Get the Picture: 150+ Ways to Make the Most of Your Camera

By Dan Richards and The Editors of Popular Photography

This illustrated handbook from the experts at Popular Photography covers everything you need to know about your new digital camera.

Today’s technology has made DSLR/ILC cameras more powerful (and more reasonably priced) than ever. Getting the perfect shot has never been easier—if you know how to get the most out of your machine. Get the Picture walks you through all the functions, modes, buttons, and dials on the latest standard models, providing solid technical advice in handy tips paired with beautiful imagery that demonstrates each tactic.

You’ll find sections on:

DSLR Fundamentals
Your go-to guide for basic camera functionality, including exposure, (aperture, ISO, and shutter speed, focus), and white balance.

Next-Level Settings
Once you’ve mastered the essentials, take a tour through your camera’s various shooting modes (aperture-priority, shutter-priority, portrait, macro, and more) and experiment with its on-camera flash, bracketing functions, and shooting RAW. Explore your lens’s zoom, image stabilization, and other capabilities, too.

Bonus Gear
If you’re looking to build a photography kit beyond your basic camera body, study up on accessory flash units, lenses, release triggers, and simple, inexpensive lighting modifiers.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Open Road Integrated Media
• Release date: Oct 18, 2016
• ISBN: 9781681882130

Dan Richards

Dan Richards was born in Wales in 1982 and grew up in Bristol. He has studied at UEA and Norwich Art School.

Book preview

PHOTO PRIMER

001 PREP YOUR CAMERA FOR QUICK SHOOTING

So you’ve unpacked your shiny new camera. Now what? You probably want to immediately start taking pictures— not spend hours reading the instruction manual. And who can blame you, since it’s 300 pages long with tiny type? (Please note that, while I bad-mouth the manual often, it’s a critical guide to your specific camera’s functions. So keep it handy, and use the contents list or index to quickly locate your answer— don’t attempt to read it in its entirety unless you’ve landed yourself on that proverbial desert island.)

Right now, my goal is to get you shooting as soon as possible, so let’s set up the camera so it’s ready for your first photo excursion. Here’s the general gist to prepping your camera for action.

STEP 1 Juice up the battery. The rechargeable battery packaged with your camera may come with a partial charge on it or none at all. In any event, charge it fully before you start shooting, following the directions in the manual. It may take several hours to reach full power, so practice patience.

STEP 2 Attach the lens to the camera. The lens and camera body almost always come as separate pieces. To mate them up, first remove the protective caps from the camera body and the rear of the lens. Twist them off counterclockwise, like removing a jar lid. Match the mark on the rear of the lens with the one on the lensmount, insert the lens into the camera body, and twist clockwise until they lock together with a distinct click. (One exception: On Nikon cameras, both caps twist off clockwise, and the lens mates with the camera counterclockwise.)

STEP 3 Insert the battery. Its compartment is usually accessed via a hinged or sliding hatch on the camera’s bottom. Open it and insert the battery so that its metal contacts go in first. If the battery doesn’t go in all the way or the hatch won’t close, you’ve inserted it the wrong way. Reorient the battery and try again.

STEP 4 Insert the memory card. Almost all current digital cameras use Secure Digital (SD) cards, although some take the larger Compact Flash (CF) cards. The memory card goes into a covered slot on the side or bottom of the camera, and — like the battery — it goes in terminal end first. If your card won’t slide in fully, flip it and try again.

STEP 5 Turn on the camera. Usually it’s obvious where the On/Off switch is, although sometimes it’s not— for instance, if it’s a small button tucked in a corner. Check the manual if it’s hard to find.

STEP 6 Format the memory card. This procedure readies a new card’s file structure to properly record images. Check that manual again for the directions— it’s done via the camera’s menu system, and it’s usually not very obvious.

002 KNOW YOUR CAMERA

There are two main styles of interchangeable-lens camera on the market today. The most popular is the digital single-lens reflex (DSLR), which views through the lens via a complicated optical system: The scene is reflected by a mirror up to a prism, which flips the image right side up and unreversed to display in the viewfinder or on the LCD screen (see #006). The mirror then hinges up out of the way at the moment of exposure. However, an interchangeable-lens compact (ILC) dispenses with the prism and mirror, delivering a direct electronic feed from the imaging sensor to the viewfinder— hence they are called mirrorless.

Regardless of style, today’s cameras come covered in more buttons, dials, and control pads than the cockpit of the space shuttle. Sorting out what they all do, however, does not need to be rocket science.

MANUAL FOCUS (MF) RING Switch your lens out of autofocus (the switch is on, or near, the lens), and you can decide for yourself where to focus by turning this ring. Some lenses let you fine-tune autofocus with it as well. Note that some lenses do not have an MF ring.

ZOOM RING Turn this to adjust for wide or long focal length to make your subject appear nearer or farther away. Some cameras may have power zooms, operated by a switch on the lens barrel.

IMAGE STABILIZATION SWITCH This control may be on the lens or on the camera. Lets you shoot static subjects with the camera handheld at shutter speeds that would ordinarily blur the image.

COMMAND WHEEL On most cameras, you can control shutter and aperture via a command wheel. Some cameras have two—a plus.

HOTSHOE Used primarily to attach an accessory flash (see #139–149) and other helpful accessories. It is much more than a simple trigger—it can convey lots of information between the camera and shoe-mounted accessories.

LIVE VIEW BUTTON Push this button to switch your DSLR from the optical eye-level viewfinder to viewing on the LCD monitor.

MODE DIAL This dial lets you pick a totally automatic way of shooting, an auto mode (like P) that lets you have some say in making the settings, or a manual mode that lets you be the boss all the way.

AUTOFOCUS BUTTON Press this button to select the elements in a scene that you want to appear in sharpest focus.

003 SKIP AUTO AND PARK IT IN P (FOR PROGRAM MODE)

Now that you’ve charged and installed your battery, attached your lens, formatted your memory card, and learned where some important functions are located, it’s time to turn your attention to choosing an exposure mode. For a lot of folks, this is where it gets intimidating.

Your camera likely has a setting to make all exposure decisions automatically—it might be called autoexposure or have a fancier name like scene intelligent auto. The manual will tell you to start with this mode, but trust me: Do not start with this mode. It requires you to surrender too much control, and it can be a serious barrier to learning. Instead, use the mode dial to set your camera to program (P) mode. Don’t get nervous—this is still an automatic setting, but it lets you override the camera’s robotic decision-making. For example, P mode lets you explore shutter speed’s effects on action (see #039–048) and how aperture impacts depth of field (#049–054). You can also decide when to fire the built-in flash (#071–075). But in auto, the camera makes these decisions, so stay out of it! Once you’re familiar with the camera’s functions, we’ll move into manual (M) mode (see #066–070).

CONTROL CORNER

FIND P MODE

Physical dial The simplest: Just turn to P.

Quick menu Touch a button to bring up choices on the LCD screen, and either scroll to or rotate a soft dial to select P.

Touchscreen Touch an icon to activate mode choices, and touch the P selection.

004 OPTIMIZE SETTINGS FOR YOUR FIRST PHOTO EXCURSION

Let’s take care of some basic housekeeping before we shoot.

SELECT THE ISO In P mode, you can set ISO, which determines the digital sensitivity of your camera to light—and thus how well it handles low light and fast-moving subjects. We’ll learn more about ISO later (see #055–058), but for now I’m going to shock some photography teachers by telling you to set it initially at 800, a pretty high sensitivity.

SET AUTOFOCUS Make sure the focusing switch (it’s on the lens, or on the camera close to the lensmount) is set to S, which stands for single-shot autofocus.

PICK IMAGE STABILIZATION Your lens or camera body likely has an image stabilization switch, possibly called anti-shake or steady shot. Turn it on and leave it on. It’s like chicken soup: It can never hurt, and it can help a lot—and often.

COAST ON AUTO For the rest of the settings, stick with the standard settings on the camera when it comes out of the box. Check them if you want: White balance will be set to auto (AWB), autofocus area to multipoint auto (it allows focus anywhere across the frame), and drive to single frame (which shoots one shot at a time).

TAKE OFF THE LENS CAP Don’t be that shooter.

005 SUPPLEMENT YOUR BASIC CAMERA BUNDLE

In general, I’m all for encouraging you to start shooting with the most basic tools — often, everything you need to get going is packaged with your camera. But depending on the make and model you’ve purchased (or if you’ve gone rogue and bought a camera body and lens separately), you may be lacking these inexpensive but essential items.

MEMORY CARDS DSLRs and ILCs almost never come with a card these days, so you will need to purchase some — it’s a good idea to have several on hand. SD cards come in SD, SDHC, and SDXC designations; for still photography, they will all work fine. A 32GB card will give you lots of picture storage at not too great an expense.

MEMORY CARD WALLET Tiny SD cards are very losable. Wallets and cases keep them secured and organized in one pocketable place.

EXTRA BATTERY Imperative if you do a lot of shooting (and you will). Keep one in the charger while taking photos with the other, or carry spares with you on days of especially heavy shooting.

BATTERY CHARGER Oddly, a few cameras do not come with a separate charger—you have to charge the battery in the camera via a cord, and you can’t use the camera while that’s happening. If this is the case, it is well worth the small investment to buy a separate charger.

LENS HOOD If you’ve acquired a camera with a kit zoom lens, chances are it came without a lens hood. It’s a good idea to get one; it keeps stray light from causing lens flare and protects the front of the lens from whacks and fingerprints.

006 PICK A VIEW

Before you photograph a scene, it helps to be able to view it. Today’s cameras come with one or two options for doing so.

LCD MONITOR If your camera is on a tripod or being used at an extreme angle, you may opt to view via the liquid crystal display (LCD) monitor. All ILCs and recent DSLRs show the scene via live view (in which the image is sent from the sensor to the monitor). If your camera has an articulated LCD screen, try this: Flip up the LCD and hold the camera at waist level against your body. (I call it the belly brace.) It will steady the camera and let you focus more closely on your composition.

EYE-LEVEL VIEWFINDER All DSLRs and many ILCs come equipped with an eye-level viewfinder, thanks to either a mirror-and-pentaprism system (in DSLRs) or a direct feed from the sensor to the eyepiece (ILCs). In either case, an eye-level viewfinder helps you hold your camera steadier and concentrates your view on what’s in the frame. It also displays your exposure settings right below the frame.

RULE OF THUMB

007 GET A GRIP

The way you hold your camera has a tremendous effect on your photos, as shaky hands do not make for crisp shots.

STEP 1 Grip the camera firmly with your right hand with your index finger on the shutter button. You should be able to depress the shutter without moving the rest of your hand.

STEP 2 Cradle the camera in your left hand, with your palm facing up. Use this hand to adjust the lens to zoom or focus.

STEP 3 Keep your elbows tight against your body— it’ll help brace the camera and prevent image shake.

STEP 4 Bring the camera up to your face so the viewfinder rests against your eyebrow bone, which adds another point of contact for greater stability.

STEP 5 Balance the rest of your body. Take an even stance and look for other surfaces (walls or tables) that you can lean onto for support. If you need a lower point of view, bend your knees, not your back.

STEP 6 Squeeze the shutter button. Some people hold their breath momentarily—I do— while others find a slow exhale makes for a smooth release.

008 WAKE YOUR CAMERA WITH THE HALF-PRESS

The shutter button is the instant On switch for a whole raft of functions. Press it down halfway, to the point where you feel some resistance, and your camera goes live: Autofocus focuses the lens on your subject; autoexposure meters the light and sets exposure; the viewfinder and/or LCD monitor displays these settings; image stabilization starts up; and, if you activated the built-in flash, it gets a jolt of volts to prep it for firing.

All this is good stuff. But here’s the most important part: If you maintain that crucial half-press, it locks in the exposure and focus until you press the button fully to snap the picture, which lets you explore composition without constantly