taking better photos

flightaware.com/photos/view/8351 … ews/page/8
I need and opion on how to make pictures like this better. I am using a Kodak Z981 and I never seem to get the whole picture. Should I back off on the zoom a little or what? Any feed back on this would be helpful. I also have it set at 6 megapixels should I go higher or what? Thank You members of Flightaware.

I usually hold back on the zoom until I’ve gotten use to my spotting area. I never used editing software mainly because I don’t own one and I really don’t want to spend the time editing photos (I average about 50 per week, I don’t post them all though). Even if you don’t clean up photos, cropping photos takes 5 seconds max for me so I hold off.

Regarding your photo, it might have looked better if you took the photo while the aircraft is facing you. I always like the airplane somewhat angled towards me if it’s possible plus it would have solved the zoom problem. I’m not an expert but these are just my opinions.

Try a tripod or a monopod to eliminate a bit of “camera shake”.

The other thing to remember about moving objects crossing from one side of the frame to another is to increase the shutter speed to freeze the subject.

There are plenty of educational camera sites on the web these days, and with a quick google search I found this site, which looks pretty useful:

digicamhelp.com/taking-photo … eed-chart/

“To help prevent images from becoming blurred, set the shutter speed faster than the focal length. For example, a zoom lens set at 200mm (35mm equivalent) requires a shutter speed of at least 1/200 second to avoid a blurred image. Adjust shutter speeds even faster for DSLRs with a focal length multiplier .”

Your photo could also be more interesting if it had some sort of reference. Give the plane some room. Zoom out a bit and let the viewer see some foreground or background.

The best advice is to keep shooting.

Edit: I use Picasa to organize my photos. It is part of the Google family. It has some basic photo editing software embedded in it that is easy to use.

I’m not an expert. I just play one on the internet. It looks like you should zoom out a little. As someone else said, it would be nice to have some other object in the picture, it would help judge scale and make the picture more interesting. I can’t help with shutter speed because I use a Nikon P90.

Know what your camera will do and won’t do, practice!

My camera is very similar, Sony H-7, to yours. my best advice would be to try all the different modes, “auto” mode isn’t the best for moving objects, I use the manual mode 99% of the time.

Even if there isn’t anything in the picture but blue sky and the aircraft, you can add interest by giving the subject “somewhere to go”.

On your DC-6 photo, the entire subject is jammed into the frame. It looks like a static display. By zooming out a little and putting the aircraft on the left side of the frame and leaving the right side of the frame just blue sky, you get the appearance of motion and flight. The plane has “somewhere to go” and the person looking at the photo imagines the movement in his head.

Redlegsfan has the same idea with his thought about finding an angle with the aircraft heading more directly toward you ( or away, for that matter). It adds an extra dimension to the whole composition.

I keep the instruction manual to my camera ( a Canon Rebel XTi) in my bag. Even though I’ve had the camera for about 4 years, I still pull the manual out when I’m out taking pictures and try to learn something new about it.

Here is another photo website that promotes moving your camera off the auto settings and into more creative uses.

stopshootingauto.com/exposure-lessons-in-order/

I want to Thank all of you for replying to my post. I have been experimenting with the maual side of the camera. I have dozens of photos that are learning shots. I wouldn’t probably use them here but I find by using a differnt setting for speed et. really changes the outcome of the photo. Once again Thank You very much for the help and thewebsites.

I want to Thank all of you for replying to my post. I have been experimenting with the maual side of the camera. I have dozens of photos that are learning shots. I wouldn’t probably use them here but I find by using a differnt setting for speed et. really changes the outcome of the photo. Once again Thank You very much for the help and the websites.