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10 Common Photo MistakesBy: Scott Bourne

Everyone makes mistakes. Even Ansel Adams through some of his negatives aay. But hat

causes those mistakes! "hey are usually caused #y lack of concentration. So here$s a list ofmistakes that many %hotogra%hers make. By studying them& you can avoid them.1) Blurry Pictures

Blurry %hotos are usually the result of camera shake."he sim%lest ay to remedy this %ro#lem is to #uy anduse a good& sturdy tri%od. 'f you can$t shoot ith atri%od& remem#er to use a faster 'S( on digitalcameras or faster film on film cameras. "his allosyou to increase your shutter s%eed. "he faster theshutter s%eed& the less likely you are to suffer fromcamera shake. A rule of thum# for handholding is touse a shutter s%eed that is 1)lens focal length or faster.'n other ords& if you$re shooting a *00mm lens& you

need 1)*00th second or faster. +on$t forget to com%ensate if you shoot digitally. 'f you use a*00mm lens on a ,ikon +100& it is the e-uivalent focal length of 00mm& so you ill need toshoot at 1) 00th of a second if you ant to handhold.2) Contrasty Pictures

"hese come from high contrast lighting situations. /earn to recognie them. Photogra%hing inthe forest on a sunny day is an eam%le of a high contrast situation. Photogra%hing at ,oon ona #right& sunny day is a high contrast situation.Contrast can #e mitigated ith diffusers and fill2flash& de%ending on the circumstances.

3sually the #est solution is to ait for #etter conditions. Another trick is to shoot ith locontrast film. 4odak$s B56 Portra 700 is a good film to use in high contrast situations. 't hasnine sto%s of tonal latitude and that tends to com%ress the contrast ratios in the scene.3) Underexposed Pictures (prints)

3ndere%osure often results from letting the camera make all the e%osure decisions.8emem#er& the camera$s meter ants everything to #e medium 9or gray. 'f you do use theauto e%osure functions& one common mistake comes from using auto e%osure com%ensationand then forgetting you$ve done so. Make sure that you get enough light into the scene #eforeyou %ress the shutter. 6ith %rint film& it$s #etter to overe%ose than undere%ose& so hen you

#racket& do it to the high side& i.e.& %lus one sto%& %lus to sto%s.4) Overexposed Pictures (slides)

/ike undere%osure& overe%osure can result from letting your camera make all the decisions.6ith slide film& overe%osure means #lon out highlights and that means lost information.Basing your e%osure on shaded or dark areas and letting the camera set the e%osure is aformula for overe%osed slides. /ook for something medium to meter from or& #etter yet&meter the highlights. ;ust make sure your highlights on$t #e more than to and one half 9*

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also use remote flash triggers to fire a flash that is mounted on a stand or anyhere else& aslong as it is not on camera.) !ens "lare

?lare occurs hen direct light hits the front element ofthe lens and light starts #ouncing around inside the

lens. "his causes the light to reflect off all theelements. "his can reduce contrast and make your

%ictures look @hay@. Most commonly& it results in aseries of round highlights across your image. Be sureto use a lens hood to hel% %revent this. Sometimesyou$ll need more than a lens hood. "ry using your handor a hat to shade the lens. 'f someone is ith you& askhim or her to stand so that they cast a shado on thelens.Sometimes it$s hard to detect lens flare hen looking through the viefinder using yourde%th of field %revie #utton ill make this easier.#) O$struction

Be on the lookout for intruders trying to make their ay in to your %ictures. Branches& out offocus grass #lades& tele%hone ires@.all these and more can act as distractions.Most viefinders sho only a#out *2D of the image. 4ee% that in mind hile

%hotogra%hing. >ou may ant to try shifting your camera around to see hat$s at the edges.Some intruders are hard to see in the viefinder sim%ly #ecause they$re too close and not infocus. 6hen you get your %ictures #ack you see things you didn$t see #efore. 8emem#er&you$re looking through your lens at its idest a%erture& thus the shalloest de%th of field.Some things on$t #e in focus. 3se your %revie #utton and you$ll see any intruders. 'f youdon$t have a %revie #utton& try focusing throughout the range of your lens to see hat may

sho u%.%) &i'nettin'

"his is hat ha%%ens hen items encroach on the outside edges of your camera lens$ field ofvie. 't$s often caused #y stacking filters& or #y adding lens hoods to lenses that have filtersattached. (ther accessories& like filter holders& can also cause vignetting. 'f your viefindershos less than 100& you may not #e a#le to see this ha%%ening. 8un some tests. Put on allthe different filter)hood com#inations you can think of and %hotogra%h a #lank all. "akenotes and look at your images hen you get them #ack. "he de%th of field %revie #utton illalso hel% reveal hen vignetting may #e a %ro#lem.) Color Casts

Color casts can result from using the rong film& outdated or s%oiled film or shooting in dee%shade.'f you use daylight2#alanced film like Felvia or Ektachrome Elite and shoot indoors& youcould get some very strange results. 3nder tungsten lighting& regular lam% light& you$ll end u%ith a very arm color cast. 'f you$re shooting under fluorescent light& you$ll see a greenishcast.'f the %ro#lem is the rong film& the solution is to use a color2correcting filter. ?or tungsten&use a filter in the G0 series. "hese filters are #lue and ill #alance out the yello of tungstenlight. ?or fluorescent& use an ?/ filter. 'f you$re using flash indoors as your only source oflight& you shouldn$t have a color2cast."he other solution is to use the correct film. "ungsten #alanced film is made for use under

tungsten lighting and ill result in the correct colors #eing recorded.

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Shooting in the shade on a sunny day ill result is a #luish cast. After all& the %redominantlight source is the #lue sky. 3se a filter in the G1 series. "hese yelloish filters ill #alanceout the #lue.?or outdated film@.ell& good luck. >ou get hat you get and the only ay to correct color isafter the fact& either at the la# or in the com%uter.

1) *ilted +ori,ons(ff2center or tilted horions are %ro#a#ly themost common mistake that e all make andthere are several ays to -uickly solve this

%ro#lem. (ur favorite is to use a focusing screenith a grid etched into it. "hese are availa#le formany cameras check your manual. "ocameras& the ,ikon ,G0 and the ,ikon +100&even have grid screens that you can turn on oroff as a custom function.

Another solution is to sim%ly ste% #ack and see ifyour camera looks level to the orld. "hen takeanother look through the viefinder. Sometimes e need to a%%roach the viefinder from anangle #ecause of the camera %osition. "aking another look through the viefinder ith yourhead level ill hel% too.(ne of the easiest solutions is to #uy a #u##le level for your camera. "hese levels fit in theflash hot shoe. "his ay you$ll alays kno that you$re level."here are times& hoever& hen your camera may #e level #ut the horion ill a%%ear tilted."his a%%arent tilting results from receding shorelines the closer %arts of the shoreline areloer in the frame. ;ust #e aare of this %henomenon so you can decide if it$s something thatill #e a distraction or not.

C(,C/3S'(,6hether you are a seasoned %ro or a ne shooter& these ten %ro#lems can cree% u% on you. Sorevie this list often and make a mental checklist to use every time you %hotogra%h. >ou illnotice an immediate increase in the -uality of your imagesArticle Co%yright *00D& Scott Bourne 2 Photofocus MagaineAB(3" "HE A3"H(8Scott Bourne is the author of @GG Secrets to Selling 5 Pu#lishing >our Photogra%hy@ and @GGSecrets to Photosho% for Photogra%hers.@ Both are availa#le from (lym%ic Mountain SchoolPress& htt%:)).mountainschool%ress.comHis ork has also a%%eared in #ooks& magaines&galleries& calendars& on greeting cards& e# sites and on %osters.

Scott is a %rofessional %hotogra%her& author& teacher and %ioneer in the digital imaging field.His career started in the early I0s as a stringer covering motor s%orts for Associated Press in'ndiana. Since then& he has shot commercial& %ortrait& edding& magaine and fine artassignments. His ne %assion is ildlife %hotogra%hy.Scott regularly lectures on a variety of %hoto and media2related su#Jects. He$s a%%eared onnational television and radio %rograms and has ritten columns for several nationalmagaines. He is the %u#lisher of Photofocus.com& an online magaine for serious

%hotogra%hers and also serves as the eecutive director of the (lym%ic Mountain School ofPhotogra%hy in Kig Har#or& 6A.

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