Picture Taking Tips: How to Create Artistic Images with a Digital SLR Camera!

by Kerry Drager

While Photoshop and other digital darkroom software boasts so many creative approaches, your own digital SLR camera can be used to make an eye-catching variety of artistic images. Two top professional photographers (below) share their picture taking tips and artistic pictures on creating a beautiful look of movement with "just" a digital camera.
Enjoy!
Kerry

Sisters of the Sea... by Deborah Sandidge
Starfish - photo copyright Deborah Sandidge

For this photograph, I wanted to create a sense of motion with the starfish, the idea of waves rushing past. This is easy to do with a zoom lens, sand, shells and a few willing starfish. An overcast day provided even light and allowed for a slightly longer exposure time. With the camera mounted on a tripod, I twisted and zoomed the lens during exposure to imply motion for the two starfish. How simple is that?

The Expressive Image in Santa Fe, NM ... by Brenda Tharp

Trees in Motion - photo copyright Brenda Tharp

This area had beautiful orange/red/yellow ground cover, and that’s all you need for adding some hint of Autumn to a picture! Several of us were standing there panning up, down, up and down, and a variety of other directions to try and abstract the scene for a painterly effect. The “secret” is to start your movement before you press the shutter, and press it while still moving, continuing to move after you hear the shutter close. Like following through in a golf swing or tennis swing, that smooth movement will give you results like the above picture. If you press the shutter and then move the camera up or down, you’ll probably have some detail registered, and then a swoosh of colors, if the shutter is long enough. Otherwise, your picture will be made before you get the chance to move!

NOTE: Brenda Tharp teaches many Internet photography courses, including Creating Visual Impact. Also check out Deborah Sandidge's online photo class: Digital Infrared Photography. BetterPhoto's digital photo school, by the way, offers more than 80 classes that provide professional picture taking tips.

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picture. If you press the shutter and then move the camera up or down, you’ll probably have some detail registered, and then a swoosh of colors, if the shutter is long enough. Otherwise, your picture will be made before you get the chance to move!

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