Do you regularly think about and use your zoom when taking photos? Even if you do, these zooming pointers and ideas will help you get the most from your camera's zoom capabilities and increase the number of great photos in your collection. Here's what to consider when you lift your camera:

 

1. Depth of Field
The greater your focal length (zoom), the shallower your depth of field. This can be used to your advantage in a number of ways, including making portraits more flattering and isolating your subject within the field of view to eliminate distracting elements

Portraits: For casual or more formal portraits, either switch into portrait mode or manually zoom out to your maximum focal length and then back up and frame your photo. Doing so will flatten the appearance of facial features and under-exaggerate the nose giving a more attractive result. Compare these example portraits with and without zoom. Click examples for larger versions.

 

 

 

Subject Isolation: If your camera comes with enough zoom capability or you can attach a telephoto lens, you can use your zoom to completely isolate your subject from the foreground and background. This can lend a warm, dreamlike feeling to your portraits and wildlife photos while simultaneously focusing the viewers attention as in the example below. As you lift your camera, ask yourself, "should I back up and zoom in to control depth of field and isolate my subject?"

 

2. Natural Close-Ups
The best natural close-ups of children, pets and wildlife are often taken using maximum zoom settings or interchangeable zoom lenses. This is because children and pets, as with most everyone, often respond automatically to your close proximity by changing their expression and focusing their attention on you.

 

The important difference is that younger children and pets, unlike older kids and adults, will not understand the idea that you want a photo with a natural pose. Wildlife, on the other hand, will simply run or fly away if you get too close.

 

Using your maximum zoom is also the best way to get candid shots of adults and older children. In all these cases, the trick is to know the approximate range of your particular zoom lens. To capture candid moments of adults, you may also want to find your range and focus on something other than your subject that is about the same distance away and then turn to take your photo so you do not lose the element of surprise.

 

3. Zoom for Action
If you want to catch the action of sports or even just people in motion or working, zooming can enable you to do so without getting in the way. The greater the zoom and the faster the motion the more likely you are to experience camera shake and/or motion blurring, so remember to adjust your shutter speed accordingly. Likewise, you may want to set up a tripod and use your panning handle. This will give you a solid base and the ability to follow the action while reducing the risk of blur.

 

 

5. Zoom to Frame (Quickly)
Framing is an important part of any good photograph, but sometimes you are restricted in your ability to move about and frame your photo just right. Examples include standing at the edge of an enclosure at the zoo or around a crowded table at a birthday party when the cake is being presented.

 

In cases such as the birthday cake example, your opportunity for a good picture may be fleeting and some quick zooming may be the only way to get a well composed photo. Fire up your camera, get your subject in view, zoom in to frame quickly and click away. Better to get the best photos you can by using zoom to compensate for your vantage point.

 

6. Digital Zoom
In previous articles we have recommended not using digital zoom because it simply crops away photo areas and information. Digital zoom gives a false impression of the actual size of the image and how large it can be printed and it limits your options to crop and resize later. However, it is a feature of almost all digital cameras, so here are a few pointers on how to use it best.

Know the Difference: Telling the difference between when you're using digital vs. optical zoom is different for various camera makes and models, but common aspects include that the camera's actual zoom lens stops moving out and there is a noticeable pause in zooming followed by an abrupt jump forward in the zoomed view.

 

How to Use Digital Zoom: Since your camera is cropping pixel information away, you should use your camera's highest, non-interpolated quality setting so there is as much pixel information in your photo as possible.

 

When to Use Digital Zoom: Use your digital zoom only when you cannot get closer to your subject with ease and only when you have chosen the highest, non-interpolated quality setting on your camera.