Professional Photographers look Photos

How do I get that professional photo look without purchasing a new camera. In these photos I have the glare from the flash and red eye, and more. How do I get clear quality photos? Do I need a program? Back light, like the studios?... Help.
(My camera is a Sony Cyber-shot dsc-H10 model with 8.1 mega pixels. I used a black back drop). Please post your flaw photos or your professional photos with tips and trick.

You have to check out Daisy's Blog. She wrote an awesome entry on professional photos, without a professional. Her photos are always awesome!

I have a Sony Cybershot and have always been happy with the photos I take in my studio... I have overhead flourescent lights in the room, no natural light and only have the flash from the camera... never have any red-eye in that situation.

I always double check the camera settings - sometimes the little wheel turns while in the case. Then I get crappy shots but usually realize it and fix the problem before I take too many shots. Make sure the flash is on auto, that you have the macro setting on - you may be too close for the auto-focus so change to macro if you want to be really close, or stand back to a proper distance and zoom in without having the macro on.

If you have problem with red-eye use the setting on the camera (slow sync I think it is) which will eliminate the red-eye.

Manabanana wrote:You have to check out Daisy's Blog. She wrote an awesome entry on professional photos, without a professional. Her photos are always awesome!

do you have the link to her blog? how do i look it up?
Thanks Shannon for the tips.

Try backing away from the model a bit, it seems a little too close. You can also put some tissue over the flash for a more soft look and less glare. Try a few lights behind you and either near a window or extra lights in the room, mainly not from above is better. Try having her stand about 3-5 feet in front of the backdrop and set your camera to the face setting which will help with blurring the background (Bokeh). Try a lot of stuff and see what works for you. Using a tripod or a nice surface like a table or shelf will also help with focus. Good luck!

I don't have the greatest camera in the world...but for some reason the pictures turned out better/clearer...if I moved away from the subject a bit and then zoomed in slightly. If I get too close my camera doesn't seem able to focus properly...but if I move back and zoom...I get the same size picture but clearer...good luck!

Check the camera settings and make sure you're on the highest resolution, if you can set which one your on. If it's a large file, then you can shrink it down and eliminate most of the blur. That would help a ton.

There are a number of free photo manipulation programs, for example, Google Picasa (which has a red-eye fix tool, one that works pretty well!). Search something like "free photo edit download", that should get you some good ones.

I use "GIMP". It's also a free photo editing program. Actually.. it's much much more. It's photoshop, but free. It's AMAZING. I think the link is getgimp.com.

Here is your picture with a little color editing. I selected the background and then increased the contrast to give it a solid look. it looked a little gray. Then, I increased the overall saturation. Not perfect, but it does improve the look of the photo. Oh, and I manually corrected the red (or in this case, kinda yellow) eye.

I scaled it down a little so that you could see it better. VERY cute design, BTW

http://www.daizydesign.com/apps/blog/entries?fb_sig_network=fw&fw_sig=740628ddf91e855a5fcc5901b9434726&fw_sig_access_token=e2df1d9ef642b4438b290533704f889f3d9d0387&fw_sig_api_key=ynwfbf8k2f7dn9jssqvcguxv&fw_sig_is_admin=0&fw_sig_permission_level=0&fw_sig_permissions=none&fw_sig_premium=1&fw_sig_session_key=684a10a24e9c7163724f62ce772822578b5cc4e0d01ff790a4aec9716d82bc62-51303294&fw_sig_site=51303294&fw_sig_social=1&fw_sig_tier=0&fw_sig_time=1323825537331&fw_sig_url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.daizydesign.com%2F&page=2

scroll down a bit and it is there.

Kat awesome job on the photo!

I've been struggling with pics as well. Thanks for the awesome info.

I use Picnik (free online photo editing program) for pictures that need editing. Usually I adjust the exposure, tweak color and then play around with it using different edits until it looks right to me.

Ester is right. I was wondering why I was getting distorted portraits and I ask a photographer and he said that point and shoot type cameras have a built-in lens that is designed to take in a lot of scenery so they are slightly warped. If you step back about 3 feet and zoom in it will get rid of the warp...it also helps with the flash.

I love the light box/soft box that my husband bought for shooting videos. It has 5 lights built in. We use it for youtube videos. It really helps for taking studio type pictures and you can turn on one or all 5 bulbs.

I think Christie/Daizy has it right...natural light is still the best. The best lighted photos I've had were in my white tent at the fair. Made everything look amazing...it was like being in a big soft box.

D.

Kat I really see the difference in the editing. Thanks. I think I will use gimp and check out Picnik as well oh and move back three feet and zoom in. lol All these great tips Im sure will have my photos looking professional. Thanks for the fed back.