Some Experience
Use the flash as little as is necessary. Unless you get the strobe away from the camera, your photos will likely have a ‘flat’ ‘snapshot’ look to them.
Compose using the rule of thirds. Try to put your subject about a third the way from the top or bottom of the viewfinder. A landscape with the horizon right smack in the middle of the shot looks terrible. A shot of a person or a group with their heads in the center of the shot also looks awful.
Now… you remember all the hassles of a darkroom? Mixing chemicals? Temperature just so. Test sheets? Fuggedaboudit. With digital images you can crop and fix color and lighten and darken all with a mouse. Digital is great for making a mediocre shot look much, much better without having to rent time in a darkroom.
not to mention the economy
i am amazed by the clarity of my 3 megapixel images projected on my 12"x 16" monitor screen. those images would cost $$$ on paper. they will never fade and are always available for reproduction.
focus yourself
before you focus the camera
- BD
follow the first rule of photography
HAVE A CAMERA WITH YOU. Just like paddling, you need to practice. A circle polorizer filter is a must on the water. I shoot with an F5, and a 24-120 when I don’t have my Hassablad out. I have been trying to get an Ikelite housing for that setup for a couple of years now, that would make it just about waterproof.
But if your camera is in the car, or worse yet in the closet, it doesn’t do you any good. Just get the filter (when I used to manage a Ritz camera store, if you bought two filters, you got one free, great way to get a couple extras). Keep a dry towel nearby, and dry your hands off before you handle the camera. I have kept the camera in my Pelican case, which is water tight, and have not had a problem in almost 5 years of paddling.
The rubber eyecup helps with the glare that comes with being on the water.