Forget the emotional experience of taking a DSLR camera shot - if your picture doesn't stand up to objective viewing without you having to explain how early you got up, how far you trekked or how high you climbed, then there is likely to be something missing. Don't sit down and go through your DSLR camera shots as soon as you've taken them as the more time you can put between shoot and editing will help you become less subjective about the pictures. Be honest about your results. It is only by making mistakes and learning from them that you will really develop. Here we highlight four areas you should be looking at with your discerning eye when taking DSLR camera shot
1. Composition
This is the most important consideration. Look for distractions, especially in the background where you might have missed them when shooting. Does the picture leap off the screen with a bold composition or does it feel a bit too much like a record shot? If it feels a bit "So what?" It's usually because of poor composition and uninspiring light. What could you do differently next DSLR camera shot?
2. Sharpness
Be ruthless here. Is it bitingly sharp? Look at edges in the DSLR camera shot. Did you select a fast enough shutter speed of your DSLR camera to freeze the moment or a small enough camera's aperture to provide a deep depth of field? On the other hand, don't be happy with camera shot simply because it's sharp. It's easy to be lulled by a macro shot of a butterfly because you can count every hair on its chin, but what if the framing's all over the shop?
3. Exposure
Check the Levels histogram on your DSLR camera. Is the information in the graph "clipped" at either end? If the graph runs off the left, you will have blacked up shadows. If it runs off the right, there will be "blown" highlights. Shadows that lack detail are much more preferable to burnt-out bright areas. If the camera shot looks grey and flat, drag the highlight and shadow sliders in to touch the sides of the graph.
4. The Moment
The physical framing, sharpness and exposure of DSLR camera might be spot-on, but does your shot capture the peak moment? Did you capture that fraction-of-a-second expression in a portrait? Is the light highlighting that tree in the background in a scenic? Shoot DSLR camera lots of frames when the moment happens - professionals do - and analyse the results side-by-side to see which one has that killer combination.