Bring back photos your friends will beg to see.  Wouldn’t You Rather Wow! Them, Than Bore Them, With the Photos From Your Next Trip?

Your Advance Plan

Make sure your digital camera is in good working order before you go, and keep it in a water-and- shock-resistant case. Bring two sets of rechargeable batteries and don’t forget the charger and relevant cords, or if you’re packing light, a couple sets of high powered disposables.

You can never have too much memory. Packing an extra memory card is wise, as there is nothing worse than running out of room for pictures halfway down the Grand Canyon. Having a backup card also allows you to protect the spectacular, once-in-a-life-time shots from damage until you can get them transferred to permanent storage.

It may be tempting to lower the resolution so you can store more pictures, but you will regret this later as it may result in poorer quality prints, or you will be limited to smaller size prints. Set your camera at its highest quality JPEG setting and get more memory if you have to. You will appreciate this when you’re viewing and printing your photos after your trip.

Shoot, Shoot, and Shoot Some More

With a digital camera you can always erase the photos you don’t want. Take pictures of anything you find interesting and try to focus on some of the details such as: an attractive doorway or a colorful market, not just panoramic scenes or major landmarks.

Let your pictures tell a story by creating a visual diary of your trip. Include street scenes, interesting signs, people you see along the way. For variety take both vertical and horizontal pictures.

Get Personal

When taking people shots, don’t make the mistake of standing too far away. You want to be able to recognize the people in your photos. Get close enough so you can see the expressions on your subjects faces. Zoom in on individuals or capture them from the waist up. Pictures are often more interesting when you can catch people at candid, un-posed moments.

In posed photos, try to incorporate some of the background into your shot. Try snapping from interesting angles rather than simply head-on. Remember the Rule-of-thirds and position the most important subject at an intersection of two lines or Power Point.

Outdoors or In, Get the Right Light

When photographing in bright sunlight, setting your camera’s fill or forced flash is very helpful, particularly when photographing people.

Brilliant sunlight often makes people’s faces look harsh, casting dark shadows under the eyes and accentuating wrinkles. The daytime fill-in flash will soften the lighting and make the images more flattering. Your family and friends in the photos will thank you!

Make it Last All Year

When you get home you can edit, crop and enhance your favorites using the photo editing software that came with your camera or a more advanced software like Foto Finish or Photoshop Elements. Consider adding drama to your images by turning some of your color photos into black and white or sepia tones and then upload all your images to an online photo printing service like Ofoto or Shutterfly for fast and convenient prints. Get more information on these and other services at: http://www.takebetterdigitalphotos.com/

You can take your best snaps and use your photo editing software to create a photo calendar or make photo cards for personal notes, or to email your favorites to family and friends.

Most of all, have fun with your camera this summer or whenever you get the chance to vacation!

You can take your best snaps and use your photo editing software to create a photo calendar or make photo cards for personal notes, or to email your favorites to family and friends.

Most of all, have fun with your camera this summer or whenever you get the chance to vacation!

About the Author

The Editors at http://www.TakeBetterDigitalPhotos.com are committed to bringing you the most useful information about the rapidly evolving field of digital photography from a hobbyist perspective. Visit the Quick Tips page at http://TAKEBETTERDIGITALPHOTOS.COM/Quick_Tips.html for techniques you can use at your next event or photo opportunity.