Do you use the zooming effect when you take photos?
It’s possible to do that with every camera type, be it a DSLR, a Compact Point-and-Shoot Camera or even your smartphone’s camera.
Just to make it clear, the zooming effect is when you “zoom in” on a photo by making the photo subject larger without actually getting closer to it yourself. The subject is the person, people, object or landscape you’re focusing on to photoshoot. So, “zooming in” is a digital way to reduce the distance from your camera and the photo subject.
Also, when you “zoom out” on the photo you’re digitally moving farther from the photo subject. Zooming out is another feature of the zooming tool that every camera has.
In this post you will see 5 simple steps you can follow to get better results with the zoom in on photoshoots of any camera and create nice zooming effects the next time you take photos!
Let’s get started!
Step 1: Identify your camera type, brand and model
The first step is to discover what your camera type, brand and model are. You will need that information in the second step.
The camera type is usually one of those: a smartphone’s camera, DSLR Camera, a Mirrorless Camera, a Compact Point-and-Shoot Camera or an Action Camera (for underwater photos and similar photography).
The way to look for your camera brand and model will depend on its type.
For smartphone cameras, you simply check your phone’s brand and model, which will be something like: “Xiaomi Mi 11”, where “Xiaomi” is the brand and “Mi 11” is the model.
If you don’t know your smartphone model for sure, every smartphone has this info in the Settings section, it’s usually called “About phone” and it’s on the bottom of the Settings option list.
For DSLR cameras, mirrorless cameras, compact cameras or similar cameras, you will be looking for something like “Olympus E-M1 MARK III”, where “Olympus” is the brand and “E-M1 MARK III” is the model.
You can also check the camera box (where the camera comes when you purchase it), there you will find its mode for sure. The camera’s user manual will also have the model for sure.
You can also find the camera model on the camera’s screen in the first seconds after you power it. Finally, the camera itself will have the brand and model written somewhere on around its lenses or on the camera sides.
When you have your camera type, brand and model, it’s time for Step 2.
Step 2: Do some search about your camera zoom
The second step is simple: you search about your camera’s zoom tool on the Internet.
Why? Because you can find interesting information, tutorials and videos on the Web and on YouTube showing the zoom tool of your camera in practice, and also teaching you how to use your camera in detail. This focused search can be very useful for the next time you shoot photos.
Also, that’s a method to master the zoom tool of every camera you ever have in your life! It’s hard to have one perfect zooming effect method that works for all camera types, especially because this tool varies a lot from camera to camera.
So when you do some search specifically for your camera type, brand and model (about its zoom tool and best camera settings), you will definitely find valuable information!
For example, in case you found your camera type, brand and model to be a Mirrorless Olympus OM-D EM10 MARK II, you can search on Google (or other search engine you like) and on YouTube for info such as:
- Olympus OM-D EM10 Mark II zoom settings
- Olympus best zoom settings
Also, now that you identified your camera type, you can search for specific zooming techniques info, such as:
- Mirrorless camera zoom burst
- Compact camera best settings
This can seem too simple, but it’s a useful search technique that can get you helpful information about your camera zoom and other tools.
Step 3: Use the zoom tool on-the-go
After you do some search about your camera zoom tool and your camera type’s best settings, it’s time to practice the zooming effect by taking photos.
Here are some things you can do:
- Take some photoshoots at your home using your camera’s zoom tool.
- Take your camera with you to a nice landscape (urban or natural) to shoot using its zoom tool.
- Try different camera positions such for taking photos, the most common are landscape (you hold the camera horizontally) and portrait (you hold the camera vertically).
- Test the zoom tool taking selfies (it can be with any camera type).
- Take photoshoots with different perspectives of the same photo scene.
- Play with focus while you zoom in and zoom out on the photo scene.
The secret is to take many photos and choose the best ones later! By the way, that’s exactly how professional photographers work!
Step 4: Get zoom lenses and other gear for you camera
You may have noticed the “zoom burst” being mentioned a few times here in the post. That’s a nice zoom effect you can use with your camera.
The zoom burst effect, a.k.a. zoom blur, gives the impression that the central subject of the photo scene is being approached at a super speed. That’s a photo taken with the zoom burst effect:
To create a zoom burst, you zoom in or zoom out while taking the photo, and that defocus (remove the focus, blurs) all objects of the photo scene that aren’t the main subject (central object/person/people of focus in the photo).
However, this effect is only possible if you use a camera with replaceable lenses, such as a Mirrorless camera or a DSLR, combined with zoom lenses and a zoom ring for your camera.
So another thing you can do is invest in your camera by getting zoom lenses and a zoom ring for it if it’s a mirrorless or DSLR camera.
Are you using your smartphone camera? Awesome! You can get special lens filters for those too! There are many options of smartphone camera lens filters you can place on your phone to make its camera better. Then it would look something like this with the lenses on:
And now that you know your camera type, brand and model, guess what? It’s a lot easier to find lenses for it!
So don’t hesitate and give that extra camera gear a try, you won’t regret it!
Step 5 & Conclusion: Practice makes perfect!
You’re ready to take awesome photos using your camera zoom tool!
So what’s the last step? Practice! It’s practice that makes perfect and also makes full photo albums!
In other words, the last step is to take a lot of photos of the same photo scene and of different photo scenes, and remember: every opportunity to take photos can become a nice photo album!
And the zoom tool is there to help you make original photoshoots! Don’t bother if you take dozens or hundreds of photos of the same photo scene, you can choose the best ones later!
So you can start using the zoom tool of your camera right away!
You can also share your thoughts in the comments below!
