Top Tips for tweaking your digital photos

Snapping a photo isn’t enough any more, regardless of how ridiculously easy most point-and-shoots make it to take a decent pic. To get the most from your images you’ll need editing skills, a good grasp of your digital camera’s fancier functions, and good old artistic flair.

Not got any of that? Don’t worry, our simple steps will help your shots look more David Bailey than Disposable Del Boy in no time.

Step 1: It all starts with the camera
Editing photos and wielding the might of Photoshop is all well and good, but you’ll need good source material before you start tweaking it. Taking good photos is an art form, but there’s plenty of technology that’ll help too.

Invest in a camera with red eye reduction, smile recognition and if you can afford it, blink recognition too. It’ll save you re-touching red eye, wasting memory on photos packed with grimacing mates, and even re-shoot if someone blinks while you’re clicking.

Cameras with face recognition also let you frame interesting shots without worrying about auto-focus locking on to the background. Just position your friends anywhere in the picture, and the camera will do the rest. It means you can vary your shots, and needn’t keep everyone in the middle in order to guarantee they’ll be in focus.

Step 2: In-camera trickery
Offloading your snaps to a computer before editing them will always give the best results, but if you don’t have a computer, or need a quick fix, there’re ways to get there just by using your camera itself.

View your images and check for options to save after zooming in to accomplish simple cropping. Likewise, many cameras offer in-camera filters, such as black and white or sepia tone, to liven up your shots. If you’re really lucky, your camera will give you the option to fix red eye, offering up a bullseye for you to zero in on offending pupils.

Step 3: Fix up, look sharp
If you have the option, it’s always best to edit photos using a computer. Thankfully, you don’t need to be an expert to edit your pics to perfection, or even spend a penny.

Head to FlauntR.com, register for a free account, click on EditR and follow the instructions to upload your photos. Once they’re onboard you’ll be able to crop, resize and rotate them, as well as correct colour, remove red eye and add special effects with a single click.

FlauntR will even load in your photos from other online services, such ad Flickr, FaceBook or Bebo. Just tap the logos at the bottom of the screen, type your login name and password, and you’ll see your photos loaded up.

Must have accessories
Tripod – If you’re serious about shooting great snaps, do yourself a favour and invest in a tripod. It’ll take the hard work out of editing wonky, or shaky shots later on, and encourage you to frame your pictures perfectly. Use your camera’s self timer, and you’ll even be able to get in some snaps yourself!

Editing software – Online editing services can only fix basic photo mishaps. If you want to really enhance your snaps you’ll need proper editing software. Adobe Photoshop Elements is cheap and powerful, as well as featuring interactive tutorials to get you off to a great start.

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