A collection of top DSLR tips and essential
digital camera help. Learn the secrets and shortcuts to setting up your camera
for high-quality pictures every time.
44 essential digital camera tips and tricks from PhotoRadar
Always switch the camera off when changing lenses, as this removes any static charge from the sensor which can attract dust
1 Always reset camera settings
There are few things worse than taking what you think is a stunning picture,
only to find your camera’s ISO and saturation were cranked right up
from a previous shoot and you’ve missed the moment. Avoid this by checking
– and resetting – all of your settings before moving from one
picture-taking opportunity to the next.
2 Format, not erase
Formatting your memory card wipes it clean and rewrites any pertinent camera
information. Erasing your images does not. So always format your cards to
minimize the risk of any data corruption.
3 Update your firmware
Firmware is the in-camera software used for processing images, setting a whole
range of parameters and even controlling what features are available to you.
Check your camera manufacturer’s website to ensure your DSLR’s
firmware is as up to date as possible.
4 Charge your batteries
Don’t assume your camera’s battery is fully charged – make
sure it is. Charge it before you go out so you’re certain there’s
enough life in it, and invest in a spare battery if you regularly find yourself
shooting beyond its capacity.
5 Set the image size
Most times you’ll be shooting at the highest resolution your camera
offers, regardless of what it is you’re photographing. But do you always
need to? Sometimes a smaller image size might be all you need, and reducing
the resolution not only means more images will fit on a memory card, but you
can achieve a faster shooting rate, too. If sports photography is your thing,
reducing the resolution will help you avoid delays as your camera clears its
buffer.
6 File format: RAW, JPEG or both?
If you intend to do any manipulation or retouching, shooting RAW is often
the best solution thanks to its increased bit depth. However, RAW files are
larger, so take longer for the camera to deal with, and you also need to process
them before they can be printed. JPEG files, on the other hand, are processed
in-camera at the time of shooting, so you can print or share them immediately,
and you’ll find that you can shoot a much longer burst of consecutive
frames at a much quicker rate. Providing you don’t want to make too
many radical changes to an image after you’ve taken it, you may find
you can’t tell the difference between a JPEG file and a RAW one. For
the ultimate in choice, though, and when speed isn’t important, why
not shoot both? Most SLRs give you this option, and you can then decide what
you want to do when you’re back at your computer. Just make sure you
pack an extra memory card.
7 Experiment with settings
When they’re not working on an assignment, professional photographers
spend a lot of time testing. This could be testing a new lens to determine
which aperture or focal length it performs best at; testing the ISO and white
balance to see which options give the very best results; or even testing the
dynamic range so you know the sensor’s limitations. You can do exactly
the same with your SLR, so you know precisely where its strengths and weaknesses
lie. This isn’t about looking for perfect shots – just experimenting
with your kit to understand it better, or trying out new techniques that you
can employ at a later date.
8 Don't skimp on a tripod
A good tripod is worth its weight in gold, so don’t be tempted by budget
options. Pay £20 and it won’t last you long, or do its job properly.
Dig deep for a decent tripod and it will give you many years of service, making
it a sensible long-term investment. And don’t forget to take it with
you, either...
9 Hand-held or tripod mounted?
The simple act of setting up your camera on a tripod will slow you down, and
this can be enough to make you concentrate a little harder on what it is you’re
photographing and what you hope to achieve. At the same time, locking your
camera down for every shot you take can reduce your spontaneity, so don’t
be afraid to mix it up from time to time. If you religiously use a tripod,
set out without it and see what happens, and if you normally travel without
one, take it with you to see how slowing yourself down affects the results
you get.
10 Impromptu camera supports
You don’t necessarily need a tripod to hold your camera steady –
supporting it against a wall or tree will help you avoid camera shake, and
a beanbag (or just a bag of rice) can also give you a more stable shooting
platform.
11 Straighten up
The word horizon is found in the word horizontal, and that’s precisely
what it should be. If your SLR’s got an in-camera level, use it. If
not, invest just a few pounds in a hotshoe-mounted spirit bubble. It will
save you hours correcting your shots in Photoshop later. A number of DSLRs
have a grid that can be activated and superimposed over a Live View image
on the rear LCD screen, making getting level horizons a breeze. Alternatively,
use the autofocus points across the centre of the viewfinder to do the same.
12 Double-check your kit
It might sound obvious, but check your camera bag if you’re going to
be shooting away from home. You may have your camera, lenses and tripod, but
if you use a quick-release tripod head, is the base-plate attached to the
camera or the tripod? Have you got the right diameter adaptor ring if you
use Cokin or Lee system filters? It’s these small things that are more
likely to scupper a trip than the major elements of your kit.
13 Autofocus or manual focus?
It’s all too easy to become over-reliant on your camera’s autofocus,
and there are some situations where focusing manually is definitely a better
option – pre-focusing to photograph a fast-moving subject on a race
track, or focusing precisely for a detailed macro shot, for example.
14 Which AF point(s) should you use?
Digital SLRs may have a bewildering number of AF points to choose from, but
for the majority of shots you only need one – the central one. Place
this over your subject, half-press the shutter release to lock the focus,
and then simply recompose the shot.
15 Buying lenses
A bad lens will always be a bad lens, no matter what DSLR you attach it to.
So before you decide that you’ve ‘outgrown’ your SLR and
need a ‘better’ one, ask yourself if investing in a new lens might
be a better option instead? A few extra pixels and smarter features might
sound enticing, but a faster maximum aperture and higher optical quality could
go much further in helping you take better pictures with the camera you already
have.
16 Manual lenses
There are thousands of lenses left over from the days of 35mm film, and as
many digital SLRs are ‘backwards compatible’ (most notably Nikon
and Pentax) they can still be used in the digital age. Moreover, as many of
them are dirt-cheap it’s a great way of expanding your focal length
repertoire. But there is a downside. Some lenses perform better than others,
and the only real way of weeding out the good from the bad is to give them
a go. In general, zoom lenses and wide-angle focal lengths tend to be the
worst performers. In addition, there is the need to focus manually, and in-camera
exposure metering can be unpredictable and unreliable. That said, there are
some cracking manual focus lenses out there, and in certain situations they
can actually outperform contemporary low-cost zooms in terms of sharpness.
17 Focal length
Wide-angle lenses can give the impression of increased distance between near
and distant elements, while telephoto focal lengths appear to compress perspective.
Consider this when you’re framing a shot and position yourself to use
the focal length that’s best for the image, rather than simply choosing
a focal length that fits everything in.
18 Use the hyperfocal distance
If you want to maximise the depth of field in your shot at a given focal length,
then focus manually at the hyperfocal distance; the point at which everything
from half the hyperfocal distance to infinity will appear sharp. The easiest
way to determine the hyperfocal distance for your specific camera and lens
combo is to visit www.dofmaster.com.
19 Check the frame edges
The majority of SLR viewfinders don’t provide you with 100% coverage,
so it’s easy for unwanted elements to creep into a shot. The only way
to be certain is to check your camera’s LCD screen once the shot is
taken. If there’s anything untoward in the frame, simply adjust your
composition and shoot again.
20 Shoot more than you need
Even with static subjects, consider shooting a burst of frames using your
camera’s continuous shooting mode. Subtle variations in the light as
clouds move across a landscape, or a portrait subject changing expression,
are both examples of a ‘perfect moment’ that could be missed with
just a single shot, so shoot a burst and pick the best frame later.
21 Preset exposure modes
‘Serious’ photographers may frown upon them, but your DSLR’s
preset modes shouldn’t be disregarded entirely, especially for candids.
‘Landscape’ mode will typically set a small aperture and boost
saturation, while ‘Portrait’ mode combines a wide aperture with
more muted colours. Both can be used beyond their intended purpose –
it’s just a question of understanding what the preset parameters are
and exploiting them creatively.
22 Don't forget Program Shift
Grossly underrated, your camera’s Program (P) mode effectively gives
both aperture and shutter speed priority in one semi-automated package. If
you want a wide aperture, simply ‘shift’ the Program to get it.
You want a slower shutter speed? Then shift in the opposite direction.
23 Which is best – Aperture or Shutter Priority?
In a nutshell, the aperture controls the depth of field in an image and the
shutter speed controls how movement is recorded. Not sure which shooting mode
to go for? Decide which of those two things you want to keep most control
over in your shot and that’s the priority option to go for.
24 Determine your camera's dynamic range
Unless you know the dynamic range of your sensor, you won’t know when
a scene exceeds it and you’ll lose highlight or shadow detail. There
are numerous ways of measuring dynamic range, but as DxO labs has tested many
SLRs, you could always use their figures as a guide. Visit www.dxomark.com
to see how your camera measures up.
25 Try bracketing
You may be able to adjust the exposure of an image in your editing software,
but lightening an under-exposed shot will exaggerate any noise, while over-exposed
highlights are impossible to recover. If you’re in any doubt, bracket
your shots to be sure you’ve got one that’s correctly exposed
– even if you choose to shoot RAW files.
26 Read the histogram
While your DSLR’s LCD screen will give you a guide to how well an image
has been exposed, it shouldn’t be relied on. In bright light, images
will appear darker than they actually are, while looking at the screen at
night will make images appear bright, even if they’re actually slightly
under-exposed. The histogram is the only way to accurately assess an exposure
on your camera, and the main thing to avoid at the time of shooting is clipping
the highlights and, less serious, the shadows. If the histogram hits the right
edge of the scale, consider reducing the exposure and shooting again.
27 Expose for the highlights
It’s far easier to recover detail in areas of shadow than it is to disguise
burnt-out highlights, so when the contrast is high, expose to preserve the
highlight detail.
28 Spot the midtone
While your camera’s Pattern metering mode (aka Matrix or Evaluative)
will deal with most scenes, a Partial or Spot metering pattern can also be
invaluable when you’re shooting in mostly bright or mostly dark situations,
when you can use it to take a reading from a nearby midtone, such as a pavement
or grass.
29 Assess the contrast
As well as enabling you to take a precise meter reading, you can use your
camera’s Spot meter to determine the contrast in a scene. Take one reading
for the brightest highlight area, and another for the deepest shadow to determine
how many stops separate the two readings. If this exceeds your camera’s
dynamic range, you’ll have to accept some clipping in the shadows, highlights,
or both, or consider shooting a bracketed sequence for an HDR (High Dynamic
Range) shot.
30 Shoot for HDR
To determine the exposure range for an HDR image, take Spot meter readings
from the highlights and the shadows in the scene, with the camera set to Aperture
Priority. Switch to Manual, set the aperture, and use your Spot readings as
the start and end points of your HDR sequence. Adjust the shutter speed a
stop at a time until you have covered the exposure range. The exposures can
then be combined in software such as Photomatix.
31 Use an ND grad filter to balance exposures
You can banish featureless skies from your landscape shots by using a graduated
ND (neutral density) filter to balance the exposure between the sky and land.
It’s best to have a set of ND grads with different transitions so you’re
prepared for a variety of conditions. Alternatively, make two exposures –
one for the sky and one for the foreground – and then blend them in
your photo-editing software.
32 Use a solid ND filter to extend exposure times
Solid ND (neutral density) filters are great if you want to extend your shutter
speed, but they can be used to control the aperture as well. A three-stop
ND filter would allow you to open the aperture by three stops to get a shallow
depth of field, even in bright conditions.
33 Polarisers
The effect of a polarising filter is impossible to recreate digitally, which
makes it the number one filter choice for outdoor photographers looking to
cut down reflections or intensify blue skies. Don’t skimp on price,
or you’ll be skimping on quality.
34 Black & white: in-camera or in-computer?
Unless you know that you definitely want to print black-and-white images from
your memory card, it’s best to shoot in colour and then convert to mono
later in your image-editing software – it will offer a lot more control
than your camera. If you decide to shoot black-and-white JPEGs, don’t
forget about in-camera filters: red, orange and yellow filters can all add
drama to boring skies, while an orange filter will reduce the appearance of
freckles and blemishes in portraits.
35 Use a white balance preset
Because they’re processed in-camera, you'll want to get the colour right
for JPEG files at the time of shooting. So use your camera’s preset
options (Daylight, Shade, Tungsten, etc) instead of relying on the auto option
to get it right. Although Auto White Balance is often considered a little
‘basic’, if you’re shooting RAW files there’s no reason
to choose anything else – you can set the white balance when you process
your images.
36 White balance bracketing
If you’re shooting JPEG images and your camera allows it, try activating
white balance bracketing. JPEG files take up minimal space on your memory
card and it could save you hours on your computer spent correcting a slight
unwanted colour cast.
37 Using the wrong white balance
Deliberately setting the wrong white balance can add an overall colour cast
to your images – blue if you shoot in daylight with a Tungsten white
balance, and a warm orange if you shoot under tungsten lighting with a Daylight
white balance. During sunsets, an auto white balance setting can try and correct
for the overall warm tone, which is exactly what you're trying to capture.
'Trick' your camera by using the Cloudy preset, which is designed to warm
up cool scenes.
38 Shoot a colour target
If you want your colours to be consistent from shot to shot, include a colour
target in the first frame of a sequence. When it comes to processing, set
the grey point (and black and white points) using the target reference frame,
and your software will match the subsequent batch of images.
39 Fill-in flash
Fill-in flash is great for lifting shadows, but it can also be used to create
quite dramatic images. Use your camera’s Exposure Compensation to reduce
the overall exposure by 1/2 a stop, and then increase the Flash Exposure Compensation
to +1/2 to balance the exposure. (Some cameras enable you to adjust the exposure
for the ambient light without affecting the flash exposure, and in this case
you wouldn't need to dial in +1/2 for the flash.) The result is a flash-dominated
shot where a well-lit subject stands out against a subtly darkened background.
40 Get the flash off-camera
Getting your flash away from your camera will transform your portraits, especially
if you use a dedicated flash that can be controlled wirelessly by the camera,
and reflectors to reduce any harsh shadows.
41 High speed flash
The duration of a flash is much shorter than your DSLR’s exposure times,
which allows it to ‘freeze’ high-speed events. Water drops are
the easiest place to start, and all you need is a dark room, a flash, and
a whole heap of patience. Follow this guide to amazing water drop photography
to take your first steps in high speed flash.
42 Shooting video on your DSLR
Video-enabled SLRs that use a CMOS sensor utilise a ‘rolling shutter’,
which can cause some peculiar artefacts when you shoot video. A rolling shutter
exposes each individual frame in a video sequence in rows, starting at the
top and working down – similar to the way a scanner scans a document.
If the camera doesn’t move while this is happening, there’s no
problem, but if you’re panning – particularly horizontally –
vertical lines in a single frame can become distorted. Handholding the camera
and using telephoto lenses can exacerbate the effect, so use a tripod and/or
wider-angle focal lengths. Cameras with a CCD sensor are unaffected as they
use a ‘global shutter’ that exposes each frame in its entirety
– just like shooting stills.
43 Choosing video frame rates
Most SLRs that let you shoot video offer a range of frame rates. In the UK,
the television standard is PAL, which operates at 25 frames per second (fps).
This is the rate you should consider as ‘standard’ for your video
if you intend to show it on a TV. However, if your camera lets you, you can
also shoot at 50fps to create a slow-motion effect – when it’s
played back at a rate of 25fps it will effectively be seen at ‘half
speed’, so a second of recorded footage will play for two seconds on
screen. The other frame rate to consider is 24fps, the standard rate for film
(as opposed to video). Although a single frame per second difference doesn’t
sound much, it is enough to give your footage a ‘cine look’ that
is favoured by many pro film and video makers.
44 Changing lenses
So much has been said about 'dust bunnies' (small particles of dust that can
land on your camera's sensor and cause dots in images) that many photographers
seem paranoid about changing lenses – but that's one of the main attractions
of DSLR photography! There are some simple precautions to take though. Always
switch the camera off when changing lenses, as this removes any static charge
from the sensor which can attract dust particles. Shield the camera from the
wind and weather and make sure you have the replacement lens ready to fit.
Finally, keep the camera's lens opening pointing downwards when changing lenses,
to minimise the risk of anything falling into it.