Contents

Know more about this
(or any other) subject?

Show off your know-how at Quamut Wiki.

Learn more with these titles from Barnes & Noble

The Digital Photography Book

The Photographer's Eye: Composition and Design for Better Digital Photos

The Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Book for Digital Photographers

PC Photo Digital SLR Handbook

Photoshop Elements 5 Book for Digital Photographers (Voices That Matter Series)

Previous:
How to Take Great Digital Photos

Next:
How to Manage Your Digital Photos

Common Digital Photo Pitfalls

Some pitfalls, such as red eye, are common to all types of photography. Others, such as sensor dust, are unique to digital photography. Consider the following tips to solve all of these common problems.

Red Eye

Red eye occurs when a camera’s flash reflects off the subject’s retina, replacing the pupils with red circles. The best way to fix red eye is with photo-editing software, though there are a few in-camera approaches you can try:

Red-eye reduction flash: This flash fires several times in succession to make your subject’s pupils contract, which in turn makes the red circles appear smaller.
External flash: If you have an external flash, direct it so the light bounces off a wall or ceiling to light the subject indirectly. This way the flash light won’t reflect off the retina and then shine back into the camera.

Underexposure or Overexposure

To avoid underexposure or overexposure in your photos, try bracketing and metering.

Bracketing

Bracketing involves taking many shots systematically so that at least some of them will be exposed correctly:

Use manual shooting mode and set the exposure to the proper setting according to the light meter. Take a shot.
Adjust the aperture or shutter speed by one setting so that you let in too much light (according to the light meter). Take a second shot.
Adjust the aperture or shutter speed by one setting so that you let in too little light (according to the light meter). Take a third shot.
Compare all three photos on your computer screen and choose the best exposure.

Metering

The verb meter in photography means to use the light meter. If your composition includes a mix of light and dark areas, metering on the darkest and lightest areas of the photo can help you determine the best average light reading to use:

In manual mode, move your camera so that only the dark areas appear in the frame. Set the aperture and shutter speed according to the light meter. Return to the composition and take one shot.
Move the camera so that only the light areas are in the frame. Set the aperture and shutter speed according to the light meter. Return to the composition and take a second shot.
Set the exposure between where the light meter set it for the two shots and take a third shot.
Compare all three photos on your computer screen and pick the best exposure. The third shot will likely look best.

Blur

The most commons reasons photos appear blurry are:

The lens wasn’t prefocused: Press the shutter down halfway to prefocus before taking a shot.
The subject moved: Set your camera to shutter priority mode and try again with a faster shutter speed.
You moved: Use a tripod, table, or other steady surface to ensure that the camera stays still.

Some photo-editing software can sharpen photos that look blurry, but you should use this option only as a fallback, as digital sharpening can degrade image quality.

Color Inaccuracy

Digital photos sometimes have a color cast, a light tint that discolors the entire shot. Color casts usually result from either an improper white balance setting or a poorly calibrated, or color-adjusted, computer monitor.

Color Calibration

Color calibration is the process of adjusting the color settings of your monitor and printer to make sure the colors in the image you see onscreen match those of:

The original scene you photographed
The printed version of your photo

The best way to solve color calibration issues is to use a colorimeter, a device that mounts onto your monitor and measures the color output to make sure it corresponds to the way the human eye sees color. The colorimeter corrects how colors appear onscreen and generates a color profile that tells your printer which colors to print.

Dust

Photos taken with digital SLRs often have small gray marks caused by dust on the sensor. Dust spots can also show up on photos taken with point-and-shoot cameras:

If you have a digital SLR: Take your camera to a repair shop to clean the sensor if dust spots become a major recurring problem.
If you have a point-and-shoot (or a digital SLR with just a few dust spots): Use photo-editing software to solve the problem. It can usually clean up the spots digitally with one click.

Acknowledgments & Disclaimer