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Whether you’re going on a vacation to somewhere hot and sunny, or staying around town to visit local attractions, you’ll want to remember every moment of the fun. Why not grab your favourite digital SLR camera to document your spring break with the utmost flair? Switch to Manual mode and get creative with your shots. Take time now to learn what your camera can do beyond Auto mode. Not sure where to begin? Follow these simple tips and make this year’s spring break photos your best ever.

1. Shoot in continuous mode – If you’ve ever had trouble taking crisp, clear photos of a constantly moving subject, a child or pet for example, try changing your camera settings to a continuous burst mode. Several frames per second will increase your chances of catching your subject just the way you want. If you have Subject Tracking, you’ll have an even greater array of features to help you capture that perfect shot.

2. Flash forward – Using a flash ensures all your photos are crisp and clear, especially in darker lit settings such as a dinner or dance party. And don’t stop there – be sure to use flash outdoors as well to help balance any dark contrasts.

3. Work with what you’ve got – Take advantage of your camera’s settings whether it’s a low-light sensitive capability such as a broad ISO range, or automatic setting selections for taking pictures in various environments. Learn the features your camera offers and use them to create impressive images you’ll be proud to put on display.

4. Shutter finger – The beauty of digital is the ability to review any photographs you take instantly and decide which you would like to keep or re-shoot. With this in mind, don’t hold back. Take more pictures rather than fewer and sort through them later. This will help you focus on the photo opportunities at hand, giving you a better chance of capturing that perfect shot.

5. Exposure is key – Any good photo has an intended balance to the amount of light used when the picture was taken. Experiment with your camera’s exposure settings, bracketing the brightness levels for different effects. Sometimes an over or underexposed photo can be a creative expression of an otherwise normal photograph. Just remember, when in doubt, underexpose – these images can be brightened later on, whereas an overexposed image won’t pick up all the details and not much can be done to correct it.

6. Get to know, be a pro – Take into account who or what your subject is. If you are photographing a person, learn what their personality is like and what they are comfortable with; if you are taking photos of an animal, you will need to know what its temperament is; and taking pictures of an object requires you to identify the best features to highlight. The more you learn and understand, the better you will be able to model your photograph in its best light.

7. Wherever you will go – Take your camera with you so you never miss a moment. When selecting a new camera, consider how you will transport it. If you select a smaller unit, this will be less of a concern, but if you purchase a larger, heavier camera with additional lenses and flash attachments, consider investing in a good camera bag to protect your equipment and make it more portable. When on foot, take advantage of a camera strap around your neck – many of today’s digital SLR cameras feature rapid start-up times, so you’ll always be ready if a picture opportunity arises.

8. The more the merrier – Challenge your skill level. Investing in a few accessories can make photography easier and help to produce better photos. A tripod can help to steady a shot, while additional lenses provide various zoom options, macro options, wide-angle, and more. Adding an external flash can make a photo more dynamic. Digital SLRs are great because they are customizable to every photographer’s needs.

9. Don’t forget to touch up – Make life easier by performing simple image corrections right on the camera before uploading them to your computer. This makes picture development a snap.

10. Have fun! Be creative – Get up high or down real low to capture that perfect shot, creating dimension, angles and a personal flare to all your photos. Develop your own style of photography to set yourself apart from the crowd.

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Gregory Flasch is Advertising & Communications Manager in the Consumer Products Division of Nikon Canada Inc.

Adrian writes,

I've tried recently to photograph lightning but with little success. Is there a basic set of rules to follow for this? Or some sort of guideline where I can try to find what works best for me?

I personally haven't tried lightning, so for this one I turn to the National Geographic Photography Field Guide by Burian and Caputo. They recommend as follows:

Adrian writes,

I notice a lot of professionals always use their flash no matter the conditions. I've tried this but sadly poor results. Why do they do it and why do most of my flash photos suck!?

Photographers often use their flash for "fill", especially when photographing people. Rather than blinding them with the sun and getting a photo of a squinting subject, it is often more effective to put them in the shade or even with their back to the sun and then use a reasonably powerful flash to light the subject. It's just another technique to control the light falling on your subject.

For a good depth of field example, check out this image on Dooce's blog.  Note that the battery on top of the nose is in sharp focus, the one at the back of the head isn't, and the wall is pleasantly blurred.

In photography, depth of field (DOF) refers to the range of distances from the camera that appear to be in focus. A lens can only focus at one distance. However, the sharpness as one moves closer or farther away from that distance diminishes gradually and within a certain range nobody notices it.

Perhaps you want to take a photo of a friend standing in front of another object. If you have a narrow (or short) DOF, your friend may be in focus while the foreground and background appear out of focus. At the other extreme, a wide (or long) DOF could result in the entire image appearing to be in focus.

There's a good example of effective DOF control here.

Before we begin, it’s important to understand that almost everything about photography involves compromise, and nowhere is that more evident than when choosing a digital camera.  Like any other tool, different cameras are best for different people and different kinds of photography.  The goal of this article is to help you choose the best camera for you.

A reader writes,

On recent vacation, I really did take many terrific shots, but a bummer being a group shot of four kids against some rocks at the beach. The colour and lighting are fine, but three kids are in crystal clear focus and the fourth, blurry.

There are a few things that could cause that problem.  Autofocus isn't magic, and can't read your mind, so it sometimes ends up focusing on something other than what you want.  Autofocus mechanisms look for a straight line, so, for example, if a person is standing in front of a fence, it's not unusual for the camera to autofocus on the fence rather than the person. Digital SLRs often have multiple autofocus modes, and it is critical that you understand the characteristics of the mode you're using.

Nancy’s going to be shooting a wedding inside a small church and wrote to ask what flash she should use for her Nikon D-80.

Nikon has several external flashes, but for most people I recommend the SB-600.  The SB-800 does provide a bit more range and some other features for people using multiple-flash setups, but most people don’t use those features and the additional range is not worth the higher price tag.

Terry writes,

My digital pictures tend to have washed out pale sky much like the sample at the upper right of your homepage. The software that came with my Lumix doesn't seem to help. Do I need to use a filter, different software, or do something else?

Photographs that include the sky are often problematic because the sky is usually brighter than anything else in the image, and in many cases it isn't that blue colour we're looking for.  Here are a few solutions...

Gabrielle asks,

I always thought my pictures were pretty sharp, well up until I saw some pictures from other photographers. My photos all of a sudden don't look so sharp anymore. What does a really sharp picture really look like? And I mean without Photoshop edits. I know I'll end up editing in Photoshop, but I really would love to know what I am capable without edits.

Image sharpness is a very common issue among digital photographers. 

While many filter-like effects can be simulated with photo-editing software, there are three on-camera filters that might interest you: Neutral Colour, Neutral Density and polarizing. Neutral Colour (NC) filters are simply there to protect your lens.

Shutter lag refers to the elapsed time between the instant you press the ‘release’ button and the instant the image is captured. This can become an issue with auto-focus cameras, where the time required for the camera to focus can make it difficult to capture moving subjects. Fortunately, most cameras sold today can be forced to focus by applying light pressure (often called a ‘half-press’) and holding the release button. When you press it the rest of the way, the image is captured immediately.