Tips for Getting the Most Out of Your Digital Camera

When most people purchase their digital camera they make sure it's set to "Auto" and they click away. Not too many people make use of the manual settings on their digital camera because they don't want to read the user manual and because it may seem too difficult for them to understand.

In this article I am going to point out the manual settings found on most digital cameras. I will explain what the settings mean so that the average user can make use of them when they want to get the perfect shot that they can't get in the "Auto" setting.

The thing you will want to do, if you have not already done so, is to purchase a larger memory module for your camera. This will be required so you can fit many pictures in your camera when you set it to a higher resolution other than the manufactures' default setting; consultant your user manual for these settings. Whenever you are going to print any of your pictures you will want to take them in a higher resolution so that the prints will sharp and crisp.

The batteries in many digital cameras do not last a long time. This is because most people use the LCD display to shot the pictures. If you keep the LCD display turned off and use your view finder you will find your batteries lasting a lot longer. You may want to purchase an AC adapter if you are taking a lot of indoor pictures and you run out of replacement batteries.

Now when you set your camera to manual you will see these settings on your LCD camera display. Refer to your owner's manual to find out how to navigate through the settings.

EV - this is the number that denotes exposure. The number would be larger for bright subjects and smaller for dark subjects. The settings usually range from +1.5 to -1.5 in steps of .3.
Example 1- you would use about a +.9 setting for bright scenes and highly reflective surfaces. A snow scene would be a good example.
Example 2- you would use about a -.6 setting for dark scenes and low reflectivity such as tress or dark foliage.
Take a few shots and bracket the EV settings in .3 steps. You will be amazed how good one of the shots will look.

White Balance - this setting is straight forward. Depending on the type of light you are shooting in that will determine what setting to use.
The following are standard for all cameras: daylight outdoors, shooting in the shade, daylight fluorescent lighting, cool white fluorescent lighting, warm white fluorescent lighting, and incandescent light.

ISO - this is equivalent to film speed in a camera, 200 being the standard setting. There are also settings of 400, 800, and 1000. The higher settings of 800 and 1000 are mainly use for night shots and dark scenes indoors or outdoors. You can experiment with this setting to obtain the best picture.

Focus - this is self explanatory. Use this to focus on the subject you want to be clear in the picture.

Photometry - use this mode for scenes where the brightness of the subject and background differ markedly so that the Multi setting is unlikely to achieve the desired result.
Average: Light metering where an average value for the entire image is used.
The advantage of this mode is that the exposure tends not to change for different compositions or subjects. This mode is effective for people wearing black or white clothing and shots of scenery.
Spot: Light metering where the exposure is optimized for the center of the image.
This mode is useful for subjects with strongly contrasting light and dark areas where you want to achieve the correct exposure for a particular feature.
Multi: Light metering where the camera automatically assesses the scene and selects the optimum exposure.
This mode uses automatic scene recognition to analyze the subject and obtain the optimum exposure in any condition. The Multi setting should normally be used.

Flash Mode is another setting but requires that your flash is turned on.
Auto Flash - the flash fires automatically as required.
Red-Eye Reduction - assures that your subject's eyes appear natural. This eliminates the red eye in your subject's eyes.
Forced Flash - flash always fires. Use this for subjects against a backlit scene.
Night Scenes - this flash mode uses a slow shutter speed and requires the use of a tripod. Use this setting to take pictures of people at night that clearly show both your subjects and the nighttime backdrop.

These are the basic settings you will find in manual mode. It may vary from camera to camera but this will serve as a basic guide in setting up your manual settings. Refer to your owner's manual for any additional settings for your camera.

If you own software like Adobe Photoshop or Paint Shop you can use them to make many different types of photo corrections for all your photos.