Photography tips

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Pets in action

Use motion to "freeze" the action of your pet's playfulness. The result will be photos that capture the true essence of your pet. Technique: Use the Action shooting mode on your HP digital camera, which optimizes the shutter speed to freeze the motion so you can take sharp actions shots without any blur. Read more about taking better photos of pets.

The beauty of black and white

When shooting black and white images, focus on shapes, shadows, and textures. For example, try an outline of a tree or a pattern on a rock formation. Technique: With digital photography, it's easy to transform a photo you've taken to black and white. Many HP digital cameras let you do this right in the camera, or you can use photo software such as HP Photosmart Essential. Read more about about black-and-white photo basics.

Babies up close

Taking close-ups of your child's features is an excellent way to show personality and emotion. Technique: Using the zoom feature on your HP digital camera, try capturing several different angles of your child's face, eyes, even hands. Black and white is another excellent technique; it gives the photos a timeless look. Read more about taking better baby photos.

Nature in detail

When choosing a subject in nature, look for patterns and details as well as rich colors. Technique: Photograph trees, plants, and flowers with the Macro feature on your HP digital camera, which allows you to get very close to your subject without creating a blurry image. Capture part of the plant instead of zooming to fit it all into the frame. Read more about close-up photography.

Seasonal transitions

Use your camera to document seasonal progressions of light, weather, and landscape. Find a place you like to visit year-round and photograph it in summer, fall, winter, and spring. Technique: The Landscape mode on your HP digital camera allows you to capture sweeping seasonal vistas in amazing sharpness. When taking photos of snow, you'll have to compensate for its brightness. Read more about taking better photos in snow.

Pan to capture motion

Highlight the excitement of motion by panning with your subject and allowing the background to blur. Technique: By setting your camera to Portrait mode, you widen the camera's aperture (some cameras also allow you to do this manually) and focus on objects closer to you. This leaves everything in the distance blurry. Read more about capturing motion and using blur.

Remarkable reflections

Capture stunning reflections in an array of places, like a body of water, a shop window, or a puddle on the sidewalk just after it rains. Technique: Photograph the reflection by itself (neon lights in a puddle for instance), or include an image with its own reflection, (for example, a mountain range and its mirror image on the lake).

Stunning sunsets

When you photograph sunsets, include something else in the photo to help structure the shot. Here, tree limbs in the foreground help "frame" the sun and add dramatic contrast. Technique: Use Sunset mode on your HP digital camera, which optimizes the settings to capture the bright colors without muting them. You can also manually do this by setting the Color Saturation to High.

Lights at night

A slow shutter speed and steady camera allow you to capture the beauty of lights at night. Technique: Use the Night Portrait or Night Scenery modes on your HP camera to capture lights at night. Night Portrait uses the flash and Night Scenery does not. Both modes use a slow shutter speed, and require a tripod or a stable surface. Read more about taking photos of lights.

Low-light shots

The muted light of sunset or sunrise can provide the background for an amazingly rich shot. Technique: Bring out breathtaking detail in low-light conditions by disabling your flash and using a long exposure (the time your camera takes to collect light). Read more about night and low-light photography.