Down and Dirty Basics
April 22nd, 2009 Rob SheppardI sometimes get questions on basic camera setup for beginners. Here are some ideas:
1. Try using your camera on Aperture priority — use small f-stops (e.g., f/11, f/16) for more depth of field (sharpness in depth) but watch that your shutter speed does not get too slow (pay attention to the sharpness in the LCD when you enlarge the photo); use large f-stops (e.g., f/4, f/5.6) for narrow depth of field to emphasize your subject and to gain a faster shutter speed with Aperture priority.
2. Set your white balance to daylight or cloudy when you are outside (try both and see which you like better for most conditions). Set it to tungsten or fluorescent when you are inside.
3. Pay attention to where and what the camera is focusing on.
4. Watch your exposure so that it is neither too low (big gap on right side of histogram) or too high (washed out important highlights).
5. Be aware of the potential of camera movement during exposure causing sharpness problems. Use faster shutter speeds when shooting handheld, use a tripod when shutter speeds are slow. A good rule of thumb is that you need fast shutter speeds when shooting zoomed in to a telephoto focal length — minimum of 1/125 or even 1/250 second. Wide angles allow for slower shutter speeds.
6. Be sure you set your camera so that vertical photos do not auto rotate in the LCD. When they do, they only use about half of the actual LCD, so you are wasting that display.
