Digital photography basics

There are two main things to master when learning digital photography: the mechanics of how to use your camera and the creativity involved in learning how to compose a great digital picture on the screen.

Focusing - Exposure - Composition

Get to know your camera

I remember the first time I tried to use my Olympus camera. I wanted to shoot in aperture priority mode and turned the dial ready to begin. But I didn't know how to change the aperture! Which button to press? I was at a loss, I hadn't learned the digital photography basics! Of course I didn't have the manual with me so I ended up using the auto mode.

The advantage of digital photography is that you do not have to pay for film or processing so play around with your camera at home, testing different settings and evaluating the results. While learning, do not worry about the subject matter of your pictures just get used to changing the settings quickly.

If your camera has a range of scene modes to choose from, take shots using the different options and then upload them to your computer. By right clicking on a photograph's name in the list and choosing properties you can see what settings it was taken with. Read the page about shutter speed and aperture to learn how you can use these can alter the appearance of the photo.

Be aware that in addition to picking the shutter speed and aperture sometimes a scene mode will alter the zoom setting, white balance, contrast, saturation and sharpness of your shot, settings that would take some time to set manually.

Learn how to lock the focus

Auto focus cameras are great until they "decide" to focus on the wrong thing! But don't worry, learning the digital photography basics will show you a way to ensure that the right part of your picture is sharp. Just line up the auto focus marks on the LCD or viewfinder with the subject of your photo, press the shutter button halfway down to "lock focus" then reframe before pressing the button all the way down. Easy.

A perfectly focused background with blurred family members is a common result of not doing this! Especially when there are two people in the photo and neither is dead centre.

This is what happened in the photo of my son-in-law and grandson, both of whom are out of focus whilst the wall behind is pin sharp!

It is sometimes difficult to remember to lock focus when something is happening fast and you want to capture it on your camera. If you are taking pictures of people the new Face Detection method of focusing can be useful, or on some cameras you can choose Area or Spot focusing and move the focus guide to where you want it on the LCD before taking the photograph.

Expose correctly

You cannot learn digital photography basics without understanding exposure.

By using the auto settings on your camera the exposure is taken care of for you, leaving you to get on with the job of composing good photos. However there are occasions where auto exposure gets it wrong and it is handy to be aware of them and know when and how to make adjustments.

So what situations can cause the camera problems?

Light subjects - White or light coloured items, like for instance a wedding dress or snow, can fool the exposure metre in your camera causing the resulting photograph to turn out too dark.

Dark subjects - If your photograph contains mainly dark objects the camera may believe there isn't enough light and therefore increase the exposure, turning them gray.

Light backgrounds - If you are photographing something against a light background, say people in front of a window, the camera may expose for the lighter areas and the figures will be too dark, as in the photo on the left.

Dark backgrounds - Can cause the camera to make the main subject too light and washed out. 

So how can you cheat and fool the camera into giving you what you want without resorting to manual mode?

Most digital cameras have an exposure compensation feature that will help. Look for a button or dial that has a symbol that resembles a plus and minus sign with a diagonal line between them. By adjusting this you will be able to tell the camera to exposure the photograph for a longer or shorter amount. To make things lighter move the setting in a positive direction, and pick a negative number if you want things to appear darker. You will probably have a choice of three settings in either direction, maybe 0.3, 0.7 or 1.0 EV (exposure value). 

Another way to solve the problem is to change metering modes on your camera. Check your manual for instructions on how to do this, but most cameras use some kind of menu system. Your camera may have a selection of metering patterns including multi-zone, centre weighted, or spot. Once you understand the way the different digital camera metering systems can help you are well on your way to mastering digital photography.

Multi-zone metering is very clever and will evaluate a number of areas (between 4 and 16) from all over the frame then pick the best exposure. This method tends to ignore an overly bright sky and gives accurate exposure for most pictures.

Centre weighted metering, as its name suggests, concentrates mainly on the area in the middle of the frame. This is where most amateur digital photographers place their subject and therefore the camera will normally expose correctly for whatever is placed centrally.

Spot metering is a more professional method of exposing your photographs. If you have some photography experience you can get the best results from using spot metering. It only takes into account a very small area in the centre of the frame. As with auto focus lock you can position the guides in the frame on the subject you want to take the meter reading from, half press the shutter then reframe the picture keeping the exposure settings you require.

Once you have acquired the digital photography basics of how to focus and expose your photographs it is time to move on to some tips and techniques for taking better digital photos.

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