Absolute Beginner Digital Camera Tips & Tricks

Wed Mar 28, 2007 4:28AM EDT

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A number of you wrote to say how much you enjoyed the digital camera advanced tricks post I wrote last week, but a few offered a complaint: What about tips for absolute beginners who can barely figure out how to turn on the flash, much less do a long exposure and muck with the white balance. I talked to my pals at Digital Photography School, and together we came up a good list of beginner photography topics. (All of these link to DPS pages for extra detail, so click away.)

Here's how to get the most out of your digital camera.

  • Learn the basic digital camera modes. Master the icons on the dial and you're off to a good start.
  • Learn how to hold your camera. Camera shake: BAD!
  • Learn how to compose a shot by understanding the rule of thirds. The sample photos in the pictures on the linked page speak volumes.
  • Understand the "three elements of the exposure triangle": ISO, shutter speed, and aperture. ISO (light sensitivity) and its effect on your photos is easy to understand. Shutter speed is fairly simple (faster = less motion). And aperture (which affects focus in interesting ways) is pretty darn complex. Start putting the three together and you can get confused quickly. Start slowly by focusing on one at a time, experimenting with different shots at different ISO or shutter speed settings.
  • Learn how to tell your camera to control these settings. You can only do so much with a point-and-shoot camera.
  • Muck with the white balance. Hey, I just said that was an advanced topic, didn't I? Well, dealing with white balance is actually pretty simple, and it allows you to tweak your camera to account for the kind of light you're working under in order to get realistic color. It gets fun when you intentionally change the white balance to get odd colors on purpose.

OK, you made it this far, you're probably a better photographer already. Now you need to practice. Luckily, camera memory is cheap and can be reused thousands of times. So get out there and shoot some photos and you'll soon find your skills improving markedly.

Special thanks to Digital Photography School for collaborating on this list for Yahoo! Tech readers. 

Comments on Absolute Beginner Digital Camera Tips & Tricks

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  • 1 Posted by lavkumarkhachar on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:57PM EDT Report Abuse

    Could you let us have the name of a book best for the beginner? I am sure there must be several. I have just got a digital camera and it surely is fun, but having been a fairly good photographer earlier in life with convential cameras and films, this is a very new medium. Cheap yes, but the language a trifle confusing.

  • 2 Posted by chengchuandong on Thu Sep 3, 2009 3:22PM EDT Report Abuse

    Thanks for your decipher. I have made mind to buy a camera which could record my joyous life.By the way,could you recommend a brand of digital camera which is cheap and hight-quality?

  • 3 Posted by caitlin_70433 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 3:16PM EDT Report Abuse

    This is supposed to be tips for beginners? I didn't understand much and I don't consider myself stupid. There is too much technical jargon here.

  • 4 Posted by bajasand on Thu Sep 3, 2009 3:01PM EDT Report Abuse

    I thought it was great and I just learned alot in a small amount of time- the photos showing the results make the points very clear! Thanks!! I'll stay tuned for more!

  • 5 Posted by owensa42 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 7:47PM EDT Report Abuse

    Just moved from point-and-shoot digital to DSLR (the prices on used equipment are phenomenally low). I'm sooo glad to be back in the SLR realm. No shutter lag and more control over my images. You don't worry about megapixels and the effect of zoom when you're zooming with glass. Gets you the benefits of the old film world and the immediacy and low cost of digital. Did I mention shutter lag? My Nikon shoots 2.5 frames per second if I want it to.

  • 6 Posted by gftdgrace on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:08PM EDT Report Abuse

    WoW. what R U talking about?? can't figure out this stuff. Guess Im just to old or dumb,

  • 8 Posted by julie.wattslaw on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:44PM EDT Report Abuse

    Wow, I can't wait to try the portrait mode now that I actually understand that the background is supposed to be blurred. DUH, now I get it! Until now, I've only used automatic and sport...although I don't do so well with sport yet, you are right, trying to focus ahead of my target is tricky-my son is a supercross racer, and I've only got him in the air ONCE with my new camera! Thanks for the tips!

  • 9 Posted by rpcv83 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 8:53PM EDT Report Abuse

    I have found, coming from a 35mm to a digital it is all in the play and use of the camera,the benefits of digital, you can shoot and delete, unlike the film cameras. read the book that comes with it, take your camera and take things in lots of different ways, turn the dials, change the settings, experiment with things your not really caring about and when you take those pics you want to keep you will have a feel for the camera. like most anything else, you can lear so much just by trying. also i use an HP printer scanner copier that i can use to print, stage, and edit the pics with, this is very helpful, you can get the pics you want. Have fun!

  • 10 Posted by sara.goodman3 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 9:04PM EDT Report Abuse

    the best advice to give people is this: take a million photos. theres no waste. the ones that dont work out, trash. practice makes perfect right?

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