While some of the least expensive digital cameras have only automatic focus, meaning the camera does all the work on bringing your subject into the best possible focus, most SLR digitals offer three different focus modes: manual, single auto focus and continuous auto focus. All three focus modes will be addressed here.

With manual focus, the camera stays out of the focus equation and you, the photographer, make all the decisions regarding this.

This is done by setting different buttons or actually using an attached focusing ring that rotates on the camera lens. For those who like to have complete creative control of the finished product, this is the best focus mode.

In single auto focus mode, the camera automatically focuses when you press the shutter button either all the way down to shoot a photo or half way down to lock the focus. This focus mode is useful when shooting static objects.

In continuous auto focus mode the camera continuously focuses on the objects in the photo. In this focus mode the camera continuously corrects the focus as the objects distance from the camera changes. This focus mode is useful when you shoot photos of moving objects such as a race car during a race or airplanes during an air show.

Today’s cameras make taking pictures a lot easier than the one’s of yesterday. There is always room for improvement, however.

Use the following tips to help make your photos go from acceptable to great.

1. Always be aware of the background. You don’t want to find trees growing out of people’s heads or a passing vehicle to draw attention from your subject. Sometimes moving your subject just a couple steps to either side can make all the difference.

2. Use available light. If your digital camera has an option to turn the flash off and it’s light enough outside to read a book then use the available light and turn the flash off. In general camera flashes are too harsh for human skin and make all of us look pale. Indoors, where there isn’t enough daylight, place your subject by a window and use your fill flash feature.

3. Aim your camera slightly down at the person’s face. Also don’t shoot just face on to the person, try a little to the side, a three quarter view, so that you see more of their face. Remember camera higher looking down and a three quarter view, it will slim your subject.

You’ve seen the dreaded demon-eye effect that occurs when the camera flash bounces off the eye of a person or pet. An otherwise wonderful picture can be ruined by this.

Technically, this is called red-eye and is caused when the pupil of your subject’s eye is wide open and the light from the camera’s flash reflects off the subjects retina. In people, the color ends up red; in pets, the color is often green.

Many photo editing programs include a red-eye correction filter, but this may not allow your photograph subject to appear “normal. These filters also do not work on the green effect produced in a pet’s eyes.

Photo stores sell pens that are used to clear up red-eye, but again they are not always natural-looking and do not work on the green. The best thing is to prevent the demon-eye effect from the start.

It is rare to find a digital camera that does not come with a red-eye reduction feature. This feature can be turned off or on. It is best left on in all circumstances other than direct sunlight.

Have you ever taken a picture of a beautiful winter scene and been disappointed to discover the crisp, white snow came out with a bluish tint? This is the kind of situation your digital camera’s white balance is meant to prevent.

The white balance is a sensor that analyzes the lighting conditions and colors of a scene and adjusts so the white in the picture appears white. This helps insure the other colors appear as natural as possible.

This is one advantage digital photography has over tradition film. With film, you buy with a certain lighting condition in mind. If that changes, you need to either change your film or hope you can fix any errors in post-production.

Most digital cameras allow you to use either automatic white balance or choose between several preset conditions such as full sun, cloudy day and so forth.

Automatic white balance will work in most conditions. There may be times, however when you want to “warm” up a picture to enhance the color, such as for portraits or sunsets.

The best way to do this is set your camera’s white balance to “cloudy”. This will deepen the colors and add a glowing quality to portraits. It will take a beautiful sunset and enhance it to the point of incredible.

One of the confusing things in choosing a digital camera is deciding how many mega-pixels you should look for.

The answer depends on what you plan on doing with the finished pictures.

First, you need to understand what a pixel is. In terms of digital prints, a pixel simply means a dot of color that makes up the image.

A mega-pixel is equal to one million pixels. The more mega-pixels a camera has, the greater the amount of information it records.

The easiest way to decide what to look for is to know what size prints you are likely to print from your camera. A one mega-pixel camera is fine for those who don’t plan on printing photos but rather just post them on the internet. A small print, say 4 x 6, will print acceptably from this camera.

A 2 mega-pixel camera will enable you to produce good quality 5 x 7 prints and fair quality 8 x 10 prints. When you reach 4 mega-pixels you can print out excellent quality 8 x 10 prints and acceptable 11 x 17 prints and a 5 mega pixel camera will allow you to print out high quality 11 x 17 prints.

Does it really make a difference what size memory card you use? To your camera, no; to you, however, it could mean the difference between getting the picture you want and running out of space on your memory card.

When choosing the most logical size, take into account how many pictures you usually take at a time.

Your needs if you are a world traveler will be different from those of a person who only uses a camera for holiday get-togethers.

You also need to decide how big the files are of the pictures you take. Smaller files such as pictures for online will take less space and enable you to fit more on a memory card. Larger files for printing will need more room.

If you have a 2 mega-pixel camera, 128MB is usually enough. For a 3 or 4-megapixel camera, a 128MB or 256MB memory card is usually plenty. For a 5-megapixel camera, start with a 256MB memory card.

Here’s a rough guideline of how many pictures a flash memory card can hold:

• A 128MB flash memory card can store about 21-41 large, uncompressed images or up to 100 small, compressed images. This is good enough for most photographic needs.

Many digital cameras offer both digital zoom and optical zoom. These two often confuse the average camera buyer, until you know what you’re looking at.

Optical zoom works much like the zoom lens on a 35 mm film camera. Optical zoom changes the length of your camera’s lens and draws the subject closer to you. The optical zoom keeps the quality of the picture.

Digital zoom works differently. It simply takes the picture and crops it then enlarges the part that is left. It causes the quality of the photo to be reduced, sometimes greatly.

What this means in terms of output is you may have a larger view of an object with the digital zoom, but chances are your image will become unfocused.

Details will become lost. It is actually best to turn off the digital zoom feature of your camera if possible. This will prevent you automatically zooming in too close as the digital zoom is often an extension of the optical.

There are a couple of things you can do if you want a closer view of a subject but want the quality of your picture to still be good. Try moving in closer when you take the picture.

Digital photography is quickly becoming the preferred way to take pictures.

If you are in the market for a new camera, consider the following advantages of digital photography over traditional film photography.

In the long run, digital photography is less expensive. All photos are recorder are on memory device within the camera and then downloaded straight to your computer.

You skip the need to keep buying rolls of film and paying for developing. You can send unlimited copies of the same picture to friends and relatives without spending a penny extra.

You see your pictures quicker. Most digital cameras allow you to view your photos immediately. There is no waiting and worrying about whether or not that “perfect shot” turned out.

You can take a picture of that new baby and immediately download it to your computer to share your good news with friends and relatives. There’s no need for anxious grandparents to wait days or even weeks for a picture.

Most digital cameras have built in editing features. Cropping and re-centering the picture to make it look its best can be done easily. You no longer have to worry about a stray hand distracting from the main subject of your photo.

You’ve decided it’s time to buy a digital camera, but which one? The aisles are full of different brands with different features and a wide variety of prices to match.

The task can be overwhelming.

Following are the three most important things you can do to make the decision easier:

Do your research. Talk to people who have digital cameras and ask them how they like theirs. What features do they use often and which ones are “just there”? Go online and visit sites that review different digital cameras and read what they have to say.

Next, decide how much money you are willing to spend on a digital camera. There is no sense going into debt over a digital camera unless it will be used as your major income source.

Decide how often you will use the digital camera, what places you will be using it and who else will be using this particular digital camera. How much money can you reasonably spare? All these things will help you narrow your choices.

With all the features digital cameras have these days, you may find keeping digital camera batteries a problem.

This could well be your biggest expense, but there are some things you can do to increase the length of time your digital camera batteries stay charged. Let’s start with the three biggest sources of power drain.

The LCD screen takes up the most power. It is possible to turn this feature off unless you really feel the need for it. Using the camera’s viewfinder will conserve power. Another big power drain is the flash.

Whenever you can, use natural lighting to take your photos and turn off the flash. This will help save your digital camera batteries for times when you absolutely need the flash. A third drain on your digital camera batteries is constantly using your zoom.

It takes more power zooming in and out than it does keeping your zoom at a steady place. Try to find a setting you like and sticking with it as much as possible.

Some other things you can do to make your digital camera battery last longer are:

* Make sure Power Saving mode is on, or simply switch off your camera when you’re not using it.