Camera Settings Review Assignment Week of Jan. 28

1) Setting the Exposure Using the Histogram

A histogram is a graphical representation of the tonal values of the image. It is the amount of tones of particular brightness found in your photograph ranging from black (0 percent) to white (100 percent).

2) RAW

Most cameras produce high quality jpgs, but they are no match for raw files. The downside to the jgps is that it is a compressed format. Shooting in raw format will give you access to the full capabilities of your camera. Color, contrast and detail are all effected when the photo is compressed.

3) Selecting Focusing Points Manually

Your camera has the option of selecting the autofocus points for you, but it can't always anticipate correctly. That's why learning to change the AF points manually is a useful skill. It improves the focusing accuracy and will reduce the chances of missing important shots.

4) Learn all AF Modes

Most cameras will come with different autofocus modes. Some of these include one shot,servo and AL autofocus. Servo autofocus is best for shooting fast moving subjects like sports.

5) Aperture Priority

Your camera will vary the exposure settings depending on the aperture value you set. Having complete control of aperture means control over the depth of field. Great for shooting portraits and blurred backgrounds.

6) Shutter Priority

Shutter priority is just like the aperture priority because it gives you complete control over the shutter speed. Fast moving subjects can be shot while in this mode, as well as photos in low light situations.

7) Control Motion Blur

Motion blur often occurs when you are using a shutter speed that is too slow for holding the camera in your hands. Every photographer has a maximum slow speed that they can use. Everyone should learn the lowest shutter speed they can use for motion free images.

8) Manual White Balance

All cameras have a few white balance presets. They do a fairly decent job, but is is better to learn how to set the balance manually, according to each light situation.

9) Drive Modes

There are three different types of drive modes: single shot, continuous low and continuous high. CL mode is great for portrait photography, and CH is better for shooting subjects that move very fast.

10) ISO

Lower ISO values are great when you have plenty of light to work with. Higher ISO values are needed when you are working in a low light area.

11) Auto ISO

Auto ISO will help you a lot when doing hand held shooting. It will increase and decrease the value in order to allow you to shoot with a shutter speed that is fast enough for hand held operation.

12) Exposure Compensation

It is a +/- scale that will tell your camera to increase or decrease exposure, depending on your needs. It works for all semi-automatic modes (P, Av, TV) and will influence exposure in increments.

13) Manual Exposure

The last stage of leaning how to use your camera is shooting in full manual control. According to the website you can't call yourself a real photographer until you have shot with all manual controls.