The best way to get good digital photos is to know your camera's capabilities and then find photo opportunities that suit.
A trap many beginner photographers fall into is thinking they need the latest and most expensive toy to take good photographs.
I don’t agree.
The most important thing is to pick subjects that suit your camera’s strengths. Even compact digital point and shoot cameras produce very satisfactory results under suitable conditions.
The key element is to get to know your camera and what it does well, rather than feeling frustrated at what it won’t do, and then practice.
Many pro photographers have local subjects they regularly shoot to experiment with their equipment and new techniques. Especially with digital photography, you can get instant feed back, try something new and immediately load your images onto the computer and see the results.
The basic principles of lighting and composition still apply to all cameras and these are the most important things to get right in photography.
The fancy professional digital cameras still have their limitations, and pro shooters know to work within these bounds to achieve stunning pictures.
I often take photographs of my garden and my wife’s gargoyles that hide amongst the plants. Then it is straight inside and onto the computer for detailed analysis and comparison of the images.
When I started with my first digital camera, I eventually opened the manual and started working through the features in the manual I hadn’t figured out just by playing with the camera. Even the features I thought I knew, eventually I found extra details and options in the comprehensive manual.
Knowing and understanding the capabilities of my digital camera equipment allows me to look for photographic situations and styles that work to my strengths. Therefore, whatever your digital camera, find its strengths and look for opportunities to use them.
