Apply creative picture effects using your digital camera.
The amount of money a photographer could afford to spend once hampered creativity in photography and the experimentation with different shooting techniques. Aside from the money spent on film, developing and prints, time was invested shooting the pictures and waiting to see the results. Thanks to digital cameras, these limitations no longer exist. Images are immediately available, which makes creative photography techniques easier, faster and less expensive to learn.
White Balance
Use the white balance setting on your digital camera for creative effects in your images. White balance allows you to choose a setting that makes the color white look white in your images. Take several pictures of a subject, and use a different white balance setting for each picture. This technique works well at night when city lights produce different colors depending on the camera's white balance setting. Experiment with various settings to achieve an effect you like. The same effects can be applied in daylight to alter the subject's appearance and give it a warmer or cooler feeling. Common household lighting appears different when alternate white balance settings are used. Try a combination of candle light and household lighting for creative effects.
Shutter Speed
Use camera settings in creative ways to create blur in an image to show movement, speed or the passage of time. Photograph a moving object, and use a slow shutter speed while panning the camera to follow the subject. With proper panning technique, the object stays in sharp focus with a blurred background that conveys the speed of the subject. Use the opposite technique on moving water. Set a slow shutter speed, and hold the camera still using a tripod to photograph a waterfall or fountain. The slow shutter speed captures the movement of the water, making it appear soft and fuzzy, while the background is in sharp focus.
Aperture
Use the aperture to make the background sharp or out of focus. Small aperture values create a blurred background as commonly seen in portraits. Making the background out of focus draws attention to the main subject. Large aperture values bring more of the picture into focus. Use a larger aperture for group portraits to ensure sharp focus for all of the subjects. Apply the largest aperture values to landscapes to bring everything from foreground to background into sharp focus. Large aperture values mean a small aperture opening, which results in slower shutter speeds. Use a tripod to support the camera and prevent blurred pictures caused by camera shake.
Tags: sharp focus, aperture values, balance setting, shutter speed, slow shutter