Digital Camera World » beginner tips

24 camera features every beginner photographer must memorize

jmeyer — Mon, 20 May 2013 23:01:28 +0000

No matter how long you’ve had your digital camera, there’s always something to learn. And if you’ve just bought your first camera body, the learning curve can seem impossibly steep. But it needn’t be a painful slog. In this tutorial we’ll help you get the most from your DSLR by explaining some of the key camera features found on almost every camera body. Learning these camera features early on in your development will ensure you avoid some of the common camera mistakes and get much better shots as a result.

Camera features on the front of your camera body

01 Red-eye reduction
To stop the flash bouncing off the subject’s retinas and causing glowing red eyes this lamp will emit a burst of light to make the subject’s pupils shrink before the flash is triggered. The lamp also acts as a handy self-timer countdown indicator.

02 Focusing ring
In Auto Focus mode this ring rotates until the camera has focussed on the subject. In Manual Focus mode you can rotate the focus ring with your hand to focus on a specific subject.

03 Zoom ring
Rotate this ring clockwise to zoom out for a wide-angle view. Rotate it anti-clockwise (counter-clockwise) to zoom in for a close-up on your subject.

04 Flash button
When shooting using the Creative Zone or manual modes you can tell the built-in flash to pop up by pressing here.

05 Focus mode switch
Leave this set on AF (Auto Focus) if you want the camera to control the focusing. Flip the switch to MF (Manual Focus) when you want to control the focus yourself. In MF mode you can still use the AF points in the viewfinder to tell you when the subject is in sharp focus.

06 Image Stabilizer switch
The lens’s IS (Image Stabilizer) is designed to stop blur caused by camera shake (which is especially noticeable when you’re zoomed in on a distant subject. Nikon IS lenses have a similar VR (Vibration Reduction) switch.

07 Built-in microphone
Most cameras such as the Canon 500D (pictured above) can now record video. Sound to go with it is recorded through a microphone like this (though it will also record camera handling noises like the zoom ring being rotated!).

08 Depth of Field preview button
By pressing here, you can get the camera to stop down to the lens’s current aperture setting. You can then preview how much of the shot  will be in focus by looking through the viewfinder or by checking the Live View display.

PAGE 1: Camera features on the front of your camera body
PAGE 2: Camera features on the back of your camera body
PAGE 3: Camera features on the top of your camera body

Color Photography: 5 photo editing tools that will save any image

jmeyer — Thu, 11 Apr 2013 23:01:12 +0000

Continuing our series on getting perfect tones in your color photography, we turn from the camera to the digital darkroom to see which photo editing tools can help rescue your images where the light or camera let you down.

Although it’s generally best from a quality and even a visualisation point of view to get the colors right at the time of shooting, that’s not always possible.

There may not be enough time, the equipment or the conditions might not allow it, or you may only see the image’s true potential when you’ve opened it on your computer screen back at home.

Here, then, is a selection of techniques you can use in Photoshop and (all but the Curves adjustment) in Elements too. Each adjustment has pros and cons, which we explain individually.

Best photo editing tools for adjusting color – Color Balance

Before

Color Balance adjustments can be carried out directly on the image or using an adjustment layer. You’re presented with three sliders – Cyan/Red, Magenta/Green and Yellow/Blue.

Note that these are pairs of complementary colors. In our sample shot, our subject’s skin tones have a magenta tinge, so we’d counteract that by moving the Magenta/Green slider to the right, which will shift the image’s color balance towards green and away from magenta.

After

You need to develop a good eye for color casts to use the color Balance dialog effectively. For example, fixing our original shot effectively meant spotting that the unwanted tinge was magenta rather than red (which is what it looks like at first glance).

Extreme

For a more extreme effect, we can increase the Red/Cyan to 100 and reduce the Yellow/Blue to -100. This gives the warm colors you’d expect from candlelight or firelight.

PAGE 1: Best photo editing tools for adjusting color – Color balance
PAGE 2: Best photo editing tools for adjusting color – Hue/Saturation
PAGE 3: Best photo editing tools for adjusting color – Levels
PAGE 4: Best photo editing tools for adjusting color – Curves
PAGE 5: Best photo editing tools for adjusting color – Brightness/Contrast
PAGE 6: Taking it further in the digital darkroom

Color Photography: achieving accurate tones at night

jmeyer — Fri, 05 Apr 2013 10:46:44 +0000

Our latest post in our series on color photography explores some of the common photography problems encountered with different light sources when shooting low light photography. Find out how you can use mixed lighting in your night photography and get the most accurate color balance possible.

Night poses special problems for color photography. It’s not the level of illumination that’s the problem, but the color of the lighting.

If you shoot in a busy city centre, you may have a mixture of tungsten lights, fluorescent lamps, yellow/orange street lamps and even multicolored neon.

How are you supposed to reconcile all these with a single white balance setting? Our advice would be not to try. This is one situation where your camera’s auto white balance should just be left to get on with it.

Only if the colors look completely wrong should you worry about taking over manually.

Using different light sources at night

It’s not possible to compensate for every single light source, and sometimes the color of the light doesn’t fall neatly on the warm-cool color temperature scale.

White balance adjustments work by shifting the whole spectrum of the light source up or down the scale.

They rely on the light having a full spectrum of colors, but simply shifted one way or the other.

Some light sources don’t have a full spectrum of colors. The prime example is orange street lamps.

They look orange because that’s all there is – no blue, no green. It’s impossible to correct orange street lighting to produce a full range of colors.

Fluorescent lighting is the other oddity because it contains excess green. Digital cameras deal with this with one or more dedicated ‘fluorescent’ settings.

These increase the levels of magenta (green’s complementary color) to restore a natural-looking color balance.

PAGE 1: Using different light sources at night
PAGE 2: How to achieve a good mix

Clashing colors: when they work… and when they don’t

jmeyer — Fri, 15 Mar 2013 01:00:02 +0000

The latest instalment of our in-depth series on how to shoot color photography we investigate how to make photo compositions with clashing colors. We explain when clashing colors work best and when it’s best to leave them alone.

There are so many different ‘rules’ of design that it’s easy to become discouraged and to think it’s all much more trouble than it’s worth. But here’s a very simple one that can make a difference to everything from photography to magazine layouts.

If things are meant to be different, make them very different. If they’re meant to be the same, make them the same. The confusion occurs when things are lost half way.

This applies very specifically to color. Contrasting colors which are opposite (or near enough) on the color wheel work well together, producing strong visual contrasts.

Harmonious colors, which are next to each other on the color wheel, produce pleasing, restful images.

The problems start when you combine colors which are neither similar nor opposite…

PAGE 1: What are clashing colors?
PAGE 2: When clashing colors work
PAGE 3: When clashing colors don’t work

Deep Depth of Field vs Shallow: 10 common questions and answers

jmeyer — Sat, 09 Mar 2013 02:00:19 +0000

Ever wondered why some backgrounds are pin-sharp and others are out of focus? This is what’s called deep depth of field and shallow depth of field. Find out how to take full control of this in-camera photography effect and answer any of the common photography questions you may have.

Click on the infographic to see the larger version

Common questions about shallow and deep depth of field (1-5)

What’s depth of field all about?
Depth of field is a measure of how much of a picture is in focus. A lens can only precisely focus on one plane at a time. However, there’s always a certain amount of the picture in front of, and behind, this plane that also appears to be sharp.

It is this zone of ‘acceptable sharpness’ that is the depth of field. Anything outside of this zone appears blurred or out of focus. The amount of depth of field varies from picture to picture, depending on a number of different factors.

How does knowing this help to improve my shots?
Depth of field is one of the most important creative controls available to the photographer. By learning how to control it, you can ensure that everything from your feet to the horizon appears pin sharp.

Alternatively, you can make sure that depth of field is restricted to such an extent that parts of your picture are thrown anonymously out of focus, for artistic effect or to hide distracting features in a scene.

So what’s the dark secret, then?
It’s not just one factor that affects the amount of depth of field that you end up with, but several working in tandem. Some of these factors, however, are much easier for photographers to control than the others.

What’s the easiest way to control depth of field?
The aperture setting you use is the simplest and most straightforward way of altering depth of field because you can do this without changing equipment or shooting position.

The smaller the aperture you set, the more depth of field you get and the more of your shot appears in focus. So on a typical zoom, a narrow aperture of f/22 will keep more of the shot in focus than a wider aperture of f/5.6.

The aperture can easily be altered by the photographer in a number of exposure modes, including Shutter Priority and Aperture Priority.

So I can set the depth of field precisely for every shot?
Yes and no. You can increase and decrease the amount of depth of field by adjusting the aperture. However, you don’t always have a free choice, because changing the aperture will affect the shutter speed, and some shutter speeds will not suit every situation.

Slow shutter speeds will cause moving subjects to appear blurred, for instance, or will create visible camera shake. More importantly, you only have a limited range of apertures, so often you can’t set the zone of sharpness precisely to suit your needs. But using the other factors can give you more control…

PAGE 1: Common questions about shallow and deep depth of field (1-5)
PAGE 2: Common questions about shallow and deep depth of field (6-10)
PAGE 3: Learning the lingo around depth of field

Color photography: using white balance settings to get the tones you want

jmeyer — Fri, 01 Mar 2013 14:15:55 +0000

In the second part of our series exploring color photography in depth we take a look at the best white balance settings to use to get the tones you want.

Film users had no control over white balance. You bought a film balanced for typical daylight and the only other option was to switch to a special ‘tungsten-balanced’ film for shooting under studio tungsten lighting.

Digital cameras, though, can compensate for different-colored lighting by altering the ratios of red, green and blue as the image is processed and saved.

Alternatively, if you have a camera that can save raw format files, you can choose the white balance setting when processing the image on your computer. By default, digital cameras adjust the white balance automatically.

There will be situations, though, where you might want to override this automatic setting and choose the white balance manually in order to preserve the colors of the scene, or make sure the color compensation is correct.

White balance color quality issues

Although you can change the white balance of your images later in your image-editor it’s not necessarily the best time to do it.

If you save your images as JPEG files when you shoot, the camera processes the sensor information before saving the file, and this processing includes white balance adjustment – the camera applies whatever white balance value is currently set.

If you then go on to alter the color balance on your computer, you are in effect processing the image a second time, which introduces a degree of quality loss.

It’s best to do one of two things: either (a) choose the correct white balance setting at the time of shooting or (b) shoot raw (unprocessed) files and process them on your computer, choosing the white balance setting at that point.

PAGE 1: White balance color quality issues
PAGE 2: Best white balance settings for color photography – Auto vs Preset
PAGE 3: Using white balance to warm up your color photography
PAGE 4: Getting creative with white balance settings

Color Photography Explained: simple tips for making your brightest-ever images

jmeyer — Fri, 22 Feb 2013 01:00:53 +0000

Color photography. We kind of take it for granted, don’t we? From cameras with better dynamic range to simple photo editing methods for improving – and rescuing – our tones, many of us leave color as an afterthought.

In the first of a new series here on Digital Camera World, we’re going to explore color photography in depth. We’re going to answer every question from what is color temperature to what are complementary and clashing colors, to best methods of using filters and software to fine tune your tones to get the color photography you want.

This week we’ll start by demystifying color temperature, color spaces, gamut and some of the other common color photography jargon you may have heard but always been confused by.

Digital cameras offer today’s photographer incredible flexibility. No more carrying two or more SLR bodies loaded with different film stocks, or a bag of color correction filters to counterbalance unwanted color shifts in different lighting conditions (well, you can still carry filters – more on that later).

You can now add color, take it away, make it subtle, make it vivid, make it colder, make it warmer – all in a matter of seconds using a single camera. To create unforgettable images though, you still need to understand the basics of color theory.

You need the ability to judge the color of light and a knowledge of when you’re camera’s going to get it wrong.

This series gives you all the information you need to start taking more control of your photography. We show you exactly why certain colors combined in a single frame can be used to increase the power of your shots, while others can turn perfectly composed, beautifully exposed photographs into painful viewing experiences.

You’ll also find a useful guide to Photoshop’s color enhancement tools towards the back of the back – see what can happen when you go to extremes…

Awareness of digital color photography

We see the world in color, and it’s often color which attracts us as photographers. An understanding of colors – which colors contrast with each other, and which work in harmony – can help you produce better photographs.

It’s always been important to develop an eye for color, and for subtle shifts in the lighting at different times of day, and getting accurate color is particularly important if you want to reproduce the subject exactly as you saw it.

Digital photography adds an extra dimension, of course. It’s now possible to alter colors after you’ve taken the photograph, and with far more subtlety, speed and control than in the past.

PAGE 1: Awareness of digital color photography
PAGE 2: Warm vs cold color
PAGE 3: The color of natural light
PAGE 4: What are color spaces?
PAGE 5: What is color gamut?
PAGE 6: What is bit depth?
PAGE 7: What is color temperature all about?

15 common photography questions from beginners (and how to solve them)

jmeyer — Wed, 06 Feb 2013 15:52:20 +0000

If you’re new to photography, chances are you have a few questions. In this post we aim to remove all the stumbling blocks and common problems photographers face starting out by answering 15 of the photography questions we hear most from beginners.

Common Photography Questions From Beginners, 1-2

01 Do I need to charge my camera’s battery?

Yes. A new DSLR will have a battery that’s only partly charged, but to avoid ending up with a dead battery at a key photographic moment, we’d recommended charging it fully before you start to play with your new camera.

Pop it in the charger, the light on the charger will flash when your battery is charging, and will turn solid green when fully charged. It normally takes around two hours to fully charge a completely flat battery.

To see how much charge is remaining in your battery, check the little battery icon on your camera’s LCD – it will flash if it’s nearly flat.

We’d recommend buying a spare battery as well – your manufacturer’s official batteries are best, but expensive; Hähnel also does good batteries that are half the price and offer reliable performance too.

See also our tips for extending the life of your camera battery

02 Which memory card do I need?

Different DSLRs use different memory cards – either CompactFlash (CF) or Secure Digital (SD, SDHC or SDXC, depending on capacity). Consumer DSLRs use SD cards; prosumer models use CF cards; while the latest pro cameras take both CF and SD.

As camera megapixels increase, so do image file sizes, which means you’ll need bigger memory cards.

We advise using between 8GB and 32GB cards with speeds around 400x or 45MB/s for faster writing (to your card) and downloading speeds (to your computer). The higher capacity and faster the cards, the higher the price.

When you’ve downloaded your shots, we’d always suggest you format each card you put into your camera before shooting again to ‘wipe it clean’ so it’s empty and ready to store new images. This is done easily via your camera’s menu system.

PAGE 1: Common photography questions from beginners, 1-2
PAGE 2: Common photography questions from beginners, 3
PAGE 3: Common photography questions from beginners, 4-5
PAGE 4: Common photography questions from beginners, 6-7
PAGE 5: Common photography questions from beginners, 8-9
PAGE 6: Common photography questions from beginners, 10-11
PAGE 7: Common photography questions from beginners, 12-13
PAGE 8: Common photography questions from beginners, 14-15

Getting sharp images: every photo technique you need to know (Part 2)

jmeyer — Tue, 22 Jan 2013 12:08:34 +0000

Taking sharp images is the ultimate goal of any photographer, so it’s only natural then that over the past 150-odd years photographers have found a number of different ways to get their pictures pin-sharp.

Last week she covered the basics of getting sharp images, and in Part 2 of her two-part series our head of testing, Angela Nicholson, draws on her wealth of experience and explains all of her best camera tips and other methods photographers have used over the years to get their photos mind-bogglingly sharp.

Sometimes even though your subject is in focus and the camera is on a tripod, images don’t look absolutely sharp when you blow them up to make large prints. There are usually two explanations for this.

The first is that the camera is actually moving very slightly during the exposure, while the second is the pesky matter of diffraction. Fortunately, it’s possible to combat both of these common photography problems and create pin-sharp images using the following techniques.

Best Ways To Get Sharp Images: Steady the tripod

It’s not easy to select the perfect tripod. The steadiest models that keep a camera the stillest are also usually the heaviest, and while this is fine indoors when you’re shooting still life photography or a macro scene, it’s less attractive when you’re planning to stride out across the hills to find the perfect landscape.

As a result we are often forced to compromise a little to find a more convenient balance between weight and sturdiness. However, there are a couple of things that you can do to ensure that a tripod holds your camera still.

The first thing is to try to avoid setting your camera up in the full force of the wind as this can whip round the tripod legs and set them vibrating. If possible, find a little shelter or create some shelter with your body.

It’s also a good idea to hang a weight (your camera bag is ideal) on the shoulders of the tripod to anchor it more firmly onto the ground. Some tripods even have a hook at the base of their centre column precisely for this.

You need to adjust the length of the strap so that the bag pulls down on the tripod, but just rests on the ground and doesn’t not swing about. Any movement of the bag is likely to be translated into camera movement and that’s exactly what you are trying to avoid.

Some photographers also place a small mouldable weight like a beanbag over their camera or lens to held dampen down any vibrations.

This is particularly useful when using long telephoto lenses that emphasise any movement and are more prone to catching the wind than a shorter wide-angle optic.

PAGE 1: Best ways to get sharp images – steady the tripod
PAGE 2: Best ways to get sharp images – get a remote release
PAGE 3: Best ways to get sharp images – mirror lock-up
PAGE 4: Best ways to get sharp images – diffraction

Getting sharp images: every photo technique you need to know starting out

jmeyer — Tue, 15 Jan 2013 11:30:27 +0000

Taking sharp images is perhaps the ultimate goal of any photographer, and it’s only natural then that over the past 150-odd years photographers have found a number of different ways to achieve it.

Our head of testing Angela Nicholson draws on her wealth of experience and explains all of her best camera tips and other methods photographers use to get sharp images.

Apart from a few creative exceptions, one of the ground rules of photography is that the subject should be sharp. Sharp images are something we start to take for granted over time, but in some situations we need to take more control of the camera to make sure it happens.

Fortunately, it’s all pretty straightforward as there are essentially just three elements involved; focus, freezing the subject and keeping the camera still. Let’s take a look at how to do that:

Best Ways To Get Sharp Images: 01 Focus

The first step in creating sharp images is to get the subject in focus. In most situations this is easy, but if you allow the camera to choose the focus point itself there is a chance it will get it wrong, as many cameras tend to assume that the subject is the closest object and near the centre of the frame.

If there’s something between you and your subject then the camera’s AF system may pick the wrong target and the most important part of the image will be soft – especially if you are shooting with a large aperture.

This is an easily rectified situation, just set your camera to allow you to select the active AF point – the mode is usually called something like Single point AF or Select AF, or in some cases the number of available AF points maybe mentioned, for example 51-point AF.

After activating the mode use the camera’s navigation controls to select the AF point that lies over your subject in the frame. If this isn’t possible choose a point that’s near the subject or the central point (as it is the most sensitive) and move the camera so this point is over the subject.

Then half-press the shutter release to focus before recomposing the shot (still with the shutter release button pressed) before pushing the release fully home to take the shot.

This focus-and-recompose technique is incredibly useful, in fact some photographers use it all the time, and you’ll find it gets quicker and easier with a bit of practice.

When using the focus-and-recompose technique it’s important to set the camera to single AF mode rather than continuous otherwise it will continue to focus the lens as the image is recomposed.

PAGE 1: Best ways to get sharp images – Focus
PAGE 2: Best ways to get sharp images – Freeze the subject
PAGE 3: Best ways to get sharp images – Keep the camera still
PAGE 4: Best ways to get sharp images – steady the tripod
PAGE 5: Best ways to get sharp images – get a remote release
PAGE 6: Best ways to get sharp images – mirror lock-up
PAGE 7: Best ways to get sharp images – diffraction