Florida, NY Before you venture out with your digital camera for the holidays, here are some simple tips that will improve your picture-taking skills and produce high quality prints of your friends and family: Get to know your camera, its features and their functions. The best favor you can do for yourself is to read the manual that came with your digital camera, to learn about the camera’s functions: how to control exposure, how to use different camera modes and when to control the flash. Learn to control the flash. Don’t rely on the automatic flash; depending on the situation, you should control when to turn the flash off or on. Make the most of available light for a softer shot. When taking indoor shots, you can choose to turn off the flash when it will result in unnatural skin color and harsh glare in your photographs. When taking outdoor photos, it is sometimes good to turn on the flash to illuminate the subject, especially if your subject is in the shade. Play with the ISO setting, which controls the digital camera’s sensitivity to light. For a photo of a still object, like a flower, use a low ISO setting, which allows for a longer shutter speed and produces a cleaner image. For a moving object, like a dog playing with a toy, use a higher ISO setting of 400, which gives a faster shutter speed and requires less light. Hold the camera level. Most digital cameras come with an LCD monitor to help frame shots. Next time you’re taking a shot, try to look for the horizontal lines and use them as guides to keep your camera straight. Use a tripod. A tripod will help you avoid camera shake in a variety of situations. It’s most useful when taking pictures under low-light conditions or trying to capture fast-moving objects. Or find an alternate support for your camera that is available, such as a ledge, table or rock. Play with the macro mode, often represented by a flower symbol, which is ideal for taking close-up shots of objects with details, like flowers. If you are within a 6-12 inch range of your object, try shooting with the macro mode. Be sure to allow the camera to focus properly before depressing the shutter button fully. Use the “focus lock” feature. By lightly depressing the shutter button before shooting, you “lock in” the focus on your subject, often indicated by a green light or a solid dot in the viewfinder. Once the subject is locked into focus, fully depress the shutter button to take the picture. Be sure you are focusing on your subject, and not on an object in the background. Use the guide in your viewfinder or LCD monitor, often indicated by a box or bracket, to show you where the lens is looking. For the highest quality shots, set your camera for “best” or “fine” mode and use the highest resolution. You will be able to enlarge your prints to 5 X 7s, 8 X 10s, and in some cases, even larger. Caution: the “best” settings use more battery juice and space on your memory card or stick. Ensure your battery is fully charged before you set out, and keep a spare on hand if you plan to shoot a lot of pictures. Note: reducing the usage of the LCD screen will help a freshly charged battery last longer. To ensure you have enough memory capacity, follow this guide: for 3 megapixel cameras, use at least a 128MB card; for 4 megapixel cameras, use at least a 256MB card; and for 5 megapixel cameras and above, use at least a 512MB or 1GB card. When taking your holiday pictures, keep in mind that it doesn’t take a professional or even an expensive camera to shoot good pictures. With just these few basic tips, you can take good photographs, and in the process, become the next official “family photographer” at your family gatherings. Florida photographer and artist Cynthia Papaleo Seeley has over 10 years of experience in the studio arts. She specializes in nature photography and pet portraiture. In addition, she teaches courses in digital photography at the Warwick Community Center. For more information, call 551-2183 or visit www.papaleopaintings.com.