlight is to change to the Cloudy white balance setting. Moving to the Shade setting will further exaggerate orange hues.

Learn more: The best camera settings for sunset photography

Problem No. 9: Why are some of the ISO ratings on my camera unavailable as standard settings?

Many cameras split their total sensitivity range into standard and 'extended' ISO sections.

This means cameras deliver optimum image quality in their standard ISO range, with maximum detail and the least amount of digital image noise at their base ISO settings - usually either ISO100 or ISO200.

At the extended range, even more 'gain' is applied (think of it like turning the volume up on a Hi-Fi, so system noise becomes more apparent) than in the standard ISO range, which results in more digital grain.

This does give you some flexibility in poor lighting conditions, but be prepared for image quality to be noticeable poorer than if you were shooting in your camera's standard range.

At the other end of the scale, low ISO settings that are one stop below the base sensitivity of the camera are sometimes available. These are handy if you want to use a large aperture to minimise depth of field, or create motion blur with a slow shutter speed.

The trade-off is that you'll typically lose about one stop of dynamic range in the highlights, so they'll wash out to white more readily.

Problem No. 10: I've used the smallest aperture on my lens to get everything sharp, but the picture looks soft - have I done something wrong?

Most lenses have a minimum aperture of f/22, although some (such as macro lenses) offer an even smaller setting of, say, f/32. But why is the minimum aperture of a lens rarely listed alongside the focal length of a lens, as its maximum aperture is?

This is because the smallest aperture is rarely recommended to be used, as this setting leads to softer, lower contrast images caused by an optical phenomenon known as diffraction.

Diffraction occurs when light waves entering the lens are 'bent' by the hard edges of the aperture. Every aperture setting causes this, but the bending is generally minimal. However, as the apertures gets smaller, the effect becomes more significant.

At the smallest aperture, the light waves are bent and spread out so much by the aperture blades that the image appears fuzzy, even though it's been focussed correctly.

So, while a lens's smallest aperture might enable you to maximise the depth of field when you're photographing landscapes, the resolution will deteriorate. Try opening up a half or one full stop instead to improve picture quality.

Problem No. 11: My zoom lens says it's 'macro' but I can't get anywhere near as close to subjects as I can with my compact camera. What's going on?

True macro lenses have a reproduction ratio of 1:1, which means they can image a subject the same size as the camera's sensor; on most DSLR and mirrorless cameras, this is about 24 x 16mm. Many 'macro' zooms boast ratios nearer 1:4, so the smallest possible subject is about credit-card size.

It's true that many compact cameras do allow close focusing, but they only do so with the lens at its wide-angle setting. So the smallest subject they can capture isn't as small as you might think. It can also be hard to get enough light on the subject, which ends up in the camera's shadow. A slightly longer working distance is much more practical.

Learn more: Macro lenses: how to choose one, and how to use it

Problem No. 12: Some of my shots are blurred, particularly at longer zoom settings. How do I avoid it?

Camera shake is something that becomes more problematic with longer focal lengths. The easiest way to avoid it is to use faster shutter speeds, even if this requires increasing your camera's sensitivity ( ISO ) setting.

A general rule of thumb is that the shutter speed should be faster than the focal length you're shooting at, so for instance, if you're shooting with a 200mm equivalent lens, you shouldn't shoot any slower than 1/250 sec or you risk camera shake ruining your shot.

Image stabilisation can also be a big help in reducing camera shake. With a 4-stop stabilizer you can expect consistently good handheld results when using a 400mm lens even when reducing the shutter speed from 1/500 sec to 1/30 sec.

Learn more: 10 reasons why your photos are blurry

Problem No. 13: Which autofocus mode should I use?

Most cameras featurre two basic autofocus (AF) modes: Single and Continuous (though Canon helpfully calls them One-shot and AI-Servo).

For general shooting, single mode works best because autofocus locks onto its target when you apply a light press to the shutter release button and remains fixed while you maintain the light press, until fully pressing the button to take your shot.

Continuous autofocus mode is better for moving targets, because focus continually tracks subjects, though how successful that will be is dependent on the sophistication of your camera's AF system.

Learn more: 10 surefire ways to get your sharpest-ever shots

Problem No. 14: I find manual focusing quite difficult. Is there a way of getting more precise results?

If you're using a DSLR, try and avoid using the optical viewfinder, and instead use the camera's rear display to frame shots and focus manually. You'll find most cameras feature magnification options for really precise focusing.

Some cameras also feature a Focus Peaking, with areas in-focus highlighted on the camera's display (or electronic viewfinder).

Learn more: Discover how to master manual focus

Problem No. 15: If my photos are coming out too light or too dark, how do I fix them?

This is where the exposure compensation function of your camera comes in. By pressing the button marked '+/-' and rotating your camera's control dial, you can correct the meter's interpretation of the scene.

Your camera's exposure level scale, measured in stops, is visible in the viewfinder and LCD screen(s), and this is your visual guide to getting it right. The marker in the middle of the scale represents the 'correct' exposure, according to the exposure meter. As you rotate the dial, you'll see an indicator mark move up and down the scale.

When it moves towards the '+' end of the scale, you're making the image brighter; turn the dial in the other direction and the marker moves towards the '-' end of the scale, making the picture darker.

If you're using an optical viewfinder, you won't see this change happening to the image as you do this, but the effects of exposure compensation are simulated in live view and electronic viewfinders (EVFs).

Of course, the amount of compensation you may need to apply depends on various factors, such as the tone of the subject, the lighting and the type of metering being used.

Learn more: The A to Z of Photography: Exposure compensation

Problem No. 16: In many of my landscape shots, either the ground is too dark or the sky is too bright. What am I doing wrong?

Pale skies are usually much brighter than the land, so if the ground is correctly exposed the sky will wash out. This is because the dynamic range (the range of light intensities from the darkest shadows to the brightest highlights) of the scene is wider than what the sensor can capture in a single shot.

The simplest solution is to use a neutral density (ND) graduated filter to balance the exposure - you can read our guide below, otherwise, shoot in raw and it can be possible to recover lost detail in the sky. Try and under-expose the scene slightly to retain highlight detail.

Buying guide: Best ND grad filters: 6 top models tested

Problem No. 17: I've often seen examples of these long exposure landscapes, but I can never seem to get a sufficiently slow shutter speed. Can you help?

For slow shutter speeds in daylight, you'll need to use a narrow aperture of around f/16 or f/22, but even at ISO100, this may be insufficient to enable a long exposure. The trick is to use a neutral density filter. These vary in strength, but can turn a exposure that would last less than a second into one taking longer than 30 seconds.

Buying guide: Best ND filters: 6 top models tested

Problem No. 18: When I playback images on my camera's LCD screen, parts of them are flashing - is that a fault?

This is simply a 'highlight alert' feature that is usually activated or deactivated via the camera's playback menu. With it switched on, areas of the picture that are (or are close to being) overexposed will flash or blink between black and white.

This warning enables you to instantly see, for example, if you've lost all the detail out of the sky or other very light areas in an image. It's very useful when you're trying to retain highlight detail, as you can dial in some underexposure compensation and re-shoot.

Problem No. 19: Why do my flash shots keep coming out dark?

The most likely explanation is that you're trying to shoot subjects that are too far away. Flash has a limited range, and built-in units are weaker than external flashguns.

Problem No. 20: How can I get better looking portraits on sunny days?

Sunshine is the enemy of portraiture, as it creates a hard and unflattering light. When the sun is low in the sky, people will squint, and when it's overhead, there will be deep shadows that turn their eyes into black holes.

The answer is to get your subject to turn away from the sun, so they can pose naturally, and to use fill-flash to banish shadows. When using a flashgun with TTL (Through The Lens) metering, most cameras will do a decent job of balancing flash light with ambient light, giving fairly natural results.

Use the camera's metering system as a guide, but don't exceed the maximum shutter speed for flash synchronisation - the flash sync - typically around 1/200 sec. The TTL flash exposure system should enable the right amount of illumination for fill-flash, but be prepared to dial-in some positive or negative flash exposure compensation. For ultimate control, switch to manual power settings on the flashgun and adjust the power for the best balance.

Another good option for natural-looking fill flash is to use the flashgun off-camera, holding it high and to one side of the subject, using an extension cord or wireless connection.

Learn more: Flash photography made easy: from simple shots to advanced techniques

Problem No. 21: When I take photographs of buildings, walls and roofs appear to bow outwards. What am I doing wrong?

This is most likely caused by photographing these buildings from a fairly close distance, using a wide-angle zoom setting. Wide-angle focal lengths can result in noticeable barrel distortion, making the top, bottom and sides of the building appear to bow outwards.

You'll also need to point the camera upwards, which accentuates perspective and makes the sides appear to lean in towards each other towards the top. The solution is to keep your distance so you can use a moderate zoom setting of around 35mm (50mm on a full-frame camera).

For photographing tall buildings, it's ideal if you can find a vantage point that's higher than ground level - such as another building. You could apply perspective correction when editing, but you'll lose part of the frame, so leave plenty of space around the building when shooting.

Problem No. 22: In all of my panning shots the background is too sharp or everything's blurred. Can you give me any tips?

It's difficult to find a shutter speed that's slow enough to create motion blur in the background but fast enough to stop unwanted camera shake blurring the car or bike that you're shooting.

Bear in mind that you'd normally aim for a shutter speed of about 1/500 sec to avoid camera shake when using a 300mm lens.

To create attractive motion blur in the background, you need a much slower shutter speed of about 1/60 to 1/125 sec, so developing an effective panning technique is a must. To get panning right, place your feet comfortably far apart, so that when you're facing forwards you're aiming at the position the vehicle will be in when you shoot it.

As the subject passes, swivel from your hips rather than your upper body as smoothly as possible, and gently squeeze the shutter button rather than stabbing at it. Continue the panning movement for as long as possible, even after you've taken the shot.

It does take a look of trail and error, so don't give up if it doesn't work first time out.

Learn more: 9 tips for taking sports photos like a pro

Phil Hall is an experienced writer and editor having worked on some of the largest photography magazines in the UK, and now edit the photography channel of TechRadar, the UK's biggest tech website and one of the largest in the world. He has also worked on numerous commercial projects, including working with manufacturers like Nikon and Fujifilm on bespoke printed and online camera guides, as well as writing technique blogs and copy for the John Lewis Technology guide.

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30 common photography problems solved

1. How to spot and avoid blown-out highlights

2. Expose for highlight detail

3. Getting the right exposure for silhouettes

Capturing a bold figure or object in front of a beautifully coloured sunrise or sunset in pure abstract shadow is easier than you might think. Shooting a great silhouette requires little more than pointing your camera at a bright area of the sky and hoping for the best. Shoot in aperture- priority with an aperture around f/11 and metering set to evaluative. If the subject you want to capture is small in the frame you may need to set exposure compensation to overexpose slightly, and if the subject is large in the frame you may need a touch of underexposure.

4. Setting a custom white balance

When shooting indoors under mixed lighting, setting a custom white balance is the ideal way to ensure a near perfect colour balance. Most cameras offer a custom or manual white balance setting that can be accessed via the Quick menu or the main menu. Simply follow the on-screen instructions to set white balance this way.

5. Reducing noise on long exposures

With long exposures you often experience a degree of noise, particularly in the blue channel, which is the noisiest of the three (RGB). To combat this, shoot in raw so you can then apply colour noise reduction to deal with coloured flecks, and Luminance to reduce grain in areas such as the sky using ACR or Lightroom. When you output the image make sure you select 16-Bit TIFF for editing in Photoshop, and then when you’ve finished reduce down to 8-Bit or save as a JPEG.

6. Relax with Auto ISO

Auto ISO is an amazing feature that ensures ISO is always high enough for the shutter speed to be fast enough to avoid any camera shake. When using this setting you can often set the default ISO the camera will aim to use, such as ISO 100, the upper limit such as ISO 3200 and also the minimum shutter speed. This means if you’re shooting with a 50mm lens you could set minimum shutter speed to 1/125sec for peace of mind.

7. Taking targeted meter readings

8. When to use the different metering modes

Focusing and sharpness

9. how many af points should be activated.

The number of active focus points you need depends on the subject. It’s safe to say there are few occasions where Auto point selection is a good option, and that most professionals shoot with a single focus point active whether they shoot portraits, wildlife, landscapes or motorsport. However, when it comes to action photography it can pay to activate a few more. Many cameras have an option where five or nine points are activated, with the central point being the dominant one. Then while shooting, if the subject moves away from the main point onto one of the others, the camera will keep it sharp and in focus.

10. Focus with the AE-L/AF-L button

The traditional method of focusing by half depressing the shutter button is the way most photographers focus. But there is another method. Most cameras allow you to assign different settings to the function buttons (Fn) but with Nikon DSLRs you can set the AE-L/AF-L button to AF-ON, which focuses while the shutter is released in the normal way. Some photographers prefer this method because they say it’s a quicker way of focusing. You be the judge.

11. Compose and focus like a pro

Live View is a powerful tool when it comes to composing and focusing your images. The Virtual Horizon (the name given to this feature on Nikon DSLRs) is ideal for ensuring your camera is perfectly level. To manually focus on a specific part of the scene with precision, you can zoom in to the Live View image so that it shows at 100% allowing you to focus with confidence. The image will zoom into the area covered by the active on-screen focus point.

12. Figuring out Focus Peaking on CSCs

If you own a mirrorless camera or a high-end compact, you might just benefit from a manual focusing aid known as focus peaking. This feature comes from video cameras, and shows either a white or coloured highlight, depending on your camera, over the hard edges of the parts of the subject that are in focus. To get the best out of focus peaking it can be worth zooming in to the image on the LCD, or in the EVF (if your camera offers viewfinder zoom) for increased precision.

13. Use continuous focus for fast-moving subjects

When you’re shooting a moving subject, setting the focus mode to continuous will drastically improve your chances of a sharp shot. With continuous focus selected, position the active focus point over the subject and half depress the shutter button. Now, as you track the subject, keep the focus point over it and the camera will continuously focus to keep it sharp as it moves towards or past you. Remember to leave a little space for your moving object to ‘travel’ into.

14. Avoid unwanted front and back focusing

Apart from not having control over the point of focus, the biggest downside to having Auto focus point selection turned on is that the camera may decide to focus in the wrong part of the frame. In this mode the camera will focus on what it thinks is the most prominent element in the scene, and this could be in the foreground or the background. To avoid the problem, shoot with a single focus point active so you can decide exactly where to position the active point. And don’t forget to change the position of the active point for each shot to avoid further focusing errors.

15. Adjust the size of AF points

16. Staying sharp with shallow DOF

17. How to focus when a macro lens is set to minimum focus

With macro lenses you’ll often want to get the most out of them by shooting at a 1:1 ratio. But when the lens is set to its minimum focus distance, what’s the best way to focus? Quite simply by moving the camera a tiny amount, with your eye to the viewfinder, backwards and forwards until the subject appears sharp. This works for handheld and when shooting with the camera on a beanbag. If using a tripod you’ll need a focusing plate that allows for this backwards and forwards adjustment.

18. Diffraction – what is it and how to spot it

Diffraction is when light disperses as it passes through the lens aperture, and causes images to be less sharp overall. This is more of a problem when the lens is stopped down to narrower settings such as f/22, which means that despite f/22 providing a greater depth-of-field than f/11, it’s not as sharp overall. So f/11 will generally produce an image that’s sharper, although depth-of-field won’t be as extensive. Many landscape photographers shoot at f/11 or f/16 – because diffraction is less problematic than when stopped down fully.

19. How to find your lens sweet spot

Step 1 Set up your camera on a tripod to shoot a detailed object. With ISO at 100 select aperture-priority and use the central focus point to focus on the subject.

Step 2 Take a shot at each full aperture stop, and then review and compare the results on your computer with the images zoomed in at 100%. The overall sharpness of the images will reduce as you move away from the sweet spot.

20. Spotting and correcting various types of lens distortion

Lens distortion is an issue with many lenses, but the old adage ‘you get what you pay for’ certainly stands strong with optics. Generally speaking, the more you pay the fewer types of distortion you’ll experience. The main types to look out for are barrel distortion, where images appear to bulge out from the centre, which is most common with wideangle lenses. Pincushion distortion is the opposite; images appear to be sucked in from all four sides, and this is most common with telephoto lenses.

The most troublesome type is moustache distortion, which is a combination of barrel and pincushion; the centre bulges out, while the ends of each side of the image appear sucked back in. Fortunately this is uncommon in modern lenses, although it does exist. Finally, the other thing to look out for is chromatic aberration. This is when a lens fails to focus colours at the same convergence point, and results in coloured bands along subject edges. With the exception of moustache distortion, all of these issues can be fixed in ACR and Lightroom.

Flash and lighting

21. slow sync and rear-curtain flash.

Step 1 To shoot slow-sync flash, set the camera to shutter-priority with shutter speed at 1/30sec and ISO at 400. You may need to experiment with shutter speed depending on the subject’s movement.

Step 2 Attach your flashgun to the hotshoe and make sure it’s set to TTL and most importantly, set it to rear-curtain sync. In this mode the shutter opens and just before it closes the flash fires to capture blur behind the frozen subject. If you use front curtain the blur will be in front of the subject, which looks odd.

22. How to avoid heavy shadows in sunlight

It’s often said that you shouldn’t shoot portraits on bright sunny days because harsh shadows are created on the face. While this is true if you’re simply using natural light, if you have a flash you have the ability to fill the shadows with light. To overcome the problem, shoot in aperture- priority with your flashgun set to TTL, and apply flash exposure compensation if necessary. This will help you to fill shadows in the most natural-looking way.

23. Take more control with wireless triggers

The best way to take more control over flash, and achieve creative lighting effects, is to use off-camera flash. By using wireless triggers you can fire one or more flashguns remotely, which means you can position your lights anywhere rather than being limited to the camera hotshoe. Two flashguns are all you need to achieve professional-quality studio effects on location or indoors, and don’t forget that you can also use light modifiers to shape and direct the light.

24. Avoid amateur- looking flash

25 Off-camera flash doesn’t have to be complicated

With the cost of wireless flash triggers at an all-time low, it’s easy to forget that there are other ways of triggering your flashgun when it’s off-camera. Optical slaves are one option, and while they’re old technology they can be a lifesaver when wireless triggers decide not to work. Another option that offers speed and convenience is an off-camera cable. These allow you to use your camera in TTL mode, and take advantage of all other on-camera functionality, while enjoying the ability to add modifiers to the flashgun. You can either hold the flashgun in your left hand or mount it on a light stand. The downside to this set-up is that you’re limited by the length of the cable, but you do get a quick and easy way to achieve creative lighting effects.

Processing and editing

26. correcting noise without the dreaded waxy effect.

Step 1 In ACR and Lightroom locate the Noise Reduction controls and first adjust Color, which is set to 25 by default. Drag it to zero and then drag it right until the colour noise disappears – this is usually between 10 and 20.

Step 2 Drag the Luminance slider to an amount between 20 and 40. Going higher will make the image begin to appear waxy. Now you can increase the Detail slider to pull back some detail, and the Contrast slider will boost contrast in areas of continuous tone.

27. The right way to resize images for print

The easiest way to resize an image for print in Photoshop is to use the crop tool with the W x H x Resolution option selected. With this you can set the exact dimensions of the paper in inches or centimetres, and the resolution to the correct amount of 300dpi.

Step 1 Open the image to be cropped and press C on the keyboard to activate the Crop tool. Using the dropdown menu at the top left of the Photoshop window, select W x H x Resolution. Now type in the dimensions using ‘in’ or ‘cm’ after the number and then put 300 in the next box. Make sure the final dropdown option is set to px/in.

Step 2 With the image cropped to a smaller size, it’s important to save a new copy so you don’t overwrite and lose the original. Press Ctrl+Shift+S to open the Save As dialogue. Select JPEG as the file type, name the image and save it in a location where you can find it. Now it’s ready for home printing, or at a lab.

28. The right way to resize images for web

The best way to save images for email and online use is to use the Save for Web option in Photoshop, which can be accessed using the shortcut Ctrl+Alt+Shift+S.

Step 1 When the dialogue window opens, set the file type to JPEG and make sure Progressive is checked.

Step 2 Set Quality to 70%, which will maintain image quality and drastically reduce size. Now make sure Convert to RGB is checked, and use the Metadata dropdown menu to select what information is retained in the image – Copyright and Contact Info is the most commonly used option.

Step 3 Set the Image size so that the longest edge is the desired dimension, and then click on ‘save’ to be taken to the save dialogue box.

29. Fix muddiness in an instant

Step 1 To check and fix this problem, create a Levels Adjustment Layer or simply use Levels by pressing Ctrl+L.

Step 2 Now drag the white and black points inwards so that they sit below the two ends of the histogram where it rises.

Step 3 Holding down the Alt key while dragging the points shows shadow and highlight clipping.

30. Sharpen without creating artefacts and halos

The best way to sharpen images is to use the Sharpen controls in ACR and Lightroom. The default settings are perfect nine out of ten times. However, there will be instances when you need to sharpen shots in Photoshop, so here’s how to use Unsharp Mask without creating halos.

Step 1 Go to the main Photoshop menu and select Filter>Sharpen>Unsharp Mask. When the dialogue box opens, set Radius to 2.0 Pixels and then drag the Amount slider to the right until the image looks sharp, but not so far that halos appear.

Step 2 Set Threshold to 5-10 pixels. Threshold smooths out the sharpening effect, but applying too much counteracts sharpening. Now see if you can increase the Amount without creating artefacts or halos, and hit OK when you’re done.

James Abbott is a professional photographer and journalist specialising in portrait and landscape photography. From shooting wildlife images to high-end beauty photography, if you can think of a subject there’s a good chance he’s photographed it. www.jamesaphoto.co.uk

25 common Photography problems and how to fix them

How to solve the most common problems every photographer comes up against

Part 1: 25 common photography problems
Part 2: 25 common photography problems

13. How can I avoid ugly and unflattering shadows when I use my camera flash?

Our camera’s built-in flash is a useful fall-back when lighting conditions are so dark that there’s no alternative way for the shot to be achieved. However, the results are not always the most flattering, particularly the closer the bulb is to the actual lens.

The subject can end up looking like a rabbit in the headlights, and the harsh light can also introduce ugly, amateur-ish looking shadows.

The solution is to move the flash further away from the lens – by attaching an accessory flashgun , if your camera will allow for it. This usually comes with a tilting head, allowing for the light from the flash to be angled and ‘bounced’ off surrounding surfaces, in order that it is not directly flooding the subject. The result will be more even, more natural light – that doesn’t look so obviously artificial.

Of course you can start using reflectors and softboxes and studio lighting heads on stands for more professional results still, but investing in a dedicated flashgun that simply slots onto your existing camera is usually the initial solution to banish any problems.

14. The brighter parts of my image have lost detail. What can I do to fix that?

This is what's commonly referred to as ‘blown highlights’. As we can’t re-introduce detail that has been lost in the process of the image being captured, particularly if shooting JPEG rather than Raw, the ideal way to avoid such an issue is to prevent it happening in the first place – by which we mean paying attention to your camera’s histogram, the on-screen graph which highlights the overall brightness of your image/scene.

Ideally, you want to be looking at an even distribution, rather than seeing the graphic representation bunching up to the left or right of screen in a thin, narrow band. If it appears as if the image is going to be over-exposed, you can adjust the camera’s exposure compensation to suit, dialing it down, say to -1 EV, and seeing what effect that has on subsequent shots.

15. My night-time images look noisy, blurred, or both

If you’re not using flash – which, in fairness, could ruin the naturalistic effect you’re trying to achieve – then a slow shutter speed/long exposure, enabling the camera to let in as much ambient light as possible, is the obvious answer here.

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However, as anyone who has tried to hand hold a camera shooting a longer exposure will have discovered, it's impossible to avoid blur, so a flat surface and/or tripod is a must.

It's also worth setting the camera’s self-timer feature, so the shutter fires automatically without you having to physically depress the shutter button yourself, an act which could also introduce camera shake and image blur under such sensitive, low light circumstances.

An alternative is investing in a cable release, if your camera is compatible with them. Experimentation here is key, particularly if seeing the effect that can be had when adjusting ISO light sensitivity settings, and if you’re also attempting to capture the sky at night, which requires both patience and perseverance.

16. My selfie images always look terrible

There are a few tricks you can try to get your narcissistic portraits looking less terrible. Firstly, unless you absolutely have to be using flash, deactivate it. Firing a flash into your face via a camera held merely at arm’s length is rarely going to flatter.

Secondly, because you’ll be shooting handheld without flash, try bumping up the ISO and engage the camera’s built-in image stabilization (if it offers the feature), as a belt and braces approach to avoiding any camera shake introducing unwanted blur to the image.

If you’re shooting indoors at a party under tungsten lighting you may also want to manually adjust the white balance, by, typically, selecting the tungsten setting. Additionally, try setting the camera to continuous or burst capture; by taking a rapid fire sequence of shots you’re more likely to end up with one where you're you’re looking your best.

Fortunately the tilt and swivel LCD screen is becoming more commonplace on the latest generation digital cameras, enabling the user to point not only the camera’s lens but also the camera’s LCD screen in their direction – thereby enabling the selfie taker to get a good idea of what the eventual image may look like before they squeeze the shutter release button.

17. I’ve tried and failed to take stunning images of snowy landscapes

The problem here is that snowy scenes have one dominant colour: white. Daylight also lends snow a blue colour cast, so that’s one thing you’ll want to adjust for. This can either be done in camera – adjusting the white balance settings until you arrive at a natural look – or at the image-editing stage.

Most cameras that offer scene modes will include one specifically for snow. An interesting experiment is also to avoid colour altogether and to shoot the scene in black and white, for a real windswept, wintry look. You may even find you want to add grain for any even grittier, foreboding appearance.

Also, as fresh snow is so bright, your camera’s metering system will be fooled into thinking it is lighter out than it actually is, and so will want to underexpose the scene, making for a gloomier appearance than what you see before you. To combat this, you’ll want to bump up the exposure compensation by +1 or +2EV in camera, or brighten the image at the post production stage. If it’s sunny out, and you have a lens hood for your camera, this can also be deployed to reduce the effects of glare off the snow.

If you want to get ambitious, meanwhile, and attempt to capture falling snow, then you’ll need a slower shutter speed; say 1/250th of a second. Finally, try also photographing a snowy scene at night, with streetlights reflecting off the white surface; you may have to bump up the camera’s ISO, but again nothing is lost in experimentation, except your time.

18. I want to use motion blur creatively for action shots. How do I go about it?

A tricky one, as it’s difficult to arrive at a shutter speed that can achieve two things: create motion blur in the background of the shot and yet be fast enough to avoid blurring the car or bike that is the main focus of the image.

First off, select your camera’s shutter priority mode. To create attractive motion blur for the background of a shot you need a slow-ish shutter speed of say 1/60 to 1/125 sec, while, in order to manage to get the main subject of your shot sharp enough with it, you need to develop an effective panning technique, too.

To help with this, place your feet comfortably far apart and aim at the position you envisage the vehicle or subject will be in when you photograph it. As the subject passes, pan as smoothly as possible, gently squeezing the shutter release button, so as not to introduce any camera wobble and therefore possible blur.

Again, this is one of those instances where you gradually arrive at a sweet spot after a degree of trial and error, so expect to discard a few frames in your quest for the perfect action or sporting shot. But stay focused and don’t keep checking captured images on the rear screen every few seconds.

19. I want to creatively blur free-flowing water for my landscape shots, so it resembles an ethereal mist

The way you achieve this rather painterly look beloved of professional landscape photographers and fine artists is with a long exposure.

To achieve this, in daylight, you’ll need to slow things down by selecting a sufficiently narrow aperture, say f/16 or f/22, and dialing down the ISO settings to a minimum, say ISO100.

If this doesn’t work, then investing in a neutral density filter, in order to prolong an exposure that would normally last less than a second to one lasting longer than 30 seconds, is recommended.

It probably goes without saying that use of a tripod for such long exposures is a must.

20. I’m using my camera’s flash, but my images are still too dark

The most likely issue here would be that your flash isn’t powerful enough to adequately illuminate the subject at the distance you’re shooting at – so simply move a few feet closer if possible, rather than zooming in (which won't make the flash any more powerful).

Flash, although perfectly helpful in most low light scenarios, has a limited range after all, and the flash on board your camera will be weaker than an actual accessory flashgun.

So investing in a bigger and better accessory flash (if your camera allows for such an attachment) is another obvious solution.

21. My photos still resemble amateur snaps. How do I take my compositional skills to the next level?

Employing what’s referred to as the ‘rule of thirds’ when placing a subject in your frame is a tried and tested way to start upping your game.

Mentally imagine your image divided by three lines horizontally and three vertically, producing, in effect, nine squares. Now, experiment by placing your subject or subjects on those points within the frame where those theoretical lines intersect, aiming for something of interest in the foreground, middle and background of your shot.

Some digital cameras will let you call up a compositional grid from their operational menu that mimics this rule and overlays the image represented on the camera’s LCD, so you don’t even have to think for yourself.

You might also try placing your main subject off to the left or right hand side of the frame, rather than making the obvious beginner’s error of simply plonking them in the centre of the image. The rule of thirds also encourages you to pay attention to what’s going on in the foreground and the background of your shot. This helps avoid the regular (and easy to miss in the heat of the moment) ‘street sign growing out of your subject’s head’ effect, when dealing with busy backgrounds.

22. How can I get great still life close ups?

Your camera’s close up or macro setting – or macro lens, if you’re using a DSLR – is the one to activate here. It’s the one with the flower-resembling icon.

However, bear in mind that if your camera has a zoom lens, close focusing will only be possible at its widest setting. Also, if you get too up close and personal to your subject, it will fall prey to shadows cast both by your camera and the photographer – you.

So a slightly longer working distance is more practical. After all, if you’re shooting at a high resolution anyway, the shot will accommodate a degree of cropping later.

23. I’ve been using my lens’ minimum aperture setting of f/22, but the picture’s a bit soft

The lens’ maximum brightest/ fastest aperture setting is often given as the headline feature, partly because its smallest aperture – say f/22 – is rarely recommended to be used because of the optical phenomenon known as diffraction.

This occurs when waves of light entering the lens are bent by the hard edges of the aperture, and, as the apertures get smaller, the effect becomes more pronounced. At the smallest aperture, for example, the light waves are bent and spread out so much by the aperture blades that it can have the effect of the image appearing indistinct, when in fact it’s focused correctly.

Of course, stopping down the aperture to, say, f/22, rather than the brightest of, for example, f/2.8, will also generally make the resultant image more susceptible to the effects of camera shake and image blur. The solution to all of this is to open up by a half or a full stop in order to improve overall image quality.

Check out our f-stop cheat sheet

24. Why are some of my camera’s ISO settings unavailable as part of its ‘core’ light sensitivity range?

It’s become commonplace for digital cameras to split their total light sensitivity range (given as increasing or decreasing ISO numbers) between standard and ‘extended’ settings.

This is because cameras deliver their optimal performance within their standard, or core, ISO range, with the extended range – usually needing to be implemented via a dedicated setting in the camera menu – provided as a back up, lending the photographer added flexibility in low lighting conditions. The trade off, is, however, increased noise or grain at these higher ISOs.

At the other end of the scale – say, decreasing the camera’s formerly minimum ISO100 setting to ISO50 instead – the ability to tweak the ISO still further comes in handy if you want to use a fast/bright camera aperture for a shallow depth of field, or to create motion blur with a slow shutter speed – both without overexposing the image and losing highlight detail. Again, experimentation is key.

Check out our ISO cheat sheet

25. Am I losing anything by shooting JPEG instead of Raw files?

Your camera’s Raw files should be thought of as your digital negatives – those containing the maximum amount of information about your shot – whereas JPEGs are the photographic prints of the digital world.

Your camera has already applied a series of adjustments to a JPEG file, while compressing it at the same time. This is why you can fit many more JPEGs on your camera’s media card than you can Raw files, which is, yes, the raw information for your image.

For those who have the time, inclination and storage space, self-processing a Raw file lets you make a bunch of creative choices as part of your imaging workflow that the camera would otherwise make for you if shooting only JPEG. For example, you can adjust exposure, sharpening, color saturation, contrast and more. It’s time consuming for sure, but can also be more rewarding.

Read more: Photography cheat sheets How to master manual focus How to use the Aperture Priority mode

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Gavin has over 30 years’ experience of writing about photography and television. He is currently the editor of British Photographic Industry News , and previously served as editor of Which Digital Camera and deputy editor of Total Digital Photography .

He has also written for a wide range of publications including T3 , BBC Focus , Empire , NME , Radio Times , MacWorld, Computer Active , What Digital Camera and the Rough Guide books.

With his wealth of knowledge, Gavin is well placed to recognize great camera deals and recommend the best products in Digital Camera World’s buying guides. He also writes on a number of specialist subjects including binoculars and monoculars, spotting scopes, microscopes, trail cameras, action cameras, body cameras, filters and cameras straps.

Is this the first sign of a Nikon cine lens?

PHLEARN Magazine 20 Most Common Photography Mistakes and How to Avoid Them

20 Most Common Photography Mistakes and How to Avoid Them

At first photography seems easy, but the more you learn, the more you realize how little you actually know.

When you start falling in love with it, you are enamored with the idea that you can just point your camera toward something that interests you and voilà, it is captured for all time! And, in fact, that is a bit of a miracle, when you think about it.

It’s only when you start trying to do more than simply capture life that you start to realize how much there really is to photography. Suddenly, you’re not just taking shots, but trying to create them. And that’s when the images begin to not come out the way you want them.

If this is you, take comfort in knowing that, at some point, this was all of us.

Here’s how to avoid the most common mistakes photographers make and a few tips on how to rise above them.

Blurry Photos That Aren’t in Focus

I’m many years into photography and this mistake can still find its way into my shoots. Out-of-focus images are probably the most common of all mistakes in photography because it’s such an easy one to make. One small move by a subject or misinterpretation by your camera and you’re in for an unpleasant surprise when you review your images later.

Just remember, there are two kinds of focusing techniques : manual and auto (which also means you can mess up in multiple ways). If you’re in manual mode, you’re going to need to get used to keeping your hand on the focus ring and constantly making careful adjustments as you and your subject move. And if you’re leaving it up to the camera, in auto mode, you’re going to have to make sure that it’s in the right focus mode and the reticle that tells the camera where to focus is in the right place. Both of these techniques take practice and mastery of your camera’s most complex settings. This complexity makes this the #1 mistake, not just for new photographers, but all photographers!

Photos That Aren’t Sharp and Lack Detail

An unsharp photo is a bit like an out-of-focus photo, but where the whole image (or even the part that is in focus) just lacks detail. This is a very common issue for beginner photographers, as getting good detail in your images requires a lot of things working right for you. For one, you need a lot of light to get good detail. And two, when your camera’s shutter speed slows, you make yourself susceptible to camera shake, which also ruins your detail. And then, of course, you have to be in focus, too!

Photos Just Aren’t That Interesting

A lot of things can cause a viewer to disregard your image: it can be over-cluttered, badly composed, an over-shot subject or simply something people don’t understand. Uninteresting photos are something even the most technically adept photographer can suffer from, as a lot of it comes down to taste and creativity, and those are things that they don’t teach in a manual, or even a YouTube video. How to make an interesting photograph is something you have to figure out over the years, with trial and error as well as an education in the medium of photography.

Cheap Glass Is Holding You Back

Oftentimes when just starting out, you’re using just one lens – and it’s usually whatever came with the camera. Sometimes referred to as a “kit lens,” these are generally all-purpose lenses that can cover a lot of ground, but not expertly. Most kit lenses are zooms with an aperture that changes as you zoom in and out. This starts to limit what’s possible with these lenses in different situations. Zoom too far in and your aperture closes down, decreasing how much light can come in. Zoom all the way out and it becomes harder to get that beautiful depth of field when you want it. These limitations become frustrating for even beginner photographers and can end up creating more questions than answers.

There Are Spots All Over Your Images

So you’ve got a few lenses now! That’s great, but be careful about switching them out in the outdoors, especially on windy days or in weather of any kind. It’s a sure-fire way to get sensor dust. Most pros I know rarely switch a lens once out on a job, preferring to make those choices before heading out of the house. When you take a lens off, you expose your sensor to the elements and within a second, particles and dust can make their way into your camera and start creating spots in your images, requiring some expert cleaning, which isn’t cheap.

Frantically Running After Images

When you see an interesting person walking by, it’s natural as a photographer to want to go chase the photo. This rarely leads to a great shot. Photography is an art form requiring careful planning and composition – even in live situations. As a photographer, you want to always be in control of your craft. This can mean staking out a location before you go or pre-visualizing the image you want before heading in.

You Just Spray and Pray

Another common technique among new photographers (and some older ones, too) is to just shoot tons of images in hopes of getting a good one. This technique is called “spray and pray” and it rarely does much to help the cause. The reason it doesn’t work is that a very good shot takes some thought and consideration – and there simply isn’t any in the spray and pray technique. It gets you more images, but mostly more of the same.

Looking at Your Display More Than at Your Subject

The act of looking at every image that comes into your camera on your screen is referred to as “chimping.” Most people will tell you not to do it. I’m not in that camp. I just don’t recommend doing it while you’re in the middle of a moment, or interacting with a model, as it takes you out of the relationship too much and tends to look like you don’t know what you’re doing.

Talking About Photography as “Just a Hobby”

When starting out, it’s common to refer to your photography as a hobby. But if you say it enough times, it becomes very hard to define it as anything else. Hobbyists tend to repeat actions, finding enjoyment in the familiarity of something they can lose themselves in. But to get better at photography , it’s important to always be improving and pushing to understand more about it. That’s not a hobby – it’s an art, an education or a passion. Just because it’s not your career, that doesn’t mean you have to define it as a hobby. Find a way to describe it that continues to push you to do it better and better.

Spending All Your Money on Equipment

This is, of course, a luxury problem that not everyone gets to complain about – but it’s not uncommon for beginner photographers to throw a whole bunch of money at equipment as a way to fast track their success. And we can often get in the mindset that our images will become better if we just get that new thing. Yes, some things you buy will help you get better shots – but not everything. And most professionals end up using a small portion of their overall set of gear on any given day. Establish your go-to set of things and do the majority of your work with it until work demands you get something new.

Shooting in the Wrong Format

Most digitals camera these days can shoot in RAW format , offering a much higher range of tones than a JPG image. Yet, a lot of beginning shooters shy away from RAW because the file sizes are so much bigger. Make choices about your file type depending on what you’re shooting. If it’s important to be able to bring up shadows or make some fine adjustments on your final image, shoot RAW.

Not Doing Post Work

Sometimes those shots you see from other photographers look as good as they do because the photographer did a lot of work on them. In fact, it’s most likely any shot that has gotten recognition has had some kind of work done on it. Some photographers are adamant about getting everything perfect in camera – and some genres demand it – but a lot of photography is not dependent on that kind of realism. If you’re seeking a very specific look to your shots and not seeing it in the results, consider what needs to be done in post that might be able to elevate your shot to that level.

Doing Too Much to Your Photos

The other side of not doing post work is doing too much post work. And this can be quite a bit worse than doing none at all. Too much HDR or over-coloring something can feel like making art to a new photographer, but ends up just making an image look too unreal and only serves to strip all the emotion out of it.

Cropping Your Photos

It happens to everyone – you get an image in and there’s something in it that distracts you from the singularity of your main subject. It’s a common mistake to believe you can simply crop it out of your photo and have a perfectly good image. But, in fact, this almost never works. The reason is, an image cropped does not look like it would if you’d stepped in and shot it from a closer distance – and the eye knows. The awkwardness of that difference is something the viewer feels at first glance and it can ruin your shot.

Forgetting to Charge Your Batteries

This might seem like an obvious one, but it still makes the list because of just how often it happens to nearly everyone – especially new photographers. It’s a new learned behavior to constantly and consistently charge your batteries before every shoot, so it takes a bit of time to get in the habit.

Using Slow Cards

Your SD or CF cards have write speeds on them. While cards tend to all look the same, these write speeds make a huge difference in how fast images get on and off them. A cheap/slow card can severely slow down your shooting.

Not Remembering What You Did Right

Most lists about mistakes are about what you did wrong, but don’t forget to remember what you did right, too! One of the main attributes of a professional photographer is being able to get a look consistently. This knowledge happens because the photographer is able to recreate something they’ve seen or done before. So, when you get a great shot, don’t chalk it up to happenstance, make sure you know exactly how you did it.

Not Learning How Your Camera Works

A lot of people buy new cameras with all kinds of great tricks and capabilities, but never learn even half of them. These days, cameras are practically full-blown computers, with tons of very interesting in-camera possibilities, from time lapse to remote control apps to advanced video capabilities. It’s right in your hands – and each of those functions can add to your creative potential, yet most people never explore it.

Not Learning the Big Three

Shutter Speed , Aperture and ISO . These make up the Big Three and they are the essential basic building blocks of any photograph. Each of them is designed to control how light comes into the camera and each has a different effect on the image. But even more, it’s how you use them in combination that really starts to make you an expert in the medium. It can be complicated, but over time, mastering all three of them is what will truly make you an expert at photography.

You’re Getting Good

The best piece of advice I can give on avoiding making common mistakes is to never be satisfied with being a good photographer. When you’re good, people start giving you positive feedback on your images and it can make you complacent. Worse yet, once you start to really understand some of the principles here, it’s easy to start to get an ego about it. You see many people in photography forums spouting off their knowledge about the technical stuff, but they themselves do not do very interesting photography. This is the drawback with getting good – it removes that mentality that makes you great.

If you’re getting frustrated in the process of learning photography, congratulations, you’re now part of a gigantic club of every great photographer who ever lived. Unlike most professions, photography starts easy and gets harder and harder the more you care about doing it right. Consider your mistakes a rite of passage that leads to greater understanding and appreciation for the medium and, ultimately, makes you a true expert in the medium.

I’ve been doing this a long time and I still find mistakes in my work. I have come to enjoy these moments as they always reveal an opportunity to learn and get better. Approached correctly, you’ll find that mistakes are small lanterns that light your path to success.

Josh S. Rose is a professional photographer, photojournalist and creative director, living in Los Angeles. He brings a classical black and white style and applies it to his conceptual, narrative-driven subject matter which has lead to work for some of the hottest new brands, personalities and creative organizations in the country. You can see more of his work at www.joshrose.photography.

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Common photography problems and how to fix them

As photographers, whether pro or beginner, the chances are we still face one of many common photography problems.

Fortunately, for every problem there's a solution! We've put together some of the most common problems and fixes to solve all these headaches.

1. Blurry photos

The most common reason for a blurry photo is an incorrect use of shutter speed. The faster your shutter speed is, the less chance there is for camera shake. This is particularly true when shooting handheld. Here are some of the causes of a blurry photo:

Improper focus

Slow shutter speed + natural shaking of one's hands

Motion blur

Shallow depth of field

Insufficient lighting for auto focus to work properly

How to fix?

Most photographers leave their focus point in the middle and use the focus then recompose method of shooting. This means that the photographer uses the middle focus point and aims it at the subject then holds down the shutter button half-way as he/she recomposes the photo to the proper framing for the picture, and then presses the shutter all the way down to capture the shot.

This may lead to blurry photos when there's a shift of camera angle while recomposing the shot.

If you need to use the focus then recompose method because your camera doesn't have a focus point for where you want to focus, use great care not to move the camera around too much which may alter the plane of focus. If you have enough autofocus points in your camera, moving the focus point around to match your composition is the preferred method.

Slow shutter speeds are usually used when there's insufficient lighting. When using slow shutter speeds, the natural shaking of one's hands can cause blur in the photo.

To fix this, try to keep your shutter speed at 1/(the focal length of the lens) . So if you're using a 50mm lens, then your shutter speed should be at least 1/50. This is a general rule, and obviously only works when the subject that you're shooting is still. Best practice is still to use a tripod and a remote trigger when shooting in slow shutter speeds.

This is often caused by not using the right shutter speed to match the situation. For example, when you're shooting a moving subject like a baby, you'll want a shutter speed of at least 1/200 to freeze the motion in the scene.

In general, you'll want a shutter speed of at least 1/125. For slight movement (eg. a walking model), a shutter speed of 1/320 will often be sufficient. For fast motion like sports, 1/1000 is generally enough to freeze the motion.

We all want that creamy blur background in our photos. If you use a very low aperture such as f/1.8, and you use a long lens and stand close to the subject, then your depth-of-field will be razor thin.

For example, when shooting a shampoo bottle the photo will show the focus point of the bottle (which is usually the middle where the brand's logo is) in focus, but the rest of the bottle will be out of the plane of focus. In general, it is advisable to increase your depth-of-field just slightly (f/4-f/11) in these situations so that the entire bottle is in focus.

When shooting in low light, the auto focus system tends to struggle to lock focus on a subject because the camera can't see well enough in the dark to know where to focus.

To tackle this problem, we suggest to set up the shooting scene to be in a well lit area if you're shooting indoors (eg. beside a window). If there's no window to be found, you could bump up the ISO in the camera. By doing this, you will end up with an image with a lot of noise but this can be fixed easily in post. If all else fails, manual focus is your best bet!

2. Noisy and grainy photos

This will be due to the fact that you've selected a high ISO setting (>ISO800) to compensate for lack of light or lack of available artificial lights, in an attempt to limit and hopefully avoid image blur/camera shake.

The trade off for reducing blur is that image grain – also referred to as ‘image noise’ – can visibly intrude into our images.

To avoid the ugly, grainy look, manually select a lower ISO setting (less than ISO800) and compensate by placing the camera on a flat steady surface instead of attempting to use it hand held. Best still, of course, use a tripod and put the camera on self-timer or use a remote trigger when shooting so you’re not having to physically press the shutter button to avoid introducing camera blur to the image.

3. Photos too bright or too dark

An overexposed or underexposed photo can be fixed in post-processing, but you should learn to avoid the problem altogether to create beautiful original photographs.

What Is Overexposure?

Overexposure is the result of too much light hitting the sensor. Overexposed photos are too bright, have very little detail in their highlights, and appear washed out.

What Is Underexposure?

Underexposure is the result not enough light hitting camera sensor. Underexposed photos are too dark, have very little detail in their shadows, and appear murky.

What is Correct Exposure?

Exposure is a creative choice and there is no “correct” exposure for any one photograph. How much you expose a photo depends on what mood, emotion, and feeling you hope to convey in your work. Some photographers consider correct exposure to be a natural-looking photograph with balanced both highlights and shadows that don’t result in any lost details. Other photographers might deliberately overexpose or underexpose a photo to obscure unwanted details or convey a specific feeling or emotion.

How to properly expose a photo

Understand the exposure triangle

The exposure triangle explains how shutter speed, aperture, and ISO work together to take a photo with proper exposure. All three elements affect one another; if you adjust the shutter speed, it affects both the aperture and the ISO. For example, if you open up the aperture to let in more light, you will need to use either a fast shutter speed, or a low ISO to compensate. Understanding how they work together will lead to more properly exposed photographs.

Use the right ISO

The ISO number determines how sensitive your camera’s sensor is to light. For example, a camera set to ISO 200 is twice as sensitive to light as one with an ISO 100 setting. A low ISO means your camera is less sensitive to light and is better suited to bright situations. A higher ISO means your digital camera becomes more sensitive to light and will take better photos in darker settings.

ISO 100-200: Best for bright daylight. Results in a crisp image with little grain or noise.
ISO 200-400: Slightly less ambient light, such as indoors during the daytime or outdoors in the shade.
ISO 400-800: Indoors, with a flash.
ISO 800-1600: Low light indoors or at night when you can't use a flash.
ISO 1600-3200: Extreme low-light conditions without a flash. Your image will have a lot of grain or digital noise because of the low light.
Use the right shutter speed

The shutter is the device that quickly opens and closes to let light pass onto your camera’s sensor. Shutter speed controls how quickly or slowly this shutter opens and closes.

When to Use Fast Shutter Speed (>1/125)

A fast shutter speed allows less light into the camera. Use a fast shutter speed in bright lighting conditions, like on a sunny day, to minimize the chance of an overexposed image. You can also use a high shutter speed to create sharp images and freeze movement, like a water splash.

When to Use Slow Shutter Speed (<1/60)

Slow shutter speeds allow more light into the camera, which makes a slow shutter speed great for nighttime or low light conditions. At these slow speeds, you will need a tripod to avoid camera shake or a blurred image. You can also use a slow shutter speed to create images with blurred movement, like ocean waves that appear as a mist.

Use the right aperture

Controlling your aperture manually allows you to adjust exposure and image brightness beyond what the automatic settings on your camera will allow. If you are photographing when it is dark, you can select a lower f-stop (<f/2.8) ensuring your image isn’t underexposed. If you are photographing where there is a lot of light, you do the opposite which is to select a higher f-stop (>f/4), which closes the aperture and let lesser light in and to make sure your photo isn’t overexposed.

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6 most common photography problems and how to resolve them

Every photographer runs into some troubles with their photos, especially when they’re just starting out. Their pictures aren’t perfectly sharp, they’re too dark, or have too much noise. No matter how much we try, there’s always something to fix. Whether the focus is off, there’s noise, or your composition isn’t perfect, you can quickly resolve these issues using Zoner Photo Studio X. We’ve selected 6 of the most common mistakes and will show you how to fix them.

Many of these issues can be handled during the actual shooting. Perhaps by ensuring a sharply focused shot and choice of composition, or a better set up of your camera. But we all make mistakes. That’s why it’s a wonderful thing that we can fix small issues on the computer and you don’t have to throw away an otherwise good photo.

Lack of sharpness

Sharpness is often one of the first things we notice in a photograph. We use depth of field to emphasize what is and isn’t important in the photo. The most basic rules state that the eyes in particular should be pin-sharp.

If you get a shot that’s not sharp, it is either blurry (due to a longer shutter or camera movement) or out of focus (the plain of focus lies outside the main subject of the photo). In both cases, it depends on how visible this issue is. Sometimes, you have no choice but to delete the photo and take another one. However, if it’s only slightly unsharp, you can easily sharpen it using Zoner Photo Studio X .

You can find many sharpening functions in ZPS X. Which one should you choose? For overall sharpening, you can’t go wrong if you use the Unsharp Mask function in the Sharpness category of the Develop Module. You can also use Smart Sharpen.

We’ve written about these functions in more detail in the article How to sharpen your photos – advancing from imperfect sharpness in your photos .

If you need to sharpen just one part of your photo, such as the eyes, use the Filter Brush (B) in the Develop Module with the Sharpening strength setting. Be careful not to overdo it with this edit. Eyes that are overly sharp won’t appear natural.

Another method to sharpen your photos that is worth mentioning is High Pass in the Editor Module . This solution is great because it is done by hand and doesn’t rely on automation. It may take a bit more time, but the sharpening process will be completely in your control. What’s more, with the help of layers and masks, you can pinpoint where and exactly how much sharpness is applied.

Digital noise in your photos will mainly result from taking pictures in darker places with higher ISO settings. Many times, a bit of noise doesn’t matter. It can add creativ ity to your photo. Still, if it doesn’t exactly fit with your photo, or if there is color noise, it’s good to know how to suppress it.

Unfortunately, there isn’t a rule of thumb for how much to reduce noise. We recommend you apply this edit to your photo after zooming in to 1:1 and testing how much will be just right while not resulting in a loss of detail.

Noise reduction has one more disadvantage. The more you reduce noise, the more sharpness you sacrifice. You can find more information about suppressing noise in the article Say goodbye to noise in your photos .

A dark photo

Working with an extremely underexposed photo is no easy task. It is, for the most part, better than trying to rescue an overexposed photo.

Dragging the Exposure and Shadows sliders in the Develop Module is the simplest option. Afterwards, if more noise appears, suppress it.

The best idea, however, is to avoid this altogether and shoot in RAW format. An image in RAW contains a greater amount of image data and darker places can be lightened with significantly lower loss of quality. Read more about the advantages of RAW compared to JPG in the article The heated debate of RAW versus JPG: When is it a good idea to shoot in RAW?

Just to be sure, you can always take a lighter and darker version of the photo and then with the help of bracketing, stack the photos. You’ll read about this and other methods in the article about editing photos that are too dark .

Yellow or blue photos

The majority of cameras can calculate white balance quite well. However, some cameras can easily get confused by extremes of light. An example is pictures with light from a lightbulb or fire, which could result in overly yellow photos.

With subjects placed on a colorful wall or wearing bright clothing, sometimes AWB (automatic white balance) doesn’t get the skin tones quite right. In these instances, it’s better to shoot in RAW format . RAW is advantageous here because it saves all color data from icy cool shades to ultra-warm ones.

Find out more in the article Learn how to work with white balance .

Tilted horizon and perspective

Unless it’s an artistic choice, it’s best when your horizon doesn’t tilt and is level. Most cameras have a built-in level, but if there is no time or it isn’t possible to find the optical center to avoid this, you can rely on ZPS X. This happens to be a quick and easy edit .

Straighten your horizon with Straighten Lines.

Flawed composition

Cropping is another edit related to tilted horizons. Cropping not only removes something at the edges that distracts from the main subject, but you can even use it to improve composition . It can also be used to reduce the space above heads, place a subject within the golden ratio, precisely center your photo, or salvage a finger that has been cut off, by cropping the whole hand above the wrist.

Download Zoner Photo Studio X free for 7 days and take the steps to make your almost perfect photos perfect.

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18. November 2020

Author Matej Liska

I most love taking pictures of people. Weddings, portraits, graduation photos, balls... I am always in search of backlight, but I enjoy various types of lighting and mostly like to use shorter lenses. I love my Nikon, my guitar, and a kebab. You’ll find my photography on my website or on Facebook.

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Common Camera Problems: Questions and Answers

Last updated: December 5, 2023 . Written by Laurence Norah - 4 Comments

As a full time travel photographer and blogger who also runs a travel photography course , I am often asked photography questions.

These questions cover a wide range of photography topics, and come from students on my course, as well as from friends and family.

I am always more than happy to help people out with their photography queries. Based on all the questions I get, I wanted to put some of the most common questions I am asked together into one place.

Hopefully this will help out others looking for the answers to common camera problems and questions! If you have a question that I’ve not answered, do pop it in the comments, and I’d be happy to add it to the list.

Table of Contents:

Common Camera Problems

This list is in no particular order, but covers many of the more common camera problems and issues I’ve been asked about. If you have a problem with your camera I’ve not covered, feel free to leave a comment and I’ll get back to you as soon as I can!

My Camera Has Difficulty Focusing or Won’t Focus

There are a number of reasons that a camera will struggle to focus, or won’t focus at all.

The first of these is due to the light. Most camera focusing systems require a certain amount of light to work properly, and if it is too dark they won’t be able to focus.

If you find the camera is not focusing and you are in a dark environment, you can try turning the flash on, or using something like your smartphone’s light or a flashlight to illuminate your subject so the camera can focus on it.

If your camera has a night mode, like many smartphones and compact cameras do, enabling this may also help.

Another option if the camera won’t focus in a dark environment is to switch to manual focus. Most mirrorless and DSLR cameras support manual focus, as do some compact cameras and smartphones. If your camera has manual focus, you can enable it either as a menu option in your camera’s settings, or via a switch on the lens.

Darkness is not the only time that a camera might struggle to focus.

For example, there are certain scenes that a camera will always struggle to focus on. This is usually when you try to focus on something that is of a uniform color with no edges or points of contrast. For example, if you try to focus on a plain blue sky with no clouds, or a featureless surface, the camera will usually fail to focus. This is because the focus mechanism needs something to focus on.

To solve this problem, try to focus on something like a cloud in the sky, or some bit of texture in the scene. You can always focus on something a similar distance to your subject, and then recompose. This is easier to do if you are able to take advantage of back button focus .

Again, if your camera is struggling to focus and you can’t find a feature that it will focus on in your scene, don’t forget you might be able to switch to manual focus.

One last tip related to focus. Sometimes I’ve found myself flummoxed because the camera won’t even try to focus, even when there is plenty of light and there is something to focus on. This usually ends up happening because I’ve accidentally toggled the camera from automatic to manual focus.

So, if you find your camera isn’t focusing, always check to be sure you haven’t accidentally enabled manual focus! On a DSLR or other camera with an interchangeable lens, there might be a focus toggle switch on the lens. Otherwise, it might be on the camera body or in a settings menu somewhere.

Images are Blurry

One of the more common photography issues is around images being blurry. Images can be blurry for two main reasons. The first of these is that the focus wasn’t right, so the image ends up out of focus. You can see the previous tip for how to resolve common focus issues.

Another common reason for images to be blurry is that the shutter speed of the camera is set too low.

As explained in more detail in my guide to the exposure triangle , all cameras have a shutter which opens and closes when you press the shutter button to take a photo. As a general rule, when there is less light available, the shutter will open for a longer period of time, and when there is more light available, the shutter will open for a shorter period of time.

In particularly dark situations, such as in the evening, at night or indoors, your camera might adjust the shutter speed to a relatively slow value. Slow in this situation means anything slower than around 1/60th of a second.

Whilst 1/60th of a second might sound quite fast, in photography terms it is not. The reason for this is that when you hold your camera in your hands, you are not able to hold it perfectly still. Your hands will always be moving – if only fractionally.

At shutter speeds of 1/60th of a second and slower, these small movements will translate into blurry images. The slower the shutter speed gets, the more your hand movements will be picked up, and the blurrier the images will be!

The good news is that you can do something about this. As explained in my guide to the exposure triangle , shutter speed is not the only means of controlling your camera – you can also change the aperture setting or the ISO setting. If you widen the aperture, or increase the ISO, this will allow you to increase the shutter speed.

If you’re not sure how to do that for your camera, a search online should help. I can also recommend reading my guide to how to use a DSLR which should help if you have a DSLR camera, as well as my guide to how to use a mirrorless camera if you have a mirrorless camera. These will also both have some useful tips even if you have an advanced compact camera.

Finally, if there is so little light available that you can’t adjust the camera’s setting to compensate, you still have two options. First, if you are somewhere where you can use a flash, you can try that. Unfortunately, most built-in camera flashes do not produce amazing results, but it will likely be better than a dark and blurry image.

Second, if you are somewhere you can use a tripod, then this will solve the problem of blur caused by your hand movements. Putting the camera on a tripod will stabilise it, and let you shoot at shutter speeds as slow as you want without fear of your hand movements causing motion blur.

There are lots of other reasons to travel with a tripod, see our guide to why you need a tripod for more information and some suggested tripods across a range of budgets.

Images are too Dark or too Bright

I was chatting with a friend recently, and they told me that their new camera had a serious problem. It was that all the images they took were far too bright, basically making the camera unusable.

I took a look at the camera settings, and it turned out that my friend had accidentally enabled a feature called exposure compensation.

This is a really useful feature that can help you quickly control how dark or bright your image is. However, if you accidentally enable it, or forget to turn it off after use, it will impact all your images going forward.

Exposure compensation is a feature that is found on pretty much every camera, from smartphones and point and shoot cameras through to mirrorless and DSLR cameras.

Normally when you compose a photo, the camera for the most part will calculate the amount of light in the scene, and will then set appropriate values for the various settings so the image is correctly exposed – not too bright, and not too dark.

Sometimes though, the camera doesn’t get it quite right. Rather than manually change the various settings, you can just use the exposure compensation feature to quickly tell the camera to make the image brighter or darker.

On most cameras, this feature is accessed via a button that looks like “-/+”. Essentially this is just a positive and a negative sign next to each other. When you press this button, you should be able to then increase or decrease the exposure compensation. The end result is that the image your camera takes will be brighter or darker.

Other cameras, especially smartphones, might just have a brightness slider which does the same thing. Some cameras even have exposure compensation as a dedicated dial, making it even easier to quickly adjust.

Unfortunately, if you forget you have changed the exposure compensation, your camera usually won’t reset it to the default for you. Even worse, if you accidentally change the exposure compensation, you might find yourself taking photos that are far too bright or far too dark, and not have any idea why this is.

Luckily, this is an easy fix. All you have to do is find the exposure compensation feature, and adjust it.

The exposure compensation should generally be set to 0. If it is set to overexpose (brighten) the image, it will have a positive value, like +1 or +2. If it is set to underexpose, it will have a negative value, like -1 or -2.

Each positive number represents a doubling in brightness, and each negative number represents a halving in brightness. So you can see how quickly you can make an image far too bright or far too dark!

There is another bit of good news. If you shoot in RAW, you can often recover an image that is too bright or too dark by editing it. For example, this is exactly the same image as shared above, I’ve just edited it by reducing the exposure a bit. I think you’ll agree it looks a bit better.

Parts of the image are too dark or too bright compared to the rest of it

This is definitely a challenging photography situation to fix, but one that you will come across very regularly.

This usually happens with a scenario such as a bright sky against a darker foreground, like city streets. It can also happen on overcast days, where the sky might not seem overly bright to our eyes, but when we take a picture the sky is very bright and the rest of the shot ends up being too dark to be usable.

The reason that this happens is down to something called dynamic range.

Dynamic range refers to the difference between the brightest and darkest parts of a scene. A wider dynamic range means that a camera can capture a wider range of bright and dark areas, whilst a lower dynamic range means the camera is more limited.

The majority of cameras have a much lower dynamic range than the human eye. This is why when we take a picture, the image the camera captures might not look the same as how our eyes see it. Our brains are capable of processing a wider dynamic range, so a bright sky and a dark foreground are still distinguishable to our eyes. Unfortunately, the same can’t be said of our cameras.

So, what can you do about this? Well, you have a number of options.

The first option you have as a quick fix is the exposure compensation feature of your camera or phone, which we covered in the tip above about images generally being too dark or too bright. This will at least let you adjust the shot so that your subject is correctly exposed, although it will still leave other parts of the image too dark or too bright.

Another option you have is to fix the problem in post-processing. This is one great reason to shoot in RAW , as you can darken and brighten the problem areas quite easily by adjusting either the highlights or shadows. As an example with our Robert the Bruce image from above:

Of course, not everyone wants to shoot in RAW. But you still have options. Many cameras and phones these days have what is known as an HDR mode. HDR stands for High Dynamic Range.

HDR mode works by quickly taking multiple images of the same scene when you press the shutter button. These images are shot at different exposures, to give an overall wider dynamic range. They are then combined in software to create an image that should be closer to what your eye sees.

If your camera or phone does not have a built in HDR mode, then you can achieve this effect yourself by taking the same shot a number of times at different exposures (darker, correctly exposed, and brighter), and then merging the images yourself using one of our recommended photo editing apps . Obviously this will take more time, but it does give you more control over the final image.

Why does my smartphone take better pictures than my camera?

When I was travelling in Arizona, I visited the beautiful Antelope Canyon. This is a very popular destination for photographers, with incredible colours and rock formations to photograph.

It’s also a very challenging photography location, as the canyons themselves are quite dark, whilst the light from the overhead sky is very bright. This means images can easily end up under or over exposed.

Speaking to the guides here who lead the photography tours here they said that it was quite common for photographers to struggle to get great photos, whilst folks with iPhones or other smartphone cameras often ended up with good shots just by pressing the button.

Obviously, it can be frustrating when your expensive dedicated camera doesn’t give you the same results as a smartphone! But why is this?

Well, it comes down to computational photography. When a smartphone takes an image, it tries to do most of the work for you. It analyses the scene based on the light, and applies a variety of edits and processing techniques to the image before saving it.

Very often, smartphones today automatically apply HDR techniques to your images as well – taking multiple shots of the same scene and then merging them together to create the final result.

This can mean that in many situations, the image that you get out of your smartphone is instantly going to look a lot better, and require a lot less effort, than the image you see after pressing the button on your camera.

Let’s take a look at a couple of images, neither of which I have edited. One was taken with a Google Pixel 3 smartphone, and one was taken with a Canon DSLR.

Comparing these images straight out of camera, we can see straight away that the version taken with the smartphone is a lot more evenly lit, whilst the DSLR has struggled with the bright sky and the darker foreground.

However, the issue with this is that while it will produce great photos in many situations, you don’t have that much control over the final output. So if the phone gets it wrong, there’s not a lot you can do. With a DSLR or other camera, you have a lot more control over what the camera does, plus you have much more control when it comes to editing the images.

For example, editing the DSLR image from above I was able to achieve this image.

My suggestion, if you want to take better pictures with your camera than your smartphone, is to work on mastering your camera.

A DSLR, mirrorless, or even advanced compact camera is more than capable of producing images that are of far higher quality than a smartphone, it’s just a question of understanding how to use it properly, and also learning how to get the most out of your photos with editing. You’ll want to shoot in RAW to get the most out of your edits – see our guide to RAW in photography for more on that.

This is a topic that is a bit beyond the scope of this guide, but if you do want some help in improving your photos, I’d recommend first reading through some of the photography tips on this blog , or taking a photography course like the one I run.

How do I make the horizon level?

Ok, so this is a bit of a personal one. I find great photos can easily be ruined by a horizon that isn’t quite level.

The thing is, getting a level horizon isn’t that hard, and doing so means that your viewers won’t be distracted by a wonky horizon when they should be focusing on your great image.

You have two options for getting a level horizon – getting it right when you shoot the image, or fixing it afterwards when you edit the photo.

The first option is definitely preferable if possible, as rotating an image in software can lead to slight degradation in image quality.

If you find yourself struggling to get a level horizon when you take a picture, you will likely find that your camera has some aids to help you. Many modern cameras these days come with a feature that overlays a level indicator on the camera screen, so you can tell straight away if the horizon in level.

If your camera doesn’t have this feature, don’t despair. See if it has the option to overlay a rule of thirds grid, or anything else that you can use as a reference point when composing your image. When you take you picture, just be sure that the rule of thirds grid and the horizon are level, and your final photo should also be level.

Of course, it’s not always possible to get your horizon level in camera, and you definitely don’t want to miss a shot because you are worried about it. If the horizon is wonky, pretty much every photo editing application on the market will let you rotate the image so it is level. See the tip below on our favourite photo editing software for more on the options out there.

My images don’t look as good as I imagine they should

You know this situation – we’ve all been there. You see some amazing photos online, and you go to the same location. Yet your photos somehow don’t look quite as good as the image you imagine taking in your head. Something just isn’t quite right.

Again, this isn’t an easy fix. The reality is that photography is complex skill that requires time and effort to master. Whilst modern smartphones and cameras have simplified some of that process, the reality is that to take great photos, you need to learn some key photography skills.

There are unfortunately no easy shortcuts when it comes to mastering photography. It’s a questions of learning the skills, and practicing as often as possible.

The three things you need to master as a photographer are how your camera works (see our guide to how to use a DSLR camera as a starting point), how to compose a great photo , and how to use photo editing software to get the most from your shots.

The good news is that anyone can improve their photography. Photography after all is a skill like any other, and it is definitely one that you can improve with practice.

Different approaches for improving your photography will work for different people of course. Some might find an online course helps, others might just like to research specific topics online. There are also in-person workshops, photowalks, and tours you can take.

Essentially though, if you really want to take better photos, the resources are out there to help you do just that.

What is good software to edit photos with?

I’ve already mentioned a few times in this post the importance of photo editing software. As you might imagine, a common question I am asked is which is the best photo editing software.

I actually wrote a complete guide to the best photo editing software , which includes paid and free options, as well as options for both computers and smartphones.

In summary though, our favourite photo editing software is Adobe Lightroom . This is a very powerful tool that lets you both manage your photo library, as well as make edits to your photos. It’s available on Mac, PC and smartphone, and you can find out more and buy that from Adobe here .

The only downside of Lightroom is that it is only available as a subscription, so you have to pay every month to keep it active. Personally I think the value is worth it, but I appreciate that not everyone wants to subscribe to photo editing software.

In that case, our next favourite photo editing software which is available for a very reasonable one-off price is On1 Photo RAW . Like Lightroom, this also lets you both manage and edit your photos, and it has a number of really nifty tools to quickly improve a photo with one-click.

There are also some free options, although in our experience these can have a steeper learning curve and may not be as intuitive. The best option of the free photo editing software in our opinion is Darktable , which is available for both Mac and PC.

Finally, by far the best photo editing app on smartphones is Snapseed. This is a fantastic photo editor which has all the features you might need from a mobile photo editor, and best of all, it’s entirely free! Get it for Android here and iOS here .

I don’t know how to take pictures of myself

We travel a lot, and like most people, we like to have photos of ourselves when we travel – either together, on on our own.

Self portraits are a fairly challenging type of photo to take. Most folks opt for using the front facing camera on their smartphone, which means you are likely to get quite a close up image of yourself. Sometimes this can work well, and other times, depending on what else you want to get into the shot, it might not look great.

So what to do?

Well, you have a number of options. As mentioned in a number of other tips in this post, one great option is to travel with a tripod. This will give you a lot more flexibility when it comes to composing great photos of yourself.

Another option is to ask a friend or a stranger to get a photo of you. Of course, this might not always work out so great depending on their photography skills, but can be an option.

There are a number of other techniques you can use for getting great photos of yourself beyond a tripod and asking a stranger. We’ve put together two posts on this topic – one to help you get better photos of yourself, and one to help you get better photos as a couple .

Between those two posts we think you should be able to easily improve the photos you take of yourself when travelling!

My camera struggles indoors or at night

Situations where there is limited light available are the most challenging for cameras to deal with. Whilst in many situations upgrading a camera or lens isn’t the answer to getting better results, low light situations can definitely benefit from improved hardware.

The reason for this is simple. A camera is essentially a device which is used to turn available light into recorded information. When there isn’t much light available, many cameras will struggle to capture enough light information to make a usable image.

This can result in images that are too dark, too blurry as a result of hand movement, or too noisy because the camera tries to amplify the available light, which introduces digital noise into the image.

A more expensive camera is likely to have a larger sensor or more advanced image stabilization capabilities, which can help with this. A speciality lens might have a larger aperture, which will let more light into the camera.

Of course, as with our tip above on images being blurry, a more expensive camera isn’t your only option when it comes to low light photography.

You can also consider investing into a tripod, which will let you take longer exposure images. Some modern smartphones also include night mode settings which produce very impressive results.

How do I capture motion in my photos?

Motion photography is a tricky subject, but with a bit of practice you can definitely get great photos of subjects in motion. These might include your kids playing sports or running, fast moving vehicles, or animals.

The secret to motion photography is mastering the shutter speed of your camera. Longer shutter speeds will result in motion blur, whilst very fast shutter speeds can freeze motion. Here are two examples to show what I mean.

As you can see from the above two photos, motion plays a key part in the image, but I have chosen in one of the images to freeze the motion (the hummingbirds), and in the other image I have used a slow shutter speed to make the motion apparent.

If your camera has manual controls for shutter speed, usually available via the mode dial, you can put it into shutter priority mode (usually marked as S, T or Tv on the dial) and experiment with different shutter speeds.

If your camera doesn’t have manual control of the shutter speed, then you can usually pick a sports mode. This will put it into a higher shutter speed by default. Many smartphones will let you control the shutter speed, but you might have to download a specific app to do so.

Catching motion with lower shutter speeds is usually harder than the high shutter speed shots. For example, if you want a photo where your subject is sharp, but the background is blurry, you need to practice panning the camera at the same speed your subject is moving.

You will want the camera to be set to a relatively low shutter speed whilst you do this. The exact shutter speed will vary depending on the speed the subject is moving, and the available light, but between 1/10th of a second and 1/60th of a second will usually do.

Note, this is quite a tricky technique to get right. A good subject to practice on are moving cars as they drive past you. Try to track the car with your camera and get the car sharp, and the background blurry from motion. Good luck!

What kind of camera should I buy?

This is a very popular question that we get. Unfortunately, the answer is not so simple, as everyone’s needs and budget are different.

There’s a massive range of cameras out there across a wide range of budgets, from simple point-and-shoot cameras through to mirrorless cameras, DSLR cameras and smartphone cameras.

The most important questions you have to ask yourself when buying a device for photography are what your budget is, and how big of a camera you are willing to carry with you.

There is really no point spending a lot of money on a camera that you are going to be unwilling to carry with you all day. You would be much better off buying a high end smartphone that will get great shots in most situations, because at least you will have it on you all the time.

Other things to consider include what you will be taking pictures of. If you want to focus on wildlife photography or low light photography for example, then you are going to need a camera that will be capable of these kind of shots – most likely a higher end mirrorless or DSLR camera with a capable lens.

Deciding which camera to buy is a big decision, and it can also be a big investment. To help you out, we’ve put together some comprehensive posts across a range of camera types and budget, as well as for different situations. Take a look at the following to help you decide:

Our guide to the best travel camera – a great overall post to get started with
Our guides to the best compact camera , best mirrorless camera and best DSLR camera . These posts dive deep into each of these camera types to help you decide which might be best for you
Our guide to the best camera for hiking and backpacking . Different needs require different cameras, and this guide will help you pick a camera if you hike or backpack regularly
Our guide to the best lens for travel photography . If you buy a DSLR or mirrorless camera, you’ll be able to change the lens. This guide will help you figure out the best lens for your camera and budget.

Hopefully between those posts you will be able to find the right camera for you, as well as know what to look for.

There are 4 comments on this post

Please scroll to the end to leave a comment

Greg Vikse says

4th November 2020 at 6:28 pm

I have a 46 ” X 60″ illustration I would like photographed. It will eventually be enlarged to 3 – 4 times the size. What advice do you have regarding camera settings to ensure a top quality, high resolution reproduction of my work. Is a 24 megapixel camera sufficient? Any other advice you can provide would be greatly appreciated. I’m an amateur photographer … so assume I know nothing.

Thanks, Greg

Laurence Norah says

5th November 2020 at 3:35 pm

So my advice would be to shoot in an evenly lit environment so you don’t get any shadows or uneven light. I’d very much suggest using a tripod and an ISO of 100. The tripod means you’ll be able to use a longer shutter speed if required, which will let you use the lower ISO, which will result in a cleaner image with less noise.

I’d also suggest using a focal length of around 35 – 50mm for minimal distortion. So 24 megapixels should be enough, however, if not, another option is to take closer up images of different parts of the shot and then combine them into a higher resolution version. If you took four shots for example of the top left, top right, bottom left and bottom right, and merged them together, you’d get a high resolution version with even more detail for larger printing.

Let me know if you need any more input, I’m happy to help!

Revo Planzo says

24th October 2019 at 5:25 am

Thanks for these bet tips, now I can use these and improve my photo skills. This is one of the best article I like about camera errors and tips.

24th October 2019 at 12:43 pm

Thanks Revo!

9 basic photography mistakes (and how to fix them)

Learn how to solve some common photography problems that beginners often come across.

Webby Award honoree, 2x Gold Telly Award winner

Every photographer makes mistakes when taking photos. Here are some tips to help identify and solve common issues that beginners may come across.

Wonky horizon

You're in position watching an amazing sunset and happily snapping away. But in the excitement you forgot to check that the horizon was level, so the resulting photos are all crooked.

There is an easy way to fix a horizon that's not straight. Most photo editing programs can either do this for your automatically, or you can have direct control by tilting the canvas in a program like Lightroom or Photoshop.

You may also want to turn on the electronic spirit level in your camera if possible. The feature is often called a virtual horizon. The guide can help you level up your shot, and can often be overlaid during live view.

White balance is wrong

Do your photos look a bit too warm or cool? Sometimes you can get odd casts in your photos caused by the camera reading the white balance incorrectly. Automatic white balance (AWB) can determine the best setting for the situation, but often the best way to get it right is to set a custom white balance value.

You will need a white card or neutral gray card to set a custom white balance. A piece of plain white paper is also an option.

In the same lighting situation as your subject, take a photo of the card so it fills most of the frame. Then, delve into your camera menus and look for a custom white balance option. Select the photo of the white/gray card that you just took and set it as the custom reading.

Photos from here on should look much more natural. Remember to change the white balance back to an automatic setting (or do another custom reading) after you have finished.

Otherwise, for those photographers who shoot images in raw, you can adjust white balance very easily in the editing process without any loss of image quality.

Lens distortions

Some lenses can make subjects look warped, or introduce undesirable elements in photos such as vignetting -- loss of colour or brightness around the edges of the image.

For example, wide-angle lenses distort perspective and can be unflattering for portraits as the subject looks like it is bulging from the frame.

There are a few ways to deal with lens distortions, and the first step is to choose a lens with a focal length best suited for your subject. Depending on your camera, corrections can be applied automatically in-camera when you shoot JPEG images.

It it is easiest and most efficient to do it in the photo editing stage with a program like Adobe Lightroom. Lens profiles help to straighten lines, remove vignetting and correct other issues such as chromatic aberrations.

In Lightroom, click to expand the Basic tab in the right column if it isn't already visible. Then, click Enable Profile Corrections which will automatically detect the lens that was used to take the photograph and adjust the image accordingly.

Lens profile correction is also possible using software that came with your camera. Canon users can load up EOS Utility, while Nikon users can look at Capture NX.

Focus is not quite right

When you rely on autofocus, it's easy for the camera to get it wrong. Sometimes, your camera's AF system will want to focus on something behind or in front of your desired subject.

To ensure the system chooses the right point of focus for static subjects, change the focus mode to single point AF. This will force your camera to use just one AF point of your choice, rather than relying on the entire cluster of AF points to find focus.

Choosing a single AF point will vary from camera to camera, so check your manual for details.

You may also want to consider using back button focus and setting your single AF point to the centre.

When shooting a portrait, take the time to check the focus after the shot has been taken. Use your camera's LCD screen and zoom in to the point of focus to ensure things look crisp. Unless you are going for an artistic effect, set your focus on the subject's eyes.

Images are not sharp

You've taken an amazing photo, but it's just not as sharp as you'd like. This lack of sharpness can be caused by a number of factors: camera movement during the exposure; subject movement; or the camera choosing the wrong point of focus when using AF.

Unless you choose to create blur for artistic effect, there are several things you can do to get sharper photos.

Increase the ISO sensitivity.
Make the shutter speed faster. Ideally your shutter speed should be at least 1/focal length. So if you are shooting at a focal length of 80mm with a full-frame sensor, your shutter speed needs to be at least 1/80 second. For a crop sensor camera such as APS-C, then an 80mm lens is equivalent to 120 or 130mm lens (80mm x 1.5 or 1.6 which is the crop factor). So your shutter speed needs to be at least 1/125s to avoid shake.
Turn on image stabilization either in-camera or on your lens which can allow you to shoot at a slightly slower shutter speed than the above rule specifies.
Use a tripod where possible.
Avoid shooting at very wide apertures like f/1.8 as this can affect the perceived sharpness of a photo, especially if focus is not spot on.

Photos look dull and dark

Sometimes your photos can look much darker than the actual scene. This is generally caused by the camera underexposing for the ambient light situation based on the meter reading.

You can read more about how your camera meters and determines exposure in this article .

Fortunately this problem has an easy solution even if you don't understand how metering works. It's called exposure compensation. This is a value that you can adjust when in an automatic mode.

On a digital SLR, compact camera and even in your smartphone's camera app, find an icon that looks like a plus and minus symbol: +/-

Some cameras also have a separate physical dial that controls the exposure compensation. To make the photo appear brighter, change this value to a positive number. The reverse principle can also be applied to adjusting the exposure compensation where shots appear too bright. Change the exposure compensation value to a negative number.

Composition

Composition is an important way of balancing your photos, helping to enhance the flow of an image using some tried and tested rules.

It might be tempting to take an image with the subject smack bang in the middle of your photograph, but it doesn't always produce the most pleasing image.

One of the simplest composition methods to start using is the rule of thirds, where you divide the image up into thirds both vertically and horizontally using two lines. Your subject/s can be placed in the intersection of these lines, or along these lines, for a more compelling image.

Some cameras have the ability to overlay a rule of thirds grid over an image to aid composition.

You can also alter the composition of your photograph after it has been taken by selectively cropping.

Excessive post-processing

Good photo editing is all about subtlety, enhancing rather than overpowering an image. Too much contrast, cranking the clarity slider or excessive HDR can make a photo look garish.

Every photograph is different, so try and avoid applying the same filters or effects to a bunch of images. For example, increasing the saturation on a landscape may look fantastic, but do the same to a portrait and it will be pretty unflattering.

Forgetting the basics

So you've got composition, exposure and focus all under your belt. But do you have your pre-photo routine in order?

Before you head out on the next photographic adventure, get into the habit of charging up batteries and having spares on hand if needed. Back up and format memory cards, and check there is a memory card in the camera before leaving home.

Finally, remember to take the lens cap off. This one stumps even the most seasoned photographers , so get into the habit early.

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15 Portrait Photography Mistakes (And How to Fix Them)

A Post By: Kevin Landwer-Johan

Portrait photography can be tough. In fact, there are a few simple mistakes that I see portrait shooters make over and over again, mistakes that seriously detract from their images.

Fortunately, while these portrait photography mistakes are problematic, they’re not hard to recognize – and they’re not hard to fix, either.

So without further ado, let’s take a look at the most common 15 portraiture mistakes (made by beginners, hobbyists, and even professionals).

1. A poor composition

Beginner portrait photographers make this mistake pretty consistently:

They don’t think carefully about the position of the subject in the frame, leading to a bad portrait composition (and an off-balance image). In particular, photographers tend to leave too much space around their subject’s head, which usually detracts from the look and the feel of the photo.

So unless there’s significant information above the person, crop more tightly across their head:

Red Head Scarf 15 Common Portrait Mistakes to Avoid

2. A distracting background

Portrait photographers tend to focus on subjects and poses, but did you know that the background is insanely important, too?

It’s true! A messy background will draw attention away from the subject and can instantly ruin an otherwise great image.

Cleaning Dispute 15 Common Portrait Mistakes to Avoid

So before firing that shutter button, check the area behind your subject. Does it look clean? Or is it distracting?

Also, choose your lens and aperture thoughtfully. If you’re stuck with a distracting background, you can use a long lens and a wide aperture to blur the background into oblivion:

Woman Buying Chilli Peppers 15 Common Portrait Mistakes to Avoid

3. The subject is too close to the background

The best portrait photos often feature beautiful background bokeh – that is, background blur – but the closer the subject is to the background, the more difficult it is to create this effect.

So don’t let your subject sit or stand right up against the background. Instead, ask your subject to take a few steps out (in fact, I recommend you do this even if you’re working with a plain background).

That way, you can get a nice background blur:

Smart Phone Photo 15 Common Portrait Mistakes to Avoid

4. Using a too-wide aperture

In an attempt to create stunning bokeh, portrait photographers often shoot with their lens’s widest aperture.

But while it’s often good to use a shallow depth of field effect to blur out distractions and complement the main subject, if you let your depth of field go too shallow, your subject will become blurry, and viewers will struggle to comprehend your image.

So don’t widen your aperture too much, especially if you’re working with a longer lens and/or up close. Instead of shooting at f/1.8, for instance, you might choose to work at f/2.8. That way, you can get a nice background, but a sharp subject, too:

Market Porter 15 Common Portrait Mistakes to Avoid

5. Out-of-focus eyes

If your subject has eyes, then you must focus on them.

This is one photography rule I follow. Out-of-focus eyes rarely look good in portrait photos!

So before you press the shutter button, make sure you’ve nailed focus on the eyes. (If your camera offers eye-detection AF, it can be a huge help.)

Pro tip: If your subject’s head is turned to one side, you don’t need to get both eyes in focus – just the eye that’s closer to the camera.

Akha Friends 15 Common Portrait Mistakes to Avoid

6. Shooting with a slow shutter speed

You might think that portrait subjects are pretty stationary and that you can get away with a shutter speed in the 1/80s range.

But here’s the thing: People move! If a person moves and you’re shooting at 1/80s, they’ll blur, and your image will fail.

You need to choose a shutter speed that’s fast enough to freeze your subject even if they shift in place. In my experience, 1/250s is usually fast enough. Go any slower, however, and you may run into problems.

Dreadlocks 15 Common Portrait Mistakes to Avoid

7. Poor lighting

Modern cameras can take photos in all kinds of light…

…but just because you can take a photo doesn’t mean you should.

Some forms of lighting work great for portraits , while other forms of lighting look terrible; that’s why it’s important to carefully select your lighting based on the mood that you’re after.

For instance, hard, high-contrast lighting is good for edgy, intense images, but it’s not so great when you want a soft, romantic-looking portrait.

So make sure you think about your light before shooting. And if you photograph outdoors, pay attention to the light direction and quality as you work!

Muddy Ceramic artist 15 Common Portrait Mistakes to Avoid

8. Bad timing

If you capture the right expressions and poses in your portraits, you’ll flatter your subject. But if you capture the wrong expressions and poses, your subject may be reluctant to let you photograph them again.

Careful timing can make or break a portrait. Waiting and watching a person’s face and body before pressing the shutter button is vital. Most people will change their expression and pose as they stare into your camera, so you need to be ready to shoot when they look their best.

Also, pay attention to your subject’s eyes. If they’re blinking a lot, you’ll need to time your photos in between the blinks!

Buddhist Monk Yard Work 15 Common Portrait Mistakes to Avoid

9. Not taking enough photos

When doing a portrait photoshoot, you need to take plenty of photos. If you shoot too infrequently, you’ll only have a few images to choose from, and you’re bound to feel frustrated when editing.

That said, you need to shoot deliberately . Don’t just sit with your camera on burst mode, filling up your card with near-identical images. Instead, try to capture a range of expressions. Aim to create a good variety of shots. This will give your subject lots to look at, and it’ll let them make selections far more easily.

Man Studio Portrait 15 Common Portrait Mistakes to Avoid

10. Taking too many photos

Taking too few photos is a serious portrait photography mistake, but taking too many photos can be a major problem, too.

For one, if you shoot too much, you’ll have hundreds of photos to go through, which can be tedious, repetitive, and unnecessary work.

Plus, if you’re constantly firing the shutter, it may make your subject nervous, which will show in their face and lead to consistently bad results.

What is the right number of photos for a session? That depends on you, it depends on your subject, and it depends on the type of photoshoot. But pay careful attention to your subject, and do what you can to keep them interested and comfortable!

11. Failing to connect with the subject

Portrait photography may seem very technical, but in truth, the best photos often require a connection between the photographer and the subject.

In fact, connecting with the person you are photographing is one of the single most important aspects of portraiture. Many photographers spend so much time and attention connecting with their cameras that they ignore their subject. As a result, the subject never relaxes and the images look stiff.

So before you start shooting, build a rapport with your subject – even if you only have a few minutes. That way, your subject will look relaxed and happy, you’ll get better pictures, and everyone will leave feeling good!

Vege Vendor 15 Common Portrait Mistakes to Avoid

12. Not giving the subject enough direction

Before you start shooting, explain to your subject what you hope to get out of the portrait session. And don’t make it all about you, either; be sure to ask the subject what they hope to achieve. What kind of photos do they want to create?

Then, once you begin shooting, be sure to give them plenty of direction. Describe exactly what you’re trying to do, and if they don’t understand, show them with your own body. Position your hands, face, legs, and arms in the perfect pose, and they can mimic you.

Rag Doll Girl 15 Common Portrait Mistakes to Avoid

13. Feeling like you are imposing

Many street and travel photographers, when attempting to take portraits of strangers, feel very awkward. They feel like they’re bothering the subject, so they try to take candid portraits from a distance.

But standing back and shooting with a long lens rarely produces an intimate portrait. Instead, work on overcoming your fear. Practice approaching people on the street and asking if you can take a few photos. Most importantly: Recognize that you’re not imposing. Many people actually like having their image taken!

Akha Woman Laughing 15 Common Portrait Mistakes to Avoid

14. Not being confident

When you’re conducting a portrait session, you must act confident (even if you don’t feel it!). If you act self-conscious and uncertain, your subject will be able to tell, and they’ll begin to feel uncertain, too.

So when you start to take photos, relax. Take a deep breath. Remember that you know what you’re doing, that you’re taking good photos, and just let yourself enjoy the moment!

Pretty Asian Karaoke Singer 15 Common Portrait Mistakes to Avoid

15. Rushing to get finished

Here’s your final portrait photography mistake:

Trying to get the shoot done as fast as possible – because you’ve scheduled multiple back-to-back shoots, or because you’re simply tired and want to be done for the day.

Take your time. It’s not a race.

Give yourself space to concentrate on what you’re doing. Slow down, make sure you’re getting the shots you’re after, and your subject is bound to have a much better time.

Boy With A Note Book 15 Common Portrait Mistakes to Avoid

Portrait photography mistakes: final words

Well, there you have it:

The portrait photography mistakes that every photographer should avoid.

So remember this article. Identify the mistakes that you make, then take steps to fix them!

Now over to you:

Do you make any of these common portraiture mistakes? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

Portrait photography.

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Photography: A Medium Guided by Problem-Solving

David campany talks about his latest exhibition at le bal, paris and traces photography's inherently analytical nature .

Jennifer Higgie The exhibition you have curated, ‘A Handful of Dust’, opens at Le Bal in Paris on 16 October. The title is a quote from T.S. Eliot’s The Waste Land (1922), but other references come into play. What are they?

David Campany ‘I will show you fear in a handful of dust.’ Eliot published his poem in London in October 1922. The same month, a photograph by Man Ray of dust gathering on the surface of Marcel Duchamp’s Large Glass (1915–23) was published in Paris. A deliberately misleading caption described it as ‘a view from an aeroplane’, in reference to the estranged landscape imagery of wartime aerial reconnaissance. Just a few weeks earlier, Ernest Hemingway had flown over the French capital, looked down and observed that he now understood cubism. What to make of such a coincidence? I take it as the beginning of a version of modernism that looked to substances like dust as well as the abstracted view as being key to the last century. So, my exhibition begins in 1922 and winds its way through diverse things: police forensics, the American dust bowl, the use of abject materials in conceptual art, images from the surface of Mars. It ends with Nick Waplington photographing an Israeli rubbish dump in Palestine. Along the way, there are well-known artworks by John Divola, Sophie Ristelhueber, Eva Stenram, Wols and others, but also postcards, books, magazines and films.

Information magazine spread, black and white photographs.

JH You trained as a photographer. What inspired you to curate your first show?

DC Photography can subvert the hierarchies of culture because it has spread everywhere — as art or as design, in galleries, on printed pages, posters or record covers. This ubiquity is what made photography look so modern in the 1920s. To follow photography is to range across culture, disregarding the orthodoxy that puts museums at the top, books further down, magazines even lower and websites grubbing along the bottom. One finds innovative and important photographic work in every context. The first show I curated was ‘Anonymes’, in 2010, also at Le Bal. It’s a space dedicated to the document in a very expansive sense. The exhibition looked at the depiction of anonymous citizens and the inspiration came from two very different objects. Jeff Wall’s Men Waiting (2006) is a four-metre-wide tableau photograph of labourers on a street corner hoping for work. Walker Evans’s Labor Anonymous , a humble spread in Fortune magazine from 1946, shows workers walking down a street. The similarities struck me profoundly. The more time you spend with photography’s rich past, the more you notice correspondences across time and across context.

JH How does being a photographer yourself influence the way you think about the photographs other artists have taken?

DC A big part of photography is problem-solving: formal problems, problems of representation and of editing. The photographer Stephen Shore has noted that it’s an inherently analytical medium, pointing at things to think about, but transforming those things too. It’s also, as the late Lewis Baltz put it, a subtractive medium: you start with the chaos of the world, select a part of it, put a frame around it and try to make a sense of it, a new sense, a non-sense. If you understand these things, you’re on your way to understanding why photographs look and communicate the way they do. The other answer would be that we are all photographers, and have been for a long while now. Subsequently, the contemplation of photographic art is different from, say, the contemplation of painting. Only a small portion of the audience for painting actually paints. This makes painting strange and other-worldly, which is vital to its charm. Photographs never feel that strange, however distant they may be from the iPhone snap. That’s both a blessing and a curse, as many photographers will tell you.

JH You have authored a fascinating cross-section of books that explore photography from myriad angles, but you seem particularly drawn to iconic images of the US: Gasoline (2013), Walker Evans: The Magazine Work (2014) and The Open Road: Photography & the American Road Trip (2014).

DC The US was (is) a restart, a remake, a second attempt, a work-in-progress. As a result, I think the nation has a very sovereign relation to self-image. The act of picturing is a means of diagnosis and assertion. The US is also a new nation, which means photography has been around for a large part of its history. To anyone interested in the medium, this is attractive. Moreover, nearly all the really great American photography is critical of the country’s mainstream culture and politics, sometimes explicitly, sometime implicitly, but it is always there. It’s as if the criticality and the artistry, the disappointment and the hope, inform each other. Photographers of independent mind have been monitoring this grand experiment. I think that’s a particularly North American phenomenon.

JH Tate Modern appointed its first Curator of Photography in 2009. Why do you think photography has struggled for so long to be considered an art form?

Woman in fishnets and red heels with a vacuum cleaner around her leg.

DC Because it’s so complicated. The ‘struggle’ is what happens in our heads every time we look at photographs. The artistic sensibility in photography cannot be separated from other sensibilities — the functional, the instrumental, the automated. Why does the art world like explicitly constructed photography so much? Because it makes it easier to see where the art is. Why does it like portraits and landscape photos that look to painting? Same answer. Why does the art world have such trouble with street photography and documentary work? Because the art is mixed in with the notational, the spontaneous and chance. It’s perplexing. It seems to me that museums and galleries function like operating tables to which all the socially dispersed practices of photography are brought, either to be re-presented (shows of documentary or fashion images that were first intended for the printed page) or remade (as in the relation of Christopher Williams’s work to industrial photography, Elad Lassry’s play on the commercial still life or Rut Blees Luxemburg’s nocturnal views of familiar places). But photography’s relationship to art has always been charged. I would hate to see the end of this struggle, as you put it, but I don’t think it will ever happen. Sure, in recent decades, photography has become an integral aspect of contemporary art but it has only happened with the closing of the gap between art and the rest of culture. Photography’s promiscuity has been its passport to art-world prominence. Of course, true modernists like Germaine Krull, Man Ray and László Moholy-Nagy intuited this long ago, working with great agility across many spaces of culture.

JH What are you working on at the moment?

DC A couple of books: one is about exhibitions of photography from the 1830s to the present; the other concerns the significance of the printed page for contemporary art. All art magazines are photographic, including this one. Every image on these pages is photographic, whether it is of a painting, a sculpture, an installation or a photograph. When we look and read about art, we accept this but never completely. We know the experience is vicarious.

Main image: Spread from Fortune magazine showing Walker Evans's Labor Anonymous 1946. Courtesy: the artist

Jennifer Higgie is a writer who lives in London. Her book The Mirror and the Palette – Rebellion, Revolution and Resilience: 500 Years of Women’s Self-Portraits is published by Weidenfeld & Nicolson, and she is currently working on another – about women, art and the spirit world.

David Campany is the author of Art and Photography (Phaidon 2003) and Photography and Cinema (Reaktion 2008). He lectures at the University of Westminster.

Frieze Masters Magazine

David campany, jennifer higgie, photography.

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The show at Galerie Chantal Crousel in Paris is filled with motifs of choreographed movement and figures created from slashed lines

At Collezione Maramotti in Reggio Emilia, the artist ’ s sumptuous portraits of Afro-Italian life probe questions of personal history, identity and nationality

On the 100th anniversary of the birth of influential photographer, we revisit his landmark photo book, ‘The Americans’

BALDIGA – Unlocked Heart , a new documentary on the Berlin photographer, provides fresh insight but underplays the epicurean experiences that shaped his art

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Enmanscamera's Blog – Kamloops

My impressions, feelings, experience and knowledge about photography..

Problem Solving Approaches to Photography

There are times when all photographers end up with faulty photographs. Once in a while it can be blamed on the equipment, or processing, although certainly not as much now as when film was used. However, in my opinion, even today most of those faulty photographs are because of poor techniques.

A friend stopped by my shop last week to tell me about his trip to Mexico. He complained that his daughter’s cheap little point and shoot camera got better pictures than he had with his son’s expensive DSLR. I don’t think he was happy when I told him the problem was most likely with his technique. I was certain that little point and shoot’s tiny sensor or it’s lens didn’t match the quality of a DSLR.

I listened to a local photographer grumble about how local photo labs are failing to make her prints the way she thinks they should be. I expect she totally relies on her camera’s programs and is one of those of the belief that if the camera they have been using doesn’t give good pictures then they should buy a newer or different manufacturer’s offering to make it so. In her opinion, that latest camera is advertised as producing wonderful images and when she doesn’t get the correct colour balance or sharpness it can’t be the camera or her fault, it must be the labs.

Years ago I was asked by the Abbotsford Photo Arts Club to give a lecture about problem solving in photography during their annual session. That was long before any of us even thought of the amazing control computers in our cameras or on our desktops now give us. However, at that time I felt, and still do, that the responsibility for a good photograph belongs to the photographer and not the film companies, camera manufacturers, or some poor, overworked lab technician. The point of that lecture, so long ago, was that photographers should look at each photograph as a problem to be solved, and go through the process of correcting faults before releasing the shutter.

Photographers used to say that it was all in the negative; that a properly exposed and developed negative gave the best possibilities of a fine quality print. I still agree with that principle only now it isn’t an image about to be developed on film.

By the time I arrive on the scene to photograph my subject of choice I have already made several decisions and I try to do as the famous photographer, Ansel Adams would do and “previsualize” the image or in my words, “problem solve for the final photograph”.

Like Adams, photographers should be thinking about how the final photograph will be used and how to accomplish that. If one thinks of a final photograph as a series of problems to be solved there will be a smooth transition from initial idea to final print. For example one could begin by thinking about the subject and its environment. What is the background and how will that affect the subject? What is in the foreground that will interfere with that subject? If one considers depth of field a decision must be made how much is wanted to be “in focus”. Continuing on, in a landscape photograph, photographers will probably want everything from the foreground to far off distance to be crystal clear; whereas, for a portrait the photographer may want the background to be “out of focus”. Another consideration is what is the lighting like and will its direction be flattering?

The sun and its direction is always very important when photographing people. I prefer to have it coming from behind my subject and as readers know, I like to use off-camera flash. Although, if for whatever reason that isn’t possible, I problem solve my way into a photograph that works.

Photographers don’t need to see problems as a deterrent or bad thing. When I suggest to photographers to take a problem solving approach to photography I am really just saying that every element in any creative photographic composition is important, and from start to finish if a photographer uses a system of photographic problem solving there will be less faulty and more successful images.

With digital technology one can easily determine what went wrong or is going wrong and take the time to problem solve before downloading to the computer or relying on technicians at the local photo lab and hoping they are equipped with PhotoShop wizardry.

I appreciate your comments. Thanks, John

My website is at www.enmanscamera.com

The Future Does Not Fit In The Containers Of The Past

Solving Problems By Leveraging Photography.

The future does not fit in the containers of the past. edition 61..

Many of the techniques used by the best photographers are the ones we can use to become great at problem-solving.

The essence of photography

At its essence photography is driven by three variables:

a) Framing: What the photographer decides to focus on, how the camera is angled and positioned relative to the subject and what is left in and left out of the viewfinder.

b) Exposure/Lighting : This is a combination of aperture, shutter speed and how sensitive to light the film is (ISO speed)

c) Editing: Once upon a time with analog film only professionals had the tools of editing (darkrooms, chemicals, and papers) but today with digital capabilities of our phones we all can pre-edit by taking several test shots, give ourselves lots of editing options by taking a lot of pictures and then later with easy-to-use tools sculpt our pictures to our liking by cropping and filtering and more.

The essence of problem solving

The best problem solvers tend to be good at three factors:

a) Framing the problem by asking the right question: They want to know whether one is solving the right problem.

b) Getting the right input/data/facts so they can throw as much light on the problem : Can one get as much illumination as one can?

c) Interrogating and iterating the answer : The first answers tend to be somewhat right and often led to additional questions or additional fine tuning before one reaches a more robust solution.

Leveraging the principles of photography to improve decision making.

1.Framing the problem : Three simple questions to ask before you address a problem or challenge.

a) Focus on the right problem: Often organizations and teams spin their wheels on either the wrong problem or do not frame their problem in the right context, time- horizon or challenger set.

The US Auto Industry thought their problem was to enhance quality of their hardware against the Japanese or design their exteriors and interiors to drive desire for their product against the German luxury brands when the real existential challenge was to become adept at electric and software vs Tesla and address a decline in a desire for auto ownership due to rise of Uber and Lyft.

b) Ensure differing points of view: It is critical to look at a problem from the right angle and ensure different viewpoints are included in problem definition. One reason companies miss the forest for the trees is they fail to have diverse voices and backgrounds involved in strategic problem solving. Diversity is not just critical for ideation but to understand what the issues are.

Too many traditional publications failed to adapt to digital in part due to not having technical folks and younger folks who were comfortable using digital media having a voice in the room where decisions were framed. As Boards become more diverse it is critical that they ensure that there is diversity of voices and backgrounds and not only a diversity of faces.

c) Choosing what problems to look at and what not to tackle: The best photographs often result from tight framing and often the best solutions come from the tight definition of the problem.

Many times, we might try to solve problems that are so broad that they are never solved because either it requires too many people or too many resources or too much time.

2. Ensuring the right exposure: In the world of problem solving the aperture is how much data you decide to look at, shutter speed is how much time you allocate before a decision must be made and ISO is how much leeway (graininess) is acceptable.

a) Quantity and Quality of Data: If the inputs are not correct or valid then it is unlikely the outputs will be. After framing a problem correctly, it is key to ensure that as much valid data, input, and learning is brought to the solution.

One reason the original We Work imploded was that the key data they overlooked were from the industry they really were in (real-estate leasing) and rather they focused on the ones they were not relevant (software, luxury experiences) in how they valued themselves and raised money.

b) Speed of decision making: So often problems do not get solved since there is a demand for more information, more data, and more input. Delay and dithering should be avoided by putting tight deadlines on decision making.

Too many organizations spend time ingesting lots of inputs and look at their colon in many ways but end up with no real output.

In another vernacular to solve a problem one must sooner or later emit or get off the pot.

Sometime though one rushes too fast and hurried decisions to make deadlines can also hurt an organization.

c) Sensitivity of impact of solution: If one is not going to being blowing up a photograph one really does not care about graininess and can use high ISOs to capture night views. On the other hand, if one is planning to print something on a large wall at an exhibition one must ensure much less graininess and therefore much more time and care needs to be taken.

Jeff Bezos has often noted the difference between revolving door and shut door decisions. If a decision can be revoked or changed without significant damage one needs less input and time but if a decision is difficult to undo and has long lasting or wide-ranging impact, then one must need to be more circumspect and speedier in decision making.

It is important before one begins to solve a problem one understands the sensitivity of the solution. How often have we procrastinated, and process driven a decision to death or run up huge costs in “studying a problem” when just saying yes or no quickly would have been smarter?

3.Editing the solution: The initial or first answers to a problem are not picture perfect and require three forms of editing.

a) Cropping : Sometimes the solution is correct for smaller subset of people or geography or clients and thus some honing and exceptions need to be made before announcing.

b) Filtering: This requires involving different people to look at the solution to get diversity of perspectives, interrogating the solution and particularly the inputs to ensure they were correct and interpolating with other wisdom and experience

c) Displaying and Sharing: How, when, and where one shares the solution will determine how it will be evaluated and accepted. Too often the best of solutions goes awry because the right folks were not brought into the loop before announcement, or the announcement was made without the right sensitivities or tone of voice.

Next time one solves a problem we may want to look at what makes a great photographer or a photograph and think about how we frame the problem, how we determine the process of how much data, how much time and how sensitive the impact of the solution will be and then be ready to edit and hone the solution to maximize the impact.

Photography from Sony World Photography Awards 2021 Exhibit.

If you are one of the 25,000+ weekly readers discovering this because of a social media post or a forwarded email please join nearly 10,000+ subscribers to receive more writing like this every Sunday for FREE at rishad.substack.com .

Rishad’s workshops on eight different topics (Future, Change, Leadership, Growth, Re-Invention, Selling, Re-thinking Organizations for the Future of Work and Talent Beyond 2022) are customized and combined for each company and delivered live, virtually, interactively and globally to turbo charge the potential of people. Unleash, upgrade and unfurl your key competitive advantage in ways that are fast, have force and are financially prudent . More at https://rishadtobaccowala.com/workshop

Rishad Tobaccowala (@rishad) is the author of the bestselling “Restoring the Soul of Business: Staying Human in the Age of Data” published by HarperCollins globally in January 2020. It has been described as an “operating manual” for managing people, teams and careers in the age we live in and The Economist Magazine called it perhaps the best recent book on Stakeholder Capitalism. Business and Strategy named it among the best business books of the year and the best book on Marketing in 2020. Rishad is also a speaker, teacher and advisor who helps people think, feel and see differently about how to grow their companies, their teams and themselves. More at https://rishadtobaccowala.com/

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7 challenges of being a photographer (and how to overcome them)

As someone who gets to shoot some of the most beautiful, unexpected and exciting moments in the world, being a professional photographer can be the best job out there. But, like any job, it can come with a few bumps in the road.

We asked professional photographers what their biggest challenges are, and how they overcome them. Here are their practical tips.

Marketing your photography business

“A major marketing challenge photographers face is to get visible, both online and offline” says Zoe Hiljemark , who helps photographers with PR and content strategy. “While almost all photographers use the social media mix, far fewer leverage the power of publicity. If photographers are proactive and pitch themselves and their work to relevant media such as newspapers and magazines, this can lead to visibility on a grand scale!”

“If you do one thing to invest in your marketing,” says photographer Sarah Smith , “you should follow #JournoRequest on Twitter. You’ll see requests from reporters at all kinds of outlets, from national to niche. Get in touch promptly (either by email or on Twitter), be specific (if they want stories, tips or quotes make sure that’s what you give them) and always ask for a backlink to your own website, as it will help boost your SEO !”

Getting the right photography permissions

“Many people assume a photographer can turn up anywhere and take photographs without asking permission,” says photographer Neil Moore . “That’s not the case, unless you’re on public land. The solution? Seek permission as the photographer or ask the subject to secure permission. Make sure you get this in writing, not a verbal agreement.”

Navigating the “hidden brief”

“Most professional photographers will need a specific brief to work with,” says Neil. “It’s amazing how many people will say something like ‘it’s just a headshot’ or ‘it’s just my classic car’, leaving the photographer to work things out for themself. Despite these basic instructions, everyone has expectations in their mind, which often means that when the photographs are taken, the client doesn’t like them – and that’s not always the photographer’s fault.”

Ask your clients what success looks like for them. Can they describe in detail what they’re looking for? Even better, can they provide examples of photos that are similar to what they want? And photos that represent what they don’t want?

Make sure your contracts protect you in case there’s a disagreement. Neil says, “include a clause in your agreement that, as long as the brief, however sparse, has been met then payment must be made.”

Buying public liability cover

“Public liability is a big consideration when working with the general public and/or in a public space,” says photographer Nick Rawle . “The number of forms you need to fill in to work in a public access private space can be excessive and there’s ample opportunity for accidents to happen.

“The solution is to have adequate public liability cover . I have £5 million as standard, but I’ve had to up that to £10 million for shoots where the general public are present.”

Insuring professional equipment

“The value of hired and owned equipment going out on location can be huge,” says Nick.

If you work with static subjects in your own studio – like food or product photography – you might not need to worry as much. But if your shoots involve moving around, are often outdoors, feature crowds, children or animals, the risk of damaging your equipment shoots up.

It’s recommended that you take out specialist photographers’ insurance , which should cover your equipment and offer extra cover for things like public liability and media liability.

Looking after your health

“Backache! In fact, all sorts of aches and pains can be a challenge,” says Nick. “Professional kit weighs a lot, and working on location means moving a lot of it about, often in public and also in hazardous environments. You need to have good spatial awareness and to be thinking all the time.”

If you can afford it, hire an assistant to help you transport your kit. “Good assistants are like gold dust, but they’re cheaper than having to turn down work because you’ve pulled a muscle or broken your ankle,” says Nick.

Understanding copyright

“Who owns the photographs? Many business owners assume that the photograph is theirs and theirs alone. But a photograph is subject to copyright,” says Neil. “The image itself always belongs to the photographer and may be subject to a licence agreement, too. This should be discussed upfront so that both parties understand the photographer’s parameters and can agree a mutually acceptable arrangement. Don’t rely on small print in a dense contract.”

If your clients are corporate entities, they might feel comfortable wading through legalese. But if your work is more intimate – like wedding or newborn photography – it’s even more important you get in the habit of describing copyright in simple, accessible language. Ask yourself: how would I explain this to a smart 12-year-old? Break down any specialist terms, and give concrete examples to help bring the rules to life.

If you’re in the market for photographers’ insurance and you’re not sure where to start, our quote builder can guide you in the direction of appropriate covers. Simply click ‘Start your quote’ and go from there. If you get stuck, our friendly team are ready to help via web chat, phone or email.

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Your Project
MoSCoW Method

What is the MoSCoW Method?

The MoSCoW Method is a prioritization tool that helps professionals in managing their time and effort .

To do so, it proposes to classify the importance of the different characteristics of a product (or a Project) according to their importance .

Its name is an acronym of the 4 Prioritization Categories proposed (adding two “o”):

M ust Have .
S hould Have .
C ould Have .
W on’t Have .

Four Prioritization Categories

Must Have : Essential Requirements that the product or project must have.

Critical Features without replacement.

Should Have : Important desired Requirements for the product or project.

They can be substituted if necessary.

Could Have : Improvements to the product or project.

There are different alternatives.

Won’t have : Characteristics agreed not to be adopted .

No one will waste time implementing them.

Let’s see the first example:

MoSCoW Method example

Imagine that you have been hired to create a Website for a Law firm.

They want a professional Site where people can Register and, once inside, track their court cases .

Since you want to deliver the best possible Site on time, you decide to follow the MoSCoW method .

How does it look like?

Must Have :

Solid programming without any bugs.
A Solid Register System.
A Safe and Reliable personal directory.

Should Have :

A Fast Site.
An outstanding Design.
Notifications sent by e-mail.

Could Have :

Custom menus.
Suggestions.
A Blog section with latest news.

Won’t Have :

Paid content.
A Public Members section.

As we usually say, this Method may seem obvious.

Then… Why is it important?

Why is the MoSCoW Method important?

Many of professionals end up wasting time , effort and resources on useless task s that are ultimately not essential at all.

Surely you have experienced this situation working in a Team:

Everyone spends hours modifying a minor feature and, ultimately, the important thing is missing .

That is why this Method is so important:

Because it concentrates your efforts and forces you to think about what is really important .

As you can imagine, this Tool can be employed in practically all kinds of situations.

But when do we especially recommend it?

When should you use the MoSCoW Method?

We highly recommend to use the MoSCoW Method:

To put order and prioritization.
To avoid wasting time with non-essential touch-ups.
In order to meet the Essential Requirements.
When the product can have very different characteristics.

Now, let’s see more examples:

MoSCoW Method examples

We have chosen different real examples where the MoSCoW Method can be of great help for the development of certain products.

Let’s begin:

A Wallet - MoSCoW Method example

Let’s imagine that you are developing a wallet .

As you know, wallets are very modular products.

They can have:

Several or few departments for cards.
Coin purse… or not.
1 or 2 bill slots.

There is not a canonical wallet (one that is the benchmark for all the others).

That is why you decided to use the MoSCoW Method to develop it.

After some thoughts, you decide that your wallet:

2 bill slots.
8 compartments for credit cards.
High resistance materials and sewing.
Leather as its main material.
A translucid Credit card compartment.
A transverse horizontal compartment.
A striking color on the inside of the bill slots.
Completely black exterior color.
One translucid compartment for small photos.
A Coin purse.
A Passport compartment.

Making a Cake - MoSCoW Method example

In this example, we’ll imagine that you are preparing a wedding Cake .

You have a very rigid deadline (the wedding day, of course).

In addition, as you also know, Cakes can have lots of variations.

We could say they are very modular .

That is why you decide to use the MoSCoW Method.

How does it look?

Well, your Cake:

White coating.
Two sugar figurines on top.
6 layers of sponge cake inside.
Belgian chocolate between the layers.
Decorations on the edges
Sugar flowers.
Chocolate balls.
Scattered sugar pearls.
Multicolor layers.
An excessive amount of decoration.
Fruit flavor.

Designing a Poster - MoSCoW Method example

You are now an artist hired to Design a poster for a Rock concert.

Obviously, this is a Design job with infinite variations possible.

Also, you have a close deadline to finish it.

No need to mention that you will use the MoSCoW Method.

Finally, the Poster:

The name of the Main rock band, very prominent.
Images and colors that best suit their style.
A typeface that best suits the musical style.
An illustration related to Rock in the middle.
The name of the rest of the bands that will play.
Where and when it will take place.
Where you can buy the tickets.
Nearby metro and bus stations.
The name of the city.
The maximum capacity of the stadium
At what time each band will play.

Summarizing

The MoSCoW Method is a prioritization tool that helps professionals in managing their time and effort.

It proposes to classify the importance of the different characteristics of a product in 4 Categories :

M ust Have.
S hould Have.
C ould Have.
W on’t Have.

Although this Method can be used in all kinds of situations, we highly recommend to use it:

When working in a team .
In Design tasks .
When there is a close deadline .
With modular products or projects .
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Photography as Problem Solving Process
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COMMENTS

25 common Photography problems and how to fix them
2. The colors in my photos look wrong. The most common solution to this very common photography problem comes down to finding the correct white balance setting for both camera and subject. Most of us will be aware that tungsten/artificial lighting lends a warm orange glow to shots.
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25 common Photography problems and how to fix them
How to solve the most common problems every photographer comes up against. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. ... 25 common photography problems Prev Page Part 1: 25 common photography problems. Gavin Stoker. Gavin has over 30 years' experience of writing about photography and television. ...
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This video has been updated (2023) with better content, audio, and video quality. Go to: https://youtu.be/8GA1M-oIhNo
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The MoSCoW Method is a prioritization tool that helps professionals in managing their time and effort.. To do so, it proposes to classify the importance of the different characteristics of a product (or a Project) according to their importance. Its name is an acronym of the 4 Prioritization Categories proposed (adding two "o"):. M ust Have.; S hould Have.; C ould Have.
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