Now What?

So you got a new "fancy" camera for Christmas, pull it out of the box, toss the 300 page manual to the side and then look at all the buttons and knobs.....it's a little overwhelming! (ok - a lot overwhelming)

A lot of cameras have really good "auto" functions on them - but if you're going to just keep it on auto all the time there is very little advantage to getting a "nice" DSLR camera - that camera holds so much potential, just learning to use a few things will give you a huge jump over "just a snapshot". Even a lot of today's point and shoot cameras give you options to take control.

There are 3 "other" auto modes on your camera besides the big green auto which lets the camera just do it all. If you stick with the all over auto mode there are going to be times where you will silently curse, wishing your camera could just know what you wanted and do it. If you can learn to be in control of a couple little things your camera will do what you want it to - it just take some time and practice.

There is a "program" mode on your camera (usually P) - I'm not a huge fan and won't talk about it today, but your camera's manual will have a huge chapter on it (probably with graphs and all.)

The other 2 are Apature Priority (A or AV) and Shutter Priority (S or Tv) - Shutter should make sense, you choose how fast you want the shutter to go, the camera will choose the apature. This is helpful for sports or running kids - pick a high speed (500) and you won't have blurry kids. (500 is fast enough to freeze them in motion). In order to have a high speed though, you need a LOT of light, so your best bet for this is to be outside.....or have a "fast" lens (a whole other day's post for that one) Even with a fast lens you could be in trouble unless your camera is good at handling high ISO speeds. (again - a whole other day's post)

Apature priority lets you choose how much of the scene is "in focus". The smaller the number (2.8, etc) the less that will be in focus. (good for blurring out that messy background or putting the focus of the photo on just one person). The larger the number (f16, etc.) the more that is in focus - like mountains, lake or group of people. You choose how much you want in focus and let the camera worry about shutter speed.

As with everything, there is give and take - if you choose a small apature number, the shutter speed will be faster (great for freezing running kids) BUT, only a small part will be in focus. With a bigger number we'll have lots in focus.....but it will go hand in hand with a slow shutter speed - not so good for running kids or shaky hands.

This lesson on the morgue files by Jodie Coston:

http://www.morguefile.com/docs/Jodie_Coston:_Lesson_2

puts it together VERY well.

Honestly the best way to "get it" is to just take a photo at one apature or shutter speed, then move up to the next for 10 photos in a row and then look at them on the computer afterward. (never trust your LCD screen.) The best thing about digital is seeing your results immediately, it's easier to see your mistakes and make corrections instantly! The downfall to this little experiment though is we're in the middle of winter....and not a whole lot of light inside. If you can, get outside! (if there's some light snow coming down even better - you'll really see the difference in shutter speed that way!) If you're chomping at the bit and just have to do it inside, try and do it when the light is strongest in your house, do it with an object placed close to the window light.

Good luck - there will be moments of "ugh!!! I'm just going to use the green auto mode" - and then there will be moments of "OH!!!!!!" - it is SO worth it just to figure out those 2 modes, I promise. Once you have those down, moving into manual mode is very easy! (and very rewarding - you'll never curse your camera again!)

If you're really wanting more, I suggest reading (and doing!) the rest of the morgue file lessons - they're a great place to start! There's also a really good book called "Understanding Exposure" by Bryan Peterson - it's a very useful book --- and the Saskatoon library has it! There's also a new book getting rave reviews called "Photo Nuts and Bolts" - it's supposed to be great for learning!

Reading can only get you so far though - go practice!! :)