10 Tips To Be Photo Smart

TAKE THE PICTURE RIGHT THE FIRST TIME...
A bad picture is still a bad picture whether it's from a 35 mm or digital camera. Plan for the picture. Ask yourself, where is the sun? Is it a morning or afternoon picture? An overcast day can be a great day to take pictures all day long. Remember, many buyers' first reactions will be to your photo of the property.

DON'T TAKE THE FIRST PICTURE YOU SEE ...
Walk around the house and view several different angles. You don't have to take the picture just because you have the camera to your eye. Take the picture, as you want the picture to appear. Don't just shoot and plan to crop it on the computer. A camera professional would say to, "Shoot tight" to avoid cropping and enlarging. One of the great things about digital photography is if you don't like the image, you can delete it on the spot.

MAKE SURE YOU HAVE A MEGA-PIXEL CAMERA...
Generally speaking the higher the pixel count the better the picture. There is no reason with current cameras and technology to buy a camera that is not mega-pixel. Newer digital cameras are now breaking the two million-pixel barriers, enough to print an 8 x 10 picture with "near" photographic quality.

LEARN TO CHANGE THE RESOLUTION SETTING...
You will not want to put a mega-pixel image on your Web site because of size and time to load. On the other hand, you will want a higher resolution image for your marketing material. Some digital cameras make it a long process to change resolution on the camera, some make it a one-button solution. Choose a digital camera that makes it easy to change the resolution.

OPTICAL VIEWFINDERS ARE A MUST...
Trust me on this next one. Unless you have a compelling reason to buy a digital camera without an optical viewfinder, DON'T. Without an optical viewfinder you must compose your picture live on the LCD monitor. Sunlight can create glare, making it nearly impossible to see the LCD while outside. Holding the camera at arm's length can also encourage instability when snapping the shutter, producing blurred pictures.

KNOW YOUR LENSES...
Any digital camera spec sheet or box lists the "35mm" equivalency of their lens. Here's how you compare: 50-55mm is normal, 32-38 is moderately wide and 28mm or less is considered a true wide angle with no distortion. While I can get by with a moderate wide or even digitally stitch pictures together, I really prefer that my digital cameras have a true wide angle lens or the option to add a wide angle lens. If you are going to take pictures inside of a home, you need a true wide angle lens.

DON'T DO CABLES...
Buy a camera that has removable media, i.e., some type of chip, card or floppy that allows the pictures to go from camera to computer. There are basically three types: CompactFlash, SmartMedia or Floppy Disks. SmartMedia cards even have a standard floppy disk adapter. If you have a notebook computer, buy a PC card adapter (approx. $20). Your media inserts into the adapter and is instantly recognized as a disk when inserted into the PC card slot of your notebook computer. If your computer is a desktop, buy a PC-card reader for your desktop. Don't do cables.

EASY TO SHARE?...
Digital cameras are not just for flyers and postcards. Camera-based presentations are powerful if the camera is designed to easily show others what you have taken. With that in mind, consider cameras that make it easy to show customers/clients pictures on the LCD. Are the buttons big enough for any size hand? Can you easily instruct someone how to view his or her pictures? Is the LCD big enough and clear enough to view from several angles? Do the images appear quickly from image to image?

TURN THE FLASH OFF!...
Built-in flashes on digital cameras are meant to reach out 8-10 feet. Not enough to light an entire room. More expensive digital cameras provide for external flashes. A great tip is to turn the flash off. This can be done usually with a top mounted button. Turn all the lights on in the room and take the image without the flash. If the room has no natural light, such as a basement, it may appear yellowish because of the incandescent or fluorescent lighting. If that happens, most digital cameras allow for manual settings of "white balance" that will adjust the color balance to the lighting.

DON'T PLAY WITH YOUR PICTURES ...
Countless hours have been spent after scanning or importing of a digital camera picture to make it the "best it can be". Software exists to manipulate any picture many different ways. However, in many cases it is time wasted (unless it's therapy). A well-taken or scanned picture can be used almost immediately in most any applications.