A LITTLE HELP TO TAKING BETTER PICTURES IN 2012!!

   This article comes from www.yumsugar.com .  Who doesn't want a little help to take better, more professional pictures this coming year?  I know I do (bought myself a new camera for Christmas.  Can't wait to take and share pictures with all of you of my own projects and recipes that I have made!)

   Is one of your New Year's Resolutions to take better photos? We've got you covered. Check out some of our favorite tried-and-true tips to help your photos pop this year. Have any secrets of your own? Share them in the comments!

Play With Angles

   Don't just snap pics from a bird's eye view — get low, high, or level with your subject (especially food) to get the most interesting shot.  Don't get stuck taking an overhead shot, just cause you're sitting above your plate. Sometimes, the best shots are found when you're at eye level with your fluffy, carb-filled stuffing, and others are captured when you're looking straight down at your uncut pumpkin pie. Don't be afraid to move around!

Use Tissue as a Diffuser

  
   In order to avoid too harsh a flash when using an SLR camera, which can happen if you point your flash directly at your subject, Messina suggests taping a piece of tissue paper over the flash to diffuse it. This helps to soften the light before it hits a subject's face. Just be careful to keep the tape away from the flash itself, since it can get in the way and add a strange shadow to the photo. And, yes, I'm talking about the same white tissue paper used to line gift boxes — so it's inexpensive, too!

Use the Rule of Thirds

  

   Having been used since the 1700s it's widely accepted that adhering to the rule of thirds helps to make your photographs, paintings, and videos more visually interesting, and evoke feeling from the viewer. Learn more about how to master it after the break.
   If you were to look into your camera's viewfinder, and imagine that there are nine lines running across the entirety of your image — three vertical, and three horizontal — the rule of thirds states that your main focal point should be aligned with one of the linear intersections. The image you see here is a perfect example. Take note however that rules are made to be broken, especially where art is concerned. Having fun with what you're capturing is the most important rule of all!

Set Your Camera to Sport or Action For Pet Pics

Create a distraction-free zone — Your pet's attention span can be short, especially if there's a lot of toys, objects, or items in his view. Clear out the area you'll be photographing in, so Fido's attention will be squarely on you.

But, Keep his favorite toy or treats handy — Although you should clear the area of unwanted clutter, you'll want to keep your pet's favorite toy or treat handy for when it's time to snap the pic. A little coaxing goes a long way.

To see a few more tricks, just keep reading.

• Avoid using your camera's flash — One of the most distracting things about pet photos is the glare from the flash in his eyes. Open up a few windows for natural light, or take the photo shoot outside instead.
• Get down to their level — The best way to really capture your pet's features is by getting down on all fours and photographing them at their eye level. Hovering over from above may be your usual position, but it doesn't give us much to look at . . . except the tops of their heads!
• Choose the right setting — Fast-moving pets can make for blurry photos. Try changing your camera's setting to "sport" or "action" mode, which increases your camera's shutter speed and captures images faster, thereby reducing blur.

For Detailed Up Close Shots, Use Macro

  

,,,Ever left wondering why your up-close-and-personal shots of your babies, pets, or objects are blurry while the background is in focus? Wonder no more! Zooming in and focusing on an object can result in some amazing images, but only if your camera's settings are optimized. Beginners can easily start shooting in close focus by shifting their camera to the Macro mode. Macro allows you to get as close as 10 cm from your subject, with some prosumer grade cameras getting in as tight as 2 cm. You'll know your Macro settings by the flower symbol on your camera.

Use Your Flash Outside

   Switching your camera's flash to the "on" position during a sunny day photo session helps to eliminate those dark shadows from under eyes and noses and even helps to bring your subjects into focus on a cloudy day.  Ever noticed the dark shadows cast on your friends' and family's faces after you've taken pics outside? It may seem counter-intuitive, but switching your camera's flash to the "on" position during a sunny day photo session helps to eliminate those dark shadows from under eyes and noses, and even helps to bring your subjects into focus on a cloudy day. Use your flash "Fill" setting for a general pick-me-up to your photos, and snap away!

Use a Compact to Diffuse Light

   A compact mirror can bounce the light from your flash just like a diffuser does. With your camera pointed at your subject, hold a compact open and angled in front of the onboard flash. When you shoot, the flash bounces and adds light to dark areas around the subject and gives a nice, natural light effect (which would have otherwise been harshly washed out with a flash alone). I tested this trick myself — see what I thought after the jump!

   Although this is a handy trick, I will say that the separate flash I paid extra for diffuses light a bit better, but the mirror trick works great in a pinch!

Turn on Lights For Better Camera Phone Pics

    I love my iPhone, but sometimes I wonder if I should blame my phone or my photography skills for the blurry pics that sometimes end up in my photo library. Cell phone picture quality can depend on a variety of factors including the number of megapixels and flash capabilities. If you happen to have a decent camera phone, here are some tips to help you take great pics.

• Keep your camera still — The more still your subject, the clearer your image will be. This is especially true in low-light environments where shutter speed is much longer.
• Make sure your subject is well-lit — If your camera doesn't have a built-in flash, try to take a pic in an environment with decent lighting. If you are indoors, simply turn on some lights!
• Get close — Because camera phones usually have low resolution, it's best to take images as close as you can, but be sure to stay within proper focus range.
• Keep your camera lens clean — We all know how dirty cell phones can get. Just wiping off your lens with the proper cleaner and a soft cloth can make a world of difference.

Remove Blemishes in Photoshop

Get ready for the barrage of Kodak moments and impromptu family portrait sessions during the coming holiday season. The joy of technology lets us change even less-than-flattering pictures into a worthy keepsake. There's a simple tool you can use in Photoshop to make your face look clear and bright in your own photos, even when person behind the camera forgets to adjust the lens to ideal settings.

Sure, while excessive airbrushing in order to sell products is bad, zapping that zit from a nice family photo is totally legit. If you have basic knowledge of Photoshop, this tutorial should be easy to follow. Check out my steps to using the clone tool after the break.  (If you don't have Photoshop, so what!  I have a version of Photoshop Elements.  You can usuall get last years version or the year before for under $50.  Works the same way without the big layout of cash for Photoshop.  "The Doktor")

First, you'll want to choose a photo to be touched up. Drag that image into Photoshop to begin!

• Zoom into your "problem area" in order to make the blemish more visible and easier to work with. You can do this by hitting Command and the + button, selecting View > Zoom In, or increasing the percentage at the bottom left hand side of your image.
• Select the Clone tool.
• Make sure your clone tool is the same size as the blemish you want to cover up. At the top toolbar, you can adjust the size of the clone tool, and I recommend using a feathered brush for nice and soft results.
• Since the purpose of the clone tool is to essentially copy and paste a patch of good skin over a patch of not-so-good skin, you should choose to clone an area that is close to the blemish in order to match up skin tone and lighting. Click Option to "copy" a section of the photo, then simply click your mouse to "paste" it over the blemish.
• Pro tip: The clone tool works best in this case when you simply click once rather than clicking and dragging, as you may find that your image gets pixelated and fuzzy. If this is the case, you can always revert back a step and start again.
• That's it! It doesn't take a ton of work to touch up your pics, and you can even use this method for covering up dark under eye circles and whitening teeth.

Watch Your Horizons

   The weather is heating up, so while you're wielding your camera on your upcoming vacations, this tip will come in handy — remember to "watch your horizons." What this means: if you're taking landscape photos (and especially pictures of the beach, or bodies of water), your horizon (the line that separates earth from sky) should be off-center — not jetting through the middle of your photograph — in order to give your image more character. Similar to the rule of thirds, your horizons would be best placed higher or lower than the middle of your frame. But as always — "rules" like these are meant to be broken, so be sure to experiment!

Take Great Instagrams

   From Oct. 22-23, London's East Gallery hosted the My World Shared photography exhibit, which may not seem unusual, until you learn that this was the first exhibit ever curated to feature only Instagram pics.
   A community of passionate "Instagrammers" have launched the exhibit and a website that's stocked with info for other Instagram addicts, like city-based groups, photo walks, and tips on how to become Most Popular, how to boost your profile, even "10 ways to make Instagram profitable."
   If you're looking to up the ante in Instagram yourself, we've rounded up a few tips on how to take better cellphone pics below. Snap away!

• Play with angles — Don't just take photos from your eye view! Be adventurous and get low, high, or level with an object to snap some really interesting angles.
• Get close — Because camera phones have lower resolution than a full-blown digital camera, it's best to take images as close as you can, but be sure to stay within proper range so your pics don't look grainy or blurry.
• Get focused — Choosing to focus on one particular object will generally create more interesting photos. Instead of snapping the entire scene at the beach, hone in on the seashells that wash up on shore, a playful umbrella, palm trees, or kids playing in the surf.
• Make sure your subject is well-lit — If your camera doesn't have a built-in flash, try to take a pic in an environment with decent lighting. If you are indoors, simply turn on some lights!
• Keep your camera lens clean — We all know how dirty cell phones can get. Just wiping off your lens with the proper cleaner and a soft cloth can make a world of difference.

Cool Effects to Add to Your Photos

While you may have mastered the Rule of Thirds and your camera's settings, have you tried playing around with different photo effects? These tips and tricks can help you take your images to the next level, whether it's during the photo-taking process or afterward in Photoshop.

Bokeh

    You probably know what bokeh is, just not what it's called. Bokeh is the photography effect that produces a blurred background. With an SLR, you get bokeh by setting your aperture value low and then focusing on a subject. It's a beautiful photography effect and in most snappers' bag of tricks. The other side of bokeh is the gorgeous patterns you can create in your photographs. You can make dots, like in the picture, or you can get ambitious and make hearts or a holiday theme (like stars) with DIY Photography's bokeh instructions.

Polar Panorama

   I stumbled upon this little planet effect, called Polar Panorama, on a blog, and got lost inside the 50 examples it provides for this fun and unique effect. I'm all about learning new ways to have fun with my photo library, so naturally I added this to my editing experimentation to-do list. Plus, the effect totally reminds me of the planets from Super Mario Galaxy; I adore that game.
   This tutorial shows you how to make the effect yourself, and although it looks like a labor-intensive process, the steps are actually quite easy — just straighten your photo so the image is level, make the image is a square, rotate, and apply the "polar effect" in Photoshop.

Light Trails

   Apparently, shooting light trails is super easy, but you'll have to venture out of manual mode to achieve it. Just by using longer shutter speeds (around 10 or 20 seconds), a tripod, and finding your perfect aperture mode for the light you're shooting in (start with your f-stop at f/8, and take it down if your shots are overexposed and up if underexposed), light trails are easily captured. Check out the rest of the tip details on Digital Photography School and have some photography fun!

Aged

   Age any photo instantly — and without Photoshop — just by uploading it to this Japanese site, which will spit out a 100-year-aged photo instantly! While you can probably figure out the site in Japanese, click the "English" link in the top right corner to translate the site.

Movie Stills

   With this easy tutorial, you can quickly turn your ordinary pics into movie-like stills in just 12 steps. If you know how to add layers and adjust blur, this process should be a snap, but if you don't, it's OK— the tutorial is easy enough for you to grasp, since there are screen shots to show you how to do it.

Lomo

   The "Lomo Effect" makes your pics look like they were expertly shot and developed using the (sometimes expensive) plastic cameras with just a few simple steps. Check out the great tutorial here!

Tilt-Shift

   Is this a picture of a miniaturized London street? Nope, it's the real deal, just made to look like a tiny version of itself! The effect is called Tilt-Shift and it's totally awesome. You can make virtually any picture look like a scaled-down version of the real thing with a few easy adjustments in Photoshop. Want to do it yourself? Check out this easy-to-follow tutorial to get you on your way. One quick tip though — make sure your photos of choice are taken from a higher angle, as miniature scale models are usually shot from above.