The Three Most Important Steps You'll Ever Learn About Taking Great Digital Pictures

You've seen them, I'm sure. All those people at a parade or family event with a digital camera - holding it out at arm's length, waving it frantically in the air and trying to see the image on that tiny little LED screen.

Then they slam their finger down on the button ... and get really mad when the camera seems to wait a second or two before it actually takes the picture.

Hey! Maybe this even describes you. But don't despair. Here are three simple things you can do to make your digital picture taking better.

1. Hold the camera with BOTH HANDS!

2. Press the button HALF WAY DOWN.

Then - when you're ready to actually take the picture ...

3. SQUEEZE the button.

I know a lot of digital cameras these days don't have a rangefinder window, but if you DO have a camera with a rangefinder, use it. No glare, no reflections ... and you're more in control - because you can actually see what you're shooting a picture of. But, whether you have a rangefinder or not, these tips are still important!

Step 1 - Use Both Hands: Why? It just works better! Some of you may have a camera that claims to be "shake proof" because it has some kind of high tech vibration control built it. That's great! I have one myself. But, believe me, all this technology gets you is an increase of about one shutter speed. Sometimes it'll help. Most times it won't.

The old rules still apply: Hold the camera STILL! And the best way to do that is with BOTH hands.

Step 2 - Press the button HALF WAY DOWN: Here's why. A digital camera is really a computer. And, just like your computer it has to load information in order to be ready to use.

Think of it this way: Until you press the button half way down, the camera has absolutely NO IDEA what you want it to do. It's just a dumb machine waiting for orders.

Once you depress that button half way down, your camera comes to life! But it still it has to do several things BEFORE it's ready to snap the shutter. It has to focus. It has to take a meter reading and decide on an exposure setting. And, if you're using the flash, it has to make sure the flash is charged and ready to fire.

No matter how impatient you are, the camera is going to go through ALL these steps before EVERY shot. It doesn't really take long - a fraction of a second usually - but it HAS to happen.

And it does not happen UNTIL you press the button half way down!

So ... When you see a great picture, and you're positioning yourself to get in the right place to take it, go ahead and press the trigger button HALF WAY DOWN, and point toward the subject as you're raising the camera to your eye - using both hands, of course!

As you move closer, or zoom in, or whatever, press and release the button so that the camera continually readjusts itself to whatever is in the scene.

When you're in position, HOLD that half way down position, so that when the perfect moment happens (everybody smiles, the baby bites the cat's tail ... whatever!), all you have to do is ...

Step 3 - Squeeze just a little harder ... and the camera reacts instantly!

Simple, huh?