- setting the exposure using the histogram: the camera’s LCD screen might be a good way to tell if what you’re doing is right, but it’s not entirely reliable in conditions like harsh sunlight. The best way to tell if your exposure is correct is by consulting the histogram.
- RAW: Shooting in RAW format will give you access to the full capabilities of your camera.
- Selecting focus points manually: learning to change the AF points manually is a useful skill. It will improve focusing accuracy and reduce chances of missing important shots.
- Learn all AF modes: Most cameras come with different autofocus modes like One-shot AF, Servo AF and AI Autofocus. All of these modes have different uses, depending on subject and situation.
- Aperture priority: having complete control over aperture means control over depth of field. This is a great setting for shooting portraits with a blurred background.
- Shutter priority: gives you complete control over shutter speed while making all the other settings automatically, according to the selected value. This is a great setting for situations where you don’t want the shutter speed to go over or under a specific value.
- control motion blur: Motion blur often comes from using a shutter speed that is too slow for holding the camera in your hands. Every photographer has a maximum low speed they can use.
- manual white balance: All digital cameras have a few white balance presets.While they can do a fairly decent job, it is recommend learning to set white balance manually, according to each lighting situation.
- drive modes: The first mode allows you to shoot one frame at a time. It great for studio work or when shooting anything you have complete control over. CL is great for portraits when you have an expressive model and don’t want to miss any interesting faces. CH is the shooting mode for sports, wildlife and anything that moves fast.
- ISO: Lower values are great when there is plenty of light to work with. Higher ISO values are needed for working in low light.
- Auto ISO: auto ISO will help you when shooting hand held. It will increase or decrease the value in order to allow you to shoot with a shutter speed fast enough for hand held operation.
- exposure compensation: It is a +/- scale that will tell your camera to increase or decrease exposure, depending on your needs. It works for all semi-automatic modes (P, Av, TV) and will influence exposure in increments.
- manual exposure: full manual control