Quick Tips for Fixing Bad Photos

Despite your best efforts, some photos just turn out bad. But what if the bad photo in question is that one shot in a million—your grandmother blowing out candles on her 100th birthday, or that first kiss at a wedding? You may not be able to turn a bad photo into a well-shot photo; however, with a little creative problem solving, you might just be able to turn it into something worth keeping.

It is a known fact that we photo and selfie lovers, especially females love to take many pictures, only to end up deleting a million of them, looking for that one perfect photo. Your photos can benefit from more subtle and elegant touch-ups. With these few techniques, you can sharpen, texturize, re-contextualize, and remove tourists, among other problems, from your shots worth saving.

1. Think About Lighting.

Pay attention to how much light you have and where it’s coming from when taking your photos. If you’re shooting outdoors, be careful not to take photos of a person when the sun is at their back. If you’re grabbing a photo in front of a monument or landmark and don’t have the flexibility to adjust your position you can use the camera’s flash to fill in shadows. You may have to manually activate the flash, as there’s a good chance that the camera will think that it’s unnecessary on a bright day.

2. Wisely Use Your Flash

Many cameras allow you to adjust the power of the flash, which can help to add better balance to your flash-assisted photos. Adding just a little bit of light makes it possible to fill in shadows, resulting in a more natural-looking photo.

If you need to activate the flash, back up a bit and zoom in to get the proper framing. If things are still to bright—or too dark—check and see if flash compensation is an option.