5 Simple Steps to take photos like a pro

When my daughter was born four years ago, our new digital camera and I had become friends. Fast. I have no experience as a photographer, or at any time to learn the trade, but I still had to find ways to get those perfect once in a lifetime shots. By trial and error, I found a system that works for me. Although I'm sure I'm not burning with new tracks here are the guidelines that I used to get pictures of my family and my friends love:

1. Say No to Shutter lag: Get a fast camera. Shutter lag is the enemy when your subject will not sit still. I started with a Panasonic DMC LC20. After my daughter started to have a little more mobile, I graduated with a Canon EOS Digital Rebel. It is difficult to find shutter lag statistics published even in independent reviews. Try the camera in the store, if possible, and choose a moving target. I had a friend rotate slowly. I fired a shot while he was facing the camera. If the image was of his profile or the back of his head, I know that I had to keep looking.

2. Say yes to storage: Get a memory card for your camera with as much storage as possible. I use 1GB and that allows me to take about 160 pictures before having to transfer photos from my camera to my computer. Be sure you have a fresh memory card for each new release. Get a memory card reader to speed up the process. You need to clear your card frequently so you do not want relatively slow transfer speeds of USB cable to the path. And do not cheat by using a low resolution or adjust the low image quality. Use the highest quality and resolution you can.

3. No film, No Fear. Take lots of pictures: The most precious moments come and go quickly. Let them, even if the framing and zoom are not perfect. This can be fixed later. However, make sure you learn to use your autofocus. Very blurry images are something you can not correct after the fact.

4. Go farther. Find hidden treasures: Once you have uploaded your images to your computer, read them carefully to find the gun in the game. If you take enough shots, the gems will be there. You'll need a decent digital package image editing software with easy to use cropping tool. ACDSee 9 Photo Manager is a good tool at a good price.

5. Shed Unwanted Pixels. Crop Crop Crop: Cropping your photos in creative ways can you make a beautiful picture of some not so fantastic raw materials. Once you have found part of a picture you like, crop away the extra stuff. Highlight the object and reveal shots that would have been missed if you take too much time setting up before hitting the shutter.

Now that you've spent so much time and energy into your shots right, you want to have a special way to show them. Add Touchpoint Gallery a spin and let us know what you think. Download free here. Pictures courtesy of Flickr