Aside from the standard settings on your Canon Rebel EOS, have you ever wondered what you can do to enhance your photos to make the colors more vibrant and crisp? Below are three ways to enhance your photos using what is available to you on your camera.
Lighting:
The first thing you want to keep in mind is lighting. Natural light is always best. It enhances the natural hues of your photos without washing them out. Always make sure that the sun is behind you to get the best shot . If the sun is directly in front of you, it will cast a glare and or wash out your subject. If the sun is behind you, your subject will be sharper and crisper.
Sometimes it isn’t always possible to take a photo outside in the natural sunlight. So why not try taking it inside? The same rules apply for indoors that apply for outdoors. If you have found a nice sunny spot at the window that provides lots of natural light, make sure your light source isn’t coming in directly behind your subject. It must still be behind you.
If you have run out of daylight, but still need that photo, try artificial light. A well lit room and the flash on your camera should be enough to capture your subject nicely. Artificial light can be tricky, but as long as you follow the same rules as natural light your picture should come out nicely.
White balance:
Along the same lines as lighting, this is a setting that can be found on most cameras that will make or break your photo. It might take some investigating to find where the white balance is located on your particular camera, but it will be well worth the find I assure you. The Canon Rebel EOS has a white balance setting directly on the face of the camera for easy adjustments.
Basically speaking, white balance is a way to adjust what type of lighting is coming into your camera. Most cameras are automatically set on AWB (Automatic White Balance). I have found that even on the automatic setting my photos can become washed out. Sometimes it is necessary to lessen the lighting to bring out the true colors you are trying to project.
The first way I found this out was when I went into my children’s school to take pictures of them during a program. The florescent lighting made all my pictures dark. At that time I had no idea what white balance was and how it worked. After I found that particular setting on my camera, all of my pictures have been smooth sailing.
The Canon Rebel EOS camera has eight white balance settings. Now in the instance above with the problematic florescent lighting, I would just click on my white balance button and change it to the florescent lighting setting and the camera will automatically compensate. Becoming familiar with the seven other white balance settings also can make the biggest difference depending on what effect you are going for.
White Balance Shift:
If you really want your pictures to pop, then you must become familiar with this setting. It can only be accessed on some of the manual settings of your camera, such as M, Av, Tv and P. After bringing up your menu, you can easily locate this handy feature on the second screen of your camera. It is the 4th option down. This feature allows you to select any point off the color grid.
For example: Say I am shooting a landscape picture and I really want the greenery around me to pop. By selecting a spot on the grid closer to the green will enhance anything with that color in your photo. You do want to watch that you don’t overdo this because it can make the colors in your photo look more fake than natural. But sometimes a slight movement on the grid can make all the difference and decrease the amount of time spent photo editing.
Here is another example of an opposite scenario: Let’s say you are photographing someone who is wearing a blue sweater. For some reason the sweater is over saturated in the picture. If you know the opposing colors on the color wheel, it is possible to tone down the color of that sweater without washing out the other colors of your subject. The opposite color of blue on the color wheel is orange so select a spot on the grid that you think is close to orange and this should tone down the blue in your photo. Making yourself familiar with the color wheel is an invaluable tool for any photographer.
Knowing how to take pictures in certain lighting situations and becoming familiar with a few key settings on your camera along with the color wheel can make all the difference. I hope that these tips help you to enhance your own amateur photography skills as they have mine. Good luck with all your photography ventures and happy shooting!
