10 Common Photo Mistakes

By: Scott Bourne Everyone makes mistakes. Even Ansel Adams through some of his negatives a ay. But hat causes those mistakes! "hey are usually caused #y lack of concentration. So here$s a list of mistakes that many %hotogra%hers make. By studying them& you can avoid them. 1) Blurry Pictures Blurry %hotos are usually the result of camera shake. "he sim%lest ay to remedy this %ro#lem is to #uy and use a good& sturdy tri%od. 'f you can$t shoot ith a tri%od& remem#er to use a faster 'S( on digital cameras or faster film on film cameras. "his allo s you to increase your shutter s%eed. "he faster the shutter s%eed& the less likely you are to suffer from camera shake. A rule of thum# for handholding is to use a shutter s%eed that is 1)lens focal length or faster. 'n other ords& if you$re shooting a *00mm lens& you need 1)*00th second or faster. +on$t forget to com%ensate if you shoot digitally. 'f you use a *00mm lens on a ,ikon +100& it is the e-uivalent focal length of .00mm& so you ill need to shoot at 1) .00th of a second if you ant to handhold. 2) Contrasty Pictures "hese come from high contrast lighting situations. /earn to recogni0e them. Photogra%hing in the forest on a sunny day is an e1am%le of a high contrast situation. Photogra%hing at ,oon on a #right& sunny day is a high contrast situation. Contrast can #e mitigated ith diffusers and fill2flash& de%ending on the circumstances. 3sually the #est solution is to ait for #etter conditions. Another trick is to shoot ith lo contrast film. 4odak$s B56 Portra 700 is a good film to use in high contrast situations. 't has nine sto%s of tonal latitude and that tends to com%ress the contrast ratios in the scene. 3) Underexposed Pictures (prints) 3ndere1%osure often results from letting the camera make all the e1%osure decisions. 8emem#er& the camera$s meter ants everything to #e medium 9or gray.: 'f you do use the auto e1%osure functions& one common mistake comes from using auto e1%osure com%ensation and then forgetting you$ve done so. Make sure that you get enough light into the scene #efore you %ress the shutter. 6ith %rint film& it$s #etter to overe1%ose than undere1%ose& so hen you #racket& do it to the high side& i.e.& %lus one sto%& %lus t o sto%s. 4) Overexposed Pictures (slides) /ike undere1%osure& overe1%osure can result from letting your camera make all the decisions. 6ith slide film& overe1%osure means #lo n out highlights and that means lost information. Basing your e1%osure on shaded or dark areas and letting the camera set the e1%osure is a formula for overe1%osed slides. /ook for something medium to meter from or& #etter yet& meter the highlights. ;ust make sure your highlights on$t #e more than t o and one half 9* <=: sto%s lighter than medium. Since overe1%osing slide film is #ad& #racket your slide film to the lo side& i.e.& minus one sto%& minus t o sto%s. 5) Red Eye "his is a common %ro#lem resulting from on2camera flash. Move your flash off2 a1is. 3se a flash #racket and connecting cord. >ou can also #ounce the flash off a ceiling or all. >ou can

also use remote flash triggers to fire a flash that is mounted on a stand or any here else& as long as it is not on camera. ) !ens "lare ?lare occurs hen direct light hits the front element of the lens and light starts #ouncing around inside the lens. "his causes the light to reflect off all the elements. "his can reduce contrast and make your %ictures look @ha0y@. Most commonly& it results in a series of round highlights across your image. Be sure to use a lens hood to hel% %revent this. Sometimes you$ll need more than a lens hood. "ry using your hand or a hat to shade the lens. 'f someone is ith you& ask him or her to stand so that they cast a shado on the lens. Sometimes it$s hard to detect lens flare hen looking through the vie finderA using your de%th of field %revie #utton ill make this easier. #) O$struction Be on the lookout for intruders trying to make their ay in to your %ictures. Branches& out of focus grass #lades& tele%hone ires@B.all these and more can act as distractions. Most vie finders sho only a#out C*2CDE of the image. 4ee% that in mind hile %hotogra%hing. >ou may ant to try shifting your camera around to see hat$s at the edges. Some intruders are hard to see in the vie finder sim%ly #ecause they$re too close and not in focus. 6hen you get your %ictures #ack you see things you didn$t see #efore. 8emem#er& you$re looking through your lens at its idest a%erture& thus the shallo est de%th of field. Some things on$t #e in focus. 3se your %revie #utton and you$ll see any intruders. 'f you don$t have a %revie #utton& try focusing throughout the range of your lens to see hat may sho u%. %) &i'nettin' "his is hat ha%%ens hen items encroach on the outside edges of your camera lens$ field of vie . 't$s often caused #y stacking filters& or #y adding lens hoods to lenses that have filters attached. (ther accessories& like filter holders& can also cause vignetting. 'f your vie finder sho s less than 100E& you may not #e a#le to see this ha%%ening. 8un some tests. Put on all the different filter)hood com#inations you can think of and %hotogra%h a #lank all. "ake notes and look at your images hen you get them #ack. "he de%th of field %revie #utton ill also hel% reveal hen vignetting may #e a %ro#lem. () Color Casts Color casts can result from using the rong film& outdated or s%oiled film or shooting in dee% shade. 'f you use daylight2#alanced film like Felvia or Ektachrome Elite and shoot indoors& you could get some very strange results. 3nder tungsten lighting& regular lam% light& you$ll end u% ith a very arm color cast. 'f you$re shooting under fluorescent light& you$ll see a greenish cast. 'f the %ro#lem is the rong film& the solution is to use a color2correcting filter. ?or tungsten& use a filter in the G0 series. "hese filters are #lue and ill #alance out the yello of tungsten light. ?or fluorescent& use an ?/ filter. 'f you$re using flash indoors as your only source of light& you shouldn$t have a color2cast. "he other solution is to use the correct film. "ungsten #alanced film is made for use under tungsten lighting and ill result in the correct colors #eing recorded.

Shooting in the shade on a sunny day ill result is a #luish cast. After all& the %redominant light source is the #lue sky. 3se a filter in the G1 series. "hese yello ish filters ill #alance out the #lue. ?or outdated film@B. ell& good luck. >ou get hat you get and the only ay to correct color is after the fact& either at the la# or in the com%uter. 1)) *ilted +ori,ons (ff2center or tilted hori0ons are %ro#a#ly the most common mistake that e all make and there are several ays to -uickly solve this %ro#lem. (ur favorite is to use a focusing screen ith a grid etched into it. "hese are availa#le for many camerasA check your manual. " o cameras& the ,ikon ,G0 and the ,ikon +100& even have grid screens that you can turn on or off as a custom function. Another solution is to sim%ly ste% #ack and see if your camera looks level to the orld. "hen take another look through the vie finder. Sometimes e need to a%%roach the vie finder from an angle #ecause of the camera %osition. "aking another look through the vie finder ith your head level ill hel% too. (ne of the easiest solutions is to #uy a #u##le level for your camera. "hese levels fit in the flash hot shoe. "his ay you$ll al ays kno that you$re level. "here are times& ho ever& hen your camera may #e level #ut the hori0on ill a%%ear tilted. "his a%%arent tilting results from receding shorelinesA the closer %arts of the shoreline are lo er in the frame. ;ust #e a are of this %henomenon so you can decide if it$s something that ill #e a distraction or not. C(,C/3S'(, 6hether you are a seasoned %ro or a ne shooter& these ten %ro#lems can cree% u% on you. So revie this list often and make a mental checklist to use every time you %hotogra%h. >ou ill notice an immediate increase in the -uality of your images Article Co%yright *00D& Scott Bourne 2 Photofocus Maga0ine AB(3" "HE A3"H(8 Scott Bourne is the author of @GG Secrets to Selling 5 Pu#lishing >our Photogra%hy@ and @GG Secrets to Photosho% for Photogra%hers.@ Both are availa#le from (lym%ic Mountain School Press& htt%:)) .mountainschool%ress.com His ork has also a%%eared in #ooks& maga0ines& galleries& calendars& on greeting cards& e# sites and on %osters. Scott is a %rofessional %hotogra%her& author& teacher and %ioneer in the digital imaging field. His career started in the early I0s as a stringer covering motor s%orts for Associated Press in 'ndiana. Since then& he has shot commercial& %ortrait& edding& maga0ine and fine art assignments. His ne %assion is ildlife %hotogra%hy. Scott regularly lectures on a variety of %hoto and media2related su#Jects. He$s a%%eared on national television and radio %rograms and has ritten columns for several national maga0ines. He is the %u#lisher of Photofocus.com& an online maga0ine for serious %hotogra%hers and also serves as the e1ecutive director of the (lym%ic Mountain School of Photogra%hy in Kig Har#or& 6A.