If you’re a relative newcomer to photography your probably itching to learn more so we’ve put together 8 tips that will fast-track your understanding and improve your photography.
1. Start using aperture or shutter priority mode
If you currently shoot using your camera’s full automatic mode or one of the scene modes then it’s time to take a bit more control. Switching to full manual mode can seem a bit daunting and in many situations it’s unnecessary as aperture or shutter priority mode let you take control of the appearance of the image while still letting the camera handle the exposure.
The first step is to decide what’s the most important feature to take control over for a particular scene. In aperture priority mode you set the aperture while the camera sets the shutter speed to give a correct exposure.
Conversely, in shutter priority mode you set the shutter speed and the camera selects an appropriate aperture.
With a moving subject, for example, you are likely to want to set the shutter speed manually ether to freeze the movement or to produce a nice bit of blur, so you should set your camera to shutter priority mode.
If you are shooting a landscape and want lots of depth of field, or a subject against a busy background that you want to blur, aperture priority is the best choice as it will allow you to set an aperture to dictate depth of field.
2. Use a lens hood
The primary aim of a lens hood is to shield the front element of a lens from stray light in the same that the peak of a baseball cap shields your eyes from the sun.
It helps prevent flare which can reduce contrast and cause aperture-shaped hot-spots in your image.
A lens hood also provides a little protection for your optic, preventing the glass from being knocked as you carry the camera.
In addition, it can shelter a lens’s front element from drizzle, saving you time wiping the glass between shots or cloning over blurred patches in an image.
If your lens was supplied with a lens hood use it, if it wasn’t, buy one to suit it.
3. Switch to manual focus
In many situations the fastest way to get a subject sharp is to use a camera’s autofocus (AF) system, but there are a few occasions when it’s better to switch to manual focus mode and drive the lens yourself.
When you’re trying to shoot a near-by subject that’s moving around the same point, for example, it’s often quicker to focus manually at the point that you want to capture the subject and then wait for the composition to come good.
Imagine a clump of daffodils swaying in the breeze, for instance.
If you use your camera’s autofocus system the chances are that the flowers will have moved away from the position you want them in before the camera has finished focusing the lens.
However, if you focus the lens manually, you cut out any focusing delay and just have wait for the flowers to move into the correct position before pressing the shutter release home and taking a shot.
