Your New Camera

So, you are one of the lucky people who Santa blessed by giving you a new camera.  One of the first things you should do is skim your manual so you can gain a working relationship with your new image capturing device.  You don't have to read the whole manual but go to the page where it tells you where and what all those buttons can do.  Refer to the index for more in depth explanations. The next thing you will want to do is play with your camera's different settings and take some practice shots.  You can see what you have done right or wrong by looking at your camera's EXIF data.  The information can usually be found by right clicking while you are on an image and going into the properties window.  Now that you have a generalized idea of how to use your camera, get out there and shoot till your heart's content.

A few ideas about the photographs in this post:
1.  Leading lines: lead your audience's eyes to where you want them to focus.
2.  Bokeh:  This is the term used by photographers to describe the blurry background.  This can be achieved by opening your aperture to its largest (smallest number) opening.  For example f/1.4, F/1.8, F/2.8....
3.  Train your photographers eye by going to the swap meet.  There's so many different subjects to photograph.
4.  Cloudy days can make for some dramatic photographs.
5.  Famous landmarks: here is a picture of Diamond Head that was made a little less "boring" by including the outrigger canoes in the foreground.
6.  Look for interesting patterns and colors.
7.  Silhouettes can be fun.
8.  Of course family, friends, and pets are always fun too.

Please keep in mind that if you take a few shots that you would like to blow up, Lighthaus Camera has the ability to print your pictures up to 24xinfinity sized.  This can be done at the Oahu, Kona, and Kihei locations.  Price is a low $16 per square foot.