Digital Photography Tips.

I've inherited my father's interest in taking photographs, and have inherited his collection of slides taken over a period of six decades.

While my shots are no where near the quality of a professional photographer, I've learned a few tips over the years.

1. Make sure your camera has a thread for a tripod mount. While I seldom take my tripod on trips anymore, I've purchased some The Blue Pod - Camera Platform over the years, and use these as often as I can. I have a small with a center screw for my point-and-shoot, and a larger one for my Ultra-Zoom and Compact SLR. I'm probably going to order one with an off-center screw for the SLR. By simply mounting the camera on one of these, I've gotten much clearer photos.

2. Utilize the self-timer button on your camera. Just the act of pressing the shutter release can move your camera. The last two cameras I've purchased have a two second delay, as well as the twelve second delay.

3. All images look sharp in the two-inch LCD screen on the back of the camera. Be sure to use the image magnifier to check the sharpness of your photos. When purchasing a new digital camera, make sure that your camera's LCD will work in bright sunlight. Check it out in both portrait and landscape mode. I tried a camera which looked great in the normal position, but would go blank when turned 90°.

4. Backup your photos as soon as possible. I always take a remote backup on our travels, so I have a second backup of my photos! While there are some that actually come with a screen for viewing, I've taken my Digital Foci Photo Safe II PST-251 500 GB Digital Picture Storage (Blue/White). It also acts as a hard drive back-up for your computer on those days when you need to restore factory settings.