Camera Settings & Features

Camera Settings & Features

1)

Learn to use the histogram

Most people skip over this, but spending just 10 minutes to understand your camera’s histogram can make a big difference in your photos.

It will help you avoid unusable photos from overexposing bright whites and underexposing dark details in lower light situations.

Here are 7 examples of reading histograms from Clickin Moms.

2)

Shoot in RAW + JPEG

Most digital SLR cameras give you the option to shoot in either RAW or JPEG, with some letting you do both. RAW files are much larger than JPEGs, but they are uncompressed images that let you correct things (up to a point) like exposure, white balance, and colors during post-processing with less of a quality loss than if you were to edit the JPEG instead.

Shoot in both RAW and JPEG, and if the shot you were going for is already good you can just delete the RAW version.

3)

Use burst mode for
unpredictable subjects

Kids, pets, wildlife, and many other subjects can be unpredictable. Use burst mode on your camera to increase the chances that you’ll capture the moment you’re going for. Burst mode will let your camera continuously capture images as you hold down the shutter button.

This can also be helpful for things like group photos—you’ll be able to pick through a set of shots to find one with no one blinking!

4)Use the correct shooting mode for the best effect

Aperture priority - Usually labeled A or Av. Use this mode when you want control over depth of field, or how sharp your photos look at varying distances from the plane of focus.

Shutter priority - Usually labeled S or Tv. Use shutter priority when you want to prioritize capturing something in motion like for wildlife, kids sports, people, or vehicles.

Program mode - Similar to fully automatic mode, except you can adjust the aperture and shutter setting combination for desired effect and still achieve proper exposure. This is good for when you just want to make sure you get a properly exposed shot, with flexibility when needed.

5)

Don’t use built-in flash as a primary light source

Using built-in flash as a primary light source can create very harsh shadows and an unflattering look.

It’s mainly useful as fill flash, such as when harsh sunlight is casting dark shadows across your entire subject. It’s also helpful in emergencies when there’s almost no light around and you just want to capture an image of something—even then it will create unflattering shadows and highlights on your subject.

6)

Use as many automatic
modes as you can

Leave the white balance and ISO settings on automatic. If you’re a new photographer, having too many settings to worry about just for a single exposure can result in missing out on lots of photo opportunities. Automate what you can and work on your other skills.

7)

Use the right White Balance setting

When lighting conditions change, our eyes adapt automatically. Digital camera sensors cannot do the same thing so we have to adjust white balance settings to keep images from looking too blue or too yellow.

Color temperature is measured on the Kelvin scale. You can leave this camera setting to automatic for most conditions, but occasionally you’ll need to set the white balance manually when your camera can’t figure out complex lighting situations.