Using the right film for your camera is just the first step in taking pictures that capture the moment. You’ll want to avoid those mistakes that produce poor pictures and also be sure what you have photographed looks the same way when it’s developed as it did when you looked at it through the lens.
For better pictures, Terry McArdle, manager of public relations for consumer imaging for Kodak says to use your flash in “unexpected” places.
“Using a flash outdoors helps take away shadows from the subject’s face and eyes,” he said. “Indoors, you can turn the flash off if your film is fast enough, and let the camera use all the available light in the room.”
If you’re using your flash, Kevin Rogers, district manager for Ritz Camera, says to remember that the popular point-and-shoot cameras typically have a 5- to 10-foot flash range and that people often forget that a zoom lens doesn’t allow the flash range to extend as far as the subject in the picture.
Steven Mertes, a professional photographer and a Wolf Camera sales associate in Bloomingdale, says he’s seen hundreds of people shooting a graduation ceremony high up in the bleachers and wondering why their pictures didn’t turn out.
“The aperture closes down as zoom increases on these point-and-shoot cameras, and you need an 800 speed film or more just to get a glimpse of the subject,” Mertes said. “You’re not going to get anything by just depending on your flash and slower film.”
When shooting pictures of people, avoid putting them against a large subject and stepping back to get both the entire object and the person in the picture.
“Bring the person with you into the picture, and avoid always putting him or her in the middle,” McArdle argues. “With large objects, the person winds up looking like a little dot, and off-center or using asymmetry in the picture is pleasing to the eye.”
Indoors, avoid putting someone in front of a light source unless you’re using a flash. For sunset pictures, use a flash to avoid silhouettes.
“There’s also something called `the magic hour’–that hour before the sunset and sunrise when the light is wonderful,” McArdle said. “We recommend people take advantage of those times and use the camera’s fill flash feature.”
Rogers is in the one-hour developing business and says that today’s professional film processors can do “a tremendous amount to correct mistakes.”
“The range of services covers everything from pictures that are overexposed or underexposed, and everything in between,” he said. “Colors can vary a huge degree. We ask our customers to go through their pictures there with us, and we’ll correct whatever they’re not happy with right then.”
“Don’t assume if there’s a problem with your pictures it’s your fault,” McArdle adds. “Bring them back to the developer and have him look at them again. Don’t assume the processor’s choice is the way your pictures have to stay.”
Rogers sounds a cautious note about private brands of film, which he says some one-hour photo labs aren’t prepared to handle.
“The 3M Co. makes a lot of film for the private brand companies and some one-hour labs aren’t set up for the proper channel balance,” Rogers said. “Unless you take the film back to an Osco or Kmart, you might not get the proper prints.”
Pictures represent keepsakes for a lifetime, McArdle says, so think about storage systems and ways to organize photos.
In spite of the format being just 2 years old, APS (Advanced Photo System) cameras make up about 20 percent of the market today. You’ll receive an index print of your pictures automatically and can buy a memory keeper for less than $10 that will store 12 processed cassettes of APS film.
Experts agree that for the best developing, bring your pictures to professionals dedicated to photography.
“People that are drawn to working at photo labs are usually interested in pictures and know what they’re doing,” Rogers said.
“I’ve actually had people from drugstores and so forth call us up at Wolf and say, `Can you fix this?’ ” Mertes said. “If you don’t pay for premium processing, you’re probably not going to get the quality.”
