Tips for taking high quality images

I was recently contacted by a fellow blogger to feature Ben's nursery (yay!!) and as a result I forced myself to break out the old camera manual and take some decent pictures for her. 


Strangely, I have spent all this time thinking 'Auto' had to just be the best possible option! Well, low and behold, the difference is insane. Click to enlarge this to really see the difference.



The left side is the auto function, and the right is with several adjustments using the manual option.


Kind of feel like re-taking every picture I've ever taken...ahh.


Anyway, the moral of the story is, that little manual comes in handy. I still have a LOT to learn, I'm not even close to being an expert, but here are a few tips that got me started:

• No flash. EVER! (Seriously, does anyone use flash anymore?)
• Use the manual option
• Ensure the ISO is as low as possible
• Use a tripod (always!)
• Use the 2 minute timer option just to make sure there is no blurring at all (Billy taught me this trick and it's amazing how much better they turn out)
• Take pictures a little lower than you would normally think (don't stand and point downwards, try to take them straight on)
• When shooting groups of people, you don't need to see feet! Step closer, have everyone's faces just above the centre, and get a great focus.
• Don't rely solely on your iPhone for pictures (this is more of a reminder for me than anyone else, ha ha)

I am going to continue to play around with things like white balance and custom colour options, and I'll be sure to share any tips I uncover.


And for those of you who are curious, I'll share the link to the blog who is featuring us as soon as it goes live!


Now back to my photo editing...