TEACH YOURSELF

DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHY

SETTINGS

12 STEPS TO CAMERA MASTERY

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 12 STEPS TO CAMERA MASTERY

1 2
CAMERA SELECTION CAMERA LENS
What camera you should purchase Lens choices for different photography
based on your budget styles

3 4
FILE FORMATS SETTINGS
RAW or JPEG? Optimising your camera set up

5 6
LIGHT ISO
A few 'rules' destined to be broken Setting your cameras sensitivity to light

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 12 STEPS TO CAMERA MASTERY

7 8
APERTURE SHUTTER SPEED
Creative and practical use Creative and practical use

9 10
EXPOSURE TRIANGLE FOCUS MODES
Bringing it all together Getting sharp images avoiding
blurriness at all costs

11 12
FINAL FEW THINGS NEXT STEPS
Semi-automatic modes, exposure Continuing your photography journey
compensation and drive modes

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 ONE

2022 recommendations. Check website for most recent

Any camera that allows you to manually control settings

can and should be used to learn. Don't incur any costs if
you have access to another camera until you fully
understand the reason for your upgrade. SONY A6000
WHAT YOU HAVE £££

SONY A7III SONY A7 IV

£££ £££
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CAMERA LENS
When starting out I recommend purchasing zoom lens before adding primes to your kit. Zoom
lens are generally heavier than primes, not quite as sharp and the aperture does not go as low
but the trade off is that you will very quickly understand your preferred shooting lengths and
you will be able to adjust focal lengths without the effort of changing lens.

12-24
Best for Property, Architecture and Landscape a lens that allows you
to shoot as wide as 12mm is guaranteed to provide a unique
perspetive. One of my most frequently used lens.

24-70
A truly versatile lens a 24-70 will allow you to shoot sweeping wide
shots at 24mm to portraits at 70mm and everything else in between!

70-200
Perfect wildlife, wedding, sports, landscape and portraits lens. A 70-
200 covers your short, medium and long telephoto lengths.

PRIME LENS
A prime lens provides a fixed focal length so if you want to change
your proximity to the subject you will have to physically walk closer or
further away. Prime lens provide higher quality images then zoom lens.

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FILE FORMATS
A RAW file captures uncompressed data from your cameras sensor providing
lossless quality, while JPEG images are compressed versions of RAW files
and can be thought of like a 'zip file'.

JPEG RAW

Good looking image More tonal and colour data

straight from camera for more editing flexibility

Compressed file 2 - 6 times Greater highlight and

smaller than a RAW file shadow recovery

Easier to store and share Complete control of white

balance

Compatible with a wider The professional and

variety of applications creative choice

RECOMMENDED

Shoot RAW as soon as you are able to; you will need an adequate
memory card, hard drive, computer and software capable of storing
and processing the increased file sizes but it is a worthy trade for the
creative freedom provided.

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SETTINGS
CUSTOMISING YOUR CAMERA

Customising your camera will help you to get the best from it, enabling you to shoot more
efficiently and with greater control.

CHECK LIST

Check for firmware PROCESS

updates
Depending on the camera you have access to you
Set your custom
are likely to have the ability to configure and
buttons
change what the buttons on your camera do.
Choose to shoot
JPEG/RAW or both There are generally three areas you can recalibrate:
1. Assign most frequently used settings to your
Set focus mode and
cameras external buttons.
focus area
2. Customise your function menu.
Set up back button 3. As you progress anything you are using
focusing if available frequently which you have to access the menu
Choose preferred for should be added to the quick menu.
screen display
Adjust diopter, the dial CHECK YOUTUBE FOR TUTORIALS
next to the eye piece DETAILING AN IDEAL SET UP FOR
YOUR CAMERA. REJECT ANYTHING
Set white balance to
THAT DOES NOT RESONATE
automatic

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LIGHT

Light has several elements that can influence the outcome of a picture
including intensity, colour, quality and direction. Learning to see and
control your light is arguably one of the more difficult hurdles to producing
visually stunning images. If you are just starting out there are a few basic
'rules' you can follow:

1 Avoid shooting outdoors when the sun is directly overhead usually from
12-3pm. A light source overhead draws shadows across the face or
subject and is not flattering unless you are doing texture / contrast
work.

Try to shoot at golden hour. Golden hour or the 'magical hour' happens
2
twice every day; before sunset and after sunrise. Light at this time is
much warmer and softer.

3 Position the light source behind or to the side of you. Shooting into the
light is likely to leave your subject underexposed.

These suggestions are designed to get you off the ground in as short a time
as possible but photography is a creative subject and you should
experiment and break the rules to further your understanding after you have
mastered the basics.

Light makes photography. Embrace light. Admire it.

Love it. But above all, know light. Know it for all you are
worth, and you will know the key to photography.

George Eastman, Kodak Founder

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ISO
CAMERA
ISO is one of the three pillars of photography alongside aperture and shutter
speed. ISO is essentially your cameras sensitivity to light. A lower ISO value
means less sensitivity to light whereas a higher value means more. Increasing
your ISO will brighten your overall image which can help you to capture
pictures in low lit environments or enable you to be more creative with your
aperture and shutter settings.

BASE ISO MAX ISO

The lowest native ISO on your
camera is called your 'base ISO'.
Using this ISO when possible will
minimise the noise in your image
giving you the highest potential
quality.
A
There is a simple test you can
do to determine the maximum
amount of noise you are
comfortable with. Put your
camera on a tripod in lowlight
and take a series of pictures at
increasing ISOs. Compare in
post.

USING ISO
I recommend leaving your ISO at its base value unless faced with the
following three issues:

1 The light is too low for you to get a well-exposed photo

You need to freeze motion using a higher shutter speed, so need to

2
raise the ISO to prevent the image being underexposed

3 You need to narrow the aperture (use a higher f-stop) common when B
shooting architectural or landscape images

PICTURES

A B
Manage your ISO High ISO adds
using the noise reducing
Control Wheel if picture quality
available
ISO 6400

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SHUTTER SPEED
CAMERA
Shutter speed is how long an image is exposed to light and can vary from
milliseconds to minutes. A fast shutter speed creates a shorter exposure
perfect for 'freezing' action or motion whereas a slow shutter speed gives you
a longer exposure blurring motion and unlocking many creative effects.

FAST SS
Some minimum suggested
shutter speeds below which
should be experimented with:
Water flowing: 1/125s
People walking: 1/250s
People/animals running: 1/500s
Cars driving: 1/1000s
Birds flying: 1/2000s
SLOW SS
Used for Long exposure
including light trails and astro
Water and clouds appear more A
dream like particularly at
lengths of 30 seconds +
A shutter that is too slow is
one of the top reasons
pictures are blurry

1/FOCAL LENGTH RULE

If you want to achieve the slowest possible shutter speed when shooting
handheld you can use the 1/focal length rule. This means that whatever
distance you are shooting at should also be the denominator of your
shutter speed i.e. when shooting at 50mm you should select 1/50 or
higher to ensure a crisp final image. There are some caveats to this rule:

If you have a crops sensor you should multiply the focal length
1
by 1.5 (Sony, Nikon, Fuji) or 1.6 (Canon). A 50mm lens on a full
frame lens will be true to 50mm but on a crop lens will be the
equivalent of 75mm.
B
If your camera has decent image stabilisation you can lower the
2
shutter further. As always test what works best for you.

PICTURES

A B
Freezing motion Blurring motion
with a fast shutter with a slow
shutter

1/500 30 SECS

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EIGHT A

APERTURE
CAMERA
Aperture is the opening in a camera lens through which light passes and can
be thought of a like a 'pupil' for the lens. Aperture is measured in f-stops
which can be counter intuitive when you first learn about them as larger
apertures which let more light in are represented by smaller numbers while
narrow apertures which let in less light have larger numbers.

WIDE OPEN NARROW

Large aperture (small f-stop)
Use in low light scenarios
Use to blur background of subject
and create bokeh
Use if you do not want a sharp
image from front to back
Small aperture (large f-stop)
Landscape photography which
requires front to back
sharpness an aperture range of
f/7.1 to f/13 is suggested
Use to maximise long exposure
time C

PICTURES

A B C
Aperture blades Blurring the Maximising
form a roughly background shutter speed
circular shape. (Bokeh) duration

F/1.4 F/22

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EXPOSURE TRIANGLE
BRINGING IT TOGETHER
ISO, Shutter, Speed and Aperture make up the three sides of the exposure triangle and should
be used in tandem to produce a picture that is correctly exposed. All three settings work to
control the light entering your camera by telling your camera how sensitive it should be to the
available light (ISO), how long your sensor is exposed to light (shutter speed) and how large
the opening of your camera has (aperture). All three settings are liable to take priority at
different times depending on the scene or creative style you are capturing.

Light entering your camera is measured in "stops" of light and referring to your cameras
exposure meter on your back screen allows you to compare and swap settings. Each stop will
double or halve the light entering your camera.

IN ACTION
Say you are shooting a scene perfectly exposed with your shutter speed at 1/125, aperture at f/8
and ISO at 200. Your subject is moving faster than anticipated so you decide to increase your
shutter to 1/250 to ensure they remain frozen in action. Your scene is now 1 stop underexposed as
you have halved the light available. To maintain your newly selected shutter speed and rebalance
your meter you have two options; you can either widen the aperture to f/5.6 or increase the ISO to
400. Both options will allow in another stop of light and make sure your image is correctly exposed.
Increasing the ISO will also increase the noise whilst widening the aperture will decrease the
depth of field, this is a trade off you will have to choose between. When starting out you should
constantly shoot different options and assess the results in post production.

The exposure triangle allows you to easily make changes to your settings whilst maintaining an
overall quality of exposure. Other factors have a huge impact in the quality of your work but
reading your exposure meter is essential to understanding your camera.

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TEN A

FOCUS
CAMERA
Focusing is the movement of the lens elements until the sharpest possible
image is found. This process can be controlled manually or by using your
camera auto focus modes.

FOCUS MODES
AF-S (Single-Shot) - once your camera has locked focus it will not
1 change until activated again.
AF-C (Continuous AF) - tries to keep things in focus continuously so
2 if you subject moves your camera will try to keep up. Most used mode. B
3 Manual Focus - this is definitely something I use a lot less since auto
focus systems have become more advanced however there are times
auto focus will fail you or your lens won't support the auto focus
feature, this is common in macro lens.

BACK BUTTON FOCUS

Typically your camera will focus when the shutter button is pressed halfway
however it can be hugely inconvenient to have the focus reengage as the shutter
is released. Back button focus is a camera technique that allows you to separate
focusing and shutter release to two different buttons allowing you more control.
A quick online search of your camera model and "back button focus" will allow
you to see if this is an option for you and then it is simply a matter of changing a
couple of menu options.

AUTO FOCUS AREAS

C
Wide - The simplest mode with the whole screen is active. The camera
1 determines focus by picking the object that is either closest to the
camera, in the centre of the frame, or a face if there is one present.
Zone - you can select a large area of the screen to focus on but allows
2 greater precision than selecting wide

3 Centre - the camera will focus the centre of the frame

Flexible spot - allows you to fully control your focus spot by placing a
4 box on your subject. You can control the size of your box. I use this for
all images that do not contain a person as the main subject.

Eye AF - the camera will automatically select a subjects eye, focus and
5
follow it. A real game changer.

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ELEVEN
FINAL FEW THINGS

APERTURE/SHUTTER PRIORITY
When you are first getting a handle of your camera settings one of the things
that may be beneficial is to experiment with is the cameras semi-automatic
modes. Aperture Priority (A or Av) will allow you to select your desired
aperture and the camera will choose the corresponding shutter speed. You
can control ISO although this is not a requirement. Shutter Priority (S) will
allow you to select your intended shutter whilst the camera will select the
necessary aperture. I used these modes a lot when first starting my
professional career and whilst I prefer to have full control of my camera
settings I still may use a semi-automatic mode if I am time pressured.

EXPOSURE COMPENSATION
When using aperture/shutter priority there will be times when your cameras
metering system will not do a good job of correctly exposing your scene.
Exposure compensation will very easily allow you to adjust this in a matter of
seconds. If your images appear too dark selecting a positive number (+EV)
will brighten the image whilst a negative number (-EV) will darken your
scene.

DRIVE MODE
Your camera should allow you to change the shooting mode, some of the
common options below:

1 Single Shooting - shoots one still image. Normal shooting mode.

Continuous shooting - shoots consecutive images whilst the shutter

2
button is held. You can choose between low, medium and high bursts.

3 Self-timer - shoots either a single image or continuously after a

designated number of seconds have passed.

4 Bracketing - allows you to take multiple (usually three) pictures at

once all at varying exposure levels. This can be used to increase your
likelihood of getting a correct exposure or to auto-merge the images
during post processing keeping the best parts of each image.

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TWELVE
NEXT STEPS

Your Journey
The continued development of your passion and skillset.

Photography is an art form that can add immense

NEXT STEPS
value and creative potential to your life particularly if
you put in the time to learn, practise and develop
your personal style. Composition
Depth of field
Imitation comes before creation; at the start look at a Metering modes
wide range of photography genres and try to recreate HDR - bracketed shots
some of your favourite images. You may be surprised Specialist Lenses
at what pulls you. I always knew I wanted to shoot Flash and other lighting
architecture but my love of sports photography was a Filters
surprise. A technical understanding is important to Adobe Lightroom
provide the foundation to your creative freedom but
actually shooting is one of the best feelings in the
world. Above all else it should be fun.

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NOTES

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NOTES

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 Criss is a digital creator passionate about helping others to carve out their own
paths. Criss offers a range of unique products and services helping to build the
skill sets that build our businesses and meet the needs of our ever changing online
landscape.

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