Written by Alexandra Gutierrez

The holidays are right around the corner, and what better way to wish your loved ones a happy holiday season than with a family holiday photo! Using a digital camera can seem intimidating at first but with these simple tips you can easily step up the quality of your photos.  Here are a couple of tips that will give you the basics tools when using a digital camera. 

Tip #1

The first tip is to check your ISO (sensitivity to light). The ISO number will depend on whether you’re taking pictures inside or outside. For outside pictures it is best to set your ISO in the 100-200 range. For indoor lighting or dark lighting it is best to set the ISO from the 800-3200 range. You may have to play around with it but use these numbers as a guide. 

Tip #2

The second tip is to adjust the aperture on your digital camera. The aperture controls the amount of light that enters the camera lens and it’s measured in f-stops. Setting the f-stop  at f ¼-f/4 means that the background of your picture will be  blurry. The higher the number the more clearer the background will gradually be. 

Tip #3

A third tip would be to set your shutter speed at a speed you would like. A slow shutter usually adapts to still objects while a fast shutter adapts to very fast objects such as kids running around or playing sports. A portrait picture is usually taken at a shutter speed of 1/60 while 1/500 can capture a sports game. 

Don’t be afraid to play around with your digital camera and learn more about the settings. Have fun taking digital photos of your family this holiday season!

Check out the 2023 Happy Camper Holiday Gift Guide for fun gift ideas!