Photography Tips and Tricks

As soon as you start using your digital camera in ISO mode or with low exposure times you may notice something different. For some reason, your pictures come out looking grainy or have little dots of color. You’ve never had this happen with an SLR. What’s up with that?

What your are experiencing is what is known as noise.

What Causes Noise?

Digital photography noise is caused by the same type of electrical noise that creates crackling on your radio or static on your television. It is created by currents or voltages in an electrical device that is interfering with the process of the device.

In your camera there is an image sensor that is made up of many little light sensors. Light sensors are what takes the light and converts it into electrical charge. When a picture is being made, light hits the sensor, an analog signal is produced, which is converted to a digital image. If, during this time, something messes up the particles creating the analog signal, then noise is produced.

Noise is also indirectly created by weak light. The particles creating the analog signal is weaker when there is less light, so the camera is set for a longer exposure time to collect the weak particles to create a better picture. This creates more time for electrical noise to gather, as well.

How to Avoid and Fix Noise

In general, there is no way to prevent noise 100 percent of the time. There are some ways to lessen noise in the final image, though.

Many cameras now have built-in noise reduction systems. These systems sometimes need to be turned on to work, so check your manual for instructions.

If you already have an image that has noise, you can buy photo manipulation software that is specifically designed to reduce the noise in digital images. Photoshop has come out with one called Imagenomic that repairs an 8 megapixel photo in under 4 seconds.

Knowing that high ISO and long exposure times can cause noise is your best way to combat against it in your photos. Simply try to light your subjects as best you can to avoid these two settings.

If you are just starting out or at digital photography these three tips should be kept in mind to get the best photographs with your digital camera.

No Noise

Noise is a problem that is unique to digital cameras. It happens when you use a high ISO setting on your camera. Noise appears as speckles or grainy texture on your photos. Here is a good example of a “noisy” photo:

To avoid noise, check your manual to see if your camera can be adjusted to a low noise setting. If your camera is not equipped to reduce noise, try to avoid long exposure times or high ISO settings. If all else fails, purchase noise reduction software that can edit your digital images to smooth out the noise.

No Shake

A close relative to noise is camera shake. It is caused during long exposure times and high ISO, as well, and can also create terrible results.

Many digital cameras have a system that prevents some camera shake. To avoid it completely, watch the digital readout on the screen. If it shows an icon that is a red hand, you’re probably shaking the camera. Place the camera on a tripod or steady object to reduce the camera shake. For the best results, use your camera’s timer to get rid of all of the camera shake. Set your camera on a tripod, set the timer, and half-way depress the shutter button to focus. When you’re ready, fully depress the shutter button and stand back while the camera takes the photo.

No Washout

To keep your subjects from being washed out or overly bright from your flash, there are a few simple tricks you can use. First, stand back from your subject so that the flash is a bit more defused. Next, make sure that your settings are compensating for a flash. For example, if your camera is on manual mode and you have a very short exposure time, then adjust to a longer exposure time to compensate for the flash. Third, if you have a detachable flash, bounce the light coming from the flash off of a white object back onto your subject.

Using these three tips will get you on the way to taking much better pictures with your digital camera.