Basic photography settings
If you got a new camera for Christmas, or you're thinking of getting one, then this post is for you. I'm going to start at the beginning, with the camera settings that are around the camera dial.
Next to the setting dial on the camera, you will usually find the shutter release button and the switch for turning the camera on. The dial on my camera looks like the one above. It has a guide mode for new owners that helps to understand the camera.
Auto
Auto is the next one around the dial and that's the one most people start with. It does everything automatically - the camera sets everything for you. However, you do still have to focus the camera and you do this by pressing the shutter release half way down and usually you hear a bleep when it's focused on something. You'll also see focus points on your screen or in the viewfinder. Often these are little red dots, such as those on my Nikon, or squares or something else. They light up when you're focused on something. Try to get the focus points on whatever your subject is.
Try to point your camera at a definite subject. The subject might be a building, or tree in the distance if you're photographing a landscape.
The next camera setting around on my dial from auto, is auto again but with no flash. Use this, when you want to suppress the flash and not have it pop up when there isn't enough light.
Portrait
Next around the dial is the portrait setting. Use this setting to photograph people close up. It makes the aperture (how far the shutter opens when you take the picture) of the lens wide and so lets in more light. You will probably find your subject is in focus, but the background is out of focus. This is great for portraits, your subject will come up in sharp focus and be really clear.
Landscape
Landscape allows you to bring the whole picture into focus with a narrower aperture. Use this setting and focus on something in the distance.
The camera will set the shutter speed slower on this setting, so try to hold the camera as still as you can. Have your feet apart, maybe one in front of the other. You can also lean on something to steady yourself and the camera.
Babies
The next setting is for taking pictures of babies. I don't think I've ever used this setting, but it's supposed to be quieter!
Sports
The next camera settings looks like someone running and is the sports setting. I use this a lot. It is a fast setting, so if you move or the subject moves you get less blur.
It also spot focuses on just one point: your subject.
It is harder to focus on this setting and the camera refuses to release the shutter on my Nikon until it has focused. It also does multiple shots, so is good for all kinds of events where people are moving around.
Macro
The next setting looks like a flower and is the macro setting for taking close-up pictures, such as plants and food photography.
Night portrait
The next of the camera settings is the night portrait setting for doing portraits in really low light.
M (manual)
This setting allows you to set everything yourself. I'll write a whole article on this at a later date.
A (aperture priority)
A is for aperture priority and this is a more advanced setting that you can learn to use. I have a thumb wheel that I can use on this setting to set the aperture, while the camera sets a suitable shutter speed for the light. Using this setting you have more control over the camera and can create different effects.
S (shutter priority)
This allows you to slow the shutter speed for interesting effects while the camera controls the other settings like the aperture.
P (programmed auto)
This is like an auto setting that allows you to set the exposure bias and ISO (International Standards Organisation), while the camera takes care of everything else. The ISO is the sensitivity of the sensor. You use low ISO for good light and a higher one for bad light. The higher one might put noise into your picture (showing as white dots or coloured blotches).
The light wasn't very good for this picture, so I used aperture priority and set it on F14. The ISO and shutter speed were set by the camera at 1000 for the ISO and 1/40 of a second for the Shutter speed. You can see the road was a little icy.
If this all seems too complicated, try setting your camera on landscape and take lots of pictures, then check which settings your camera selected for those images by clicking on properties or looking at the exif (exchangable image file) data using Window Live Gallery (free download). You can also try your camera on a sport setting or portrait setting and see what exif data you get for those. I used PhotoScape to add the exif data to that last photo.
Next I'll cover focusing on your subject.
In this series of articles we can look at depth of field and eventually artistic editing. It doesn't really matter what camera you have, but one with a viewfinder helps you keep the camera close to your body and helps stop camera movement and camera shake. If you have trouble with this try leaning on a lamp post!
The original post on Mike's blog A Zillion Ideas can be found here.
