Digital photography is very convenient to experiment with pictures settings so that you get what you want out of the shot. But lighting remains one thing that most people find difficult to get right. Though the digital camera has features like flash and more, you most often feel that something about the picture is not so perfect. So take care to get familiar with various lighting aspects of digital photography before you embark on a major shooting spree.

• White balance: you might want to take pictures of a beach vacation in the sun; you might also need to take pictures during a midnight party. Both these situations need different amount of lighting for clear pictures. With the white balance feature, your camera automatically figures out the amount of light needed and adjusts the flash options accordingly.

• To reduce the shadow on your subject, just shift the angle till you find the perfect lighting. Or keep the lighting at an angle to your subject for a good picture. Reflectors are good if you want to minimize shadows drastically. Normally, good quality digital cameras have preset options where the camera gets smart and adapts to changing light or to difficult shooting conditions.

• You have the portrait feature whereby you can focus more on the subject rather than the surrounding environment. Thus, you get a sharper shot of your subject. The regular night mode is suitable for shooting in insufficient light, like at night! Many higher end digital cameras also support the motion preset in which you can take a picture of a footballer running on the field without the picture getting blurred. Landscape setting allows for a good picture of the entire view and not just a single subject. This is very convenient if you are taking pictures of say, a hillside.

Use light to your advantage: several difficult lighting conditions actually improve your picture effect! You can take amazing silhouette pictures with a sunset background. You could also play around with shadows for a mysterious effect with your subject. Have a dusky background and use flash to get an interesting effect. Even a cloudy sky can give you a good shot if you handle the situation well. Instead of forcing flash and other settings, just change the angle and you might probably end up with a better picture! At times, black and white pictures look much more interesting than the brightly colored images. Keep your back to the sun and avoid glares.