First Steps to Fantastic Photos with your DSLR

You have read the reviews, believed the hype and bought a Digital SLR.

It can be a both a little daunting and disappointing when you first start taking photos. You may even start to wonder if it was worth shelling out for the new kit, especially if your compact was giving you better results in some cases.

In this tutorial, I'm going to show you how to put your new camera through it's paces and take photos that will leave your compact in the dust...

I'm going to describe in basic terms how to use two really important camera modes. Using these your photography will move on in leaps and bounds, giving you the creative freedom you need.

Aperture Priority Mode

What Is It?

This allows you to control Depth of Field by adjusting the aperture of the camera. A low Depth of Field (DOF) means that things will not look sharp in front of, and behind, the point on which the camera is focussed. You can see this in the following image, where only the tip of the petals are in focus.

As you will have guessed, a high DOF does the opposite, so much of the picture will remain in focus. The great thing about Aperture Priority mode is that you decide your Depth of Field and the camera changes all the other settings to try and make the shot work.

Why Use It?

Simplicity is often the key in photography, and setting a low DOF means you can isolate your main subject from it’s background. For example, if you take a portrait photo and want the person to stand out from a distracting background, this one way of doing it.

How to Use It

1. On a Canon DSLR, twist the mode dial to the setting to the 'Av' symbol, like this:

On a Nikon, there is a similar dial, which you should turn to setting 'A'.

2. Next, find the 'main dial'. On a Canon, it looks like this:

On a Nikon, it looks similar, but is located on the back of the camera. Turn this dial each way and you will see the F number on the back of the screen change. Turn the wheel so this number is at its lowest value (usually 5.6 or lower). A low F number corresponds to a low Depth of Field (and a wide aperture).

3.  Try to find a subject that you can photograph at reasonably close range, as this will demonstrate the low Depth of Field concept best. Flowers are a great choice for this.

4.  Get reasonably close to your subject and press the shutter button half way down to focus (not too close or your camera will refuse to take the photo!), then take the shot. Take a look at the image in the preview screen. You will see that the subject you focussed on is clear, while other elements in the photo are blurred.

Tip: If you can, upload your photo to a computer or print it out - the screen on the back of your camera can be deceptive, as it's small size makes everything look reasonably sharp.

At the other end of the scale you have high Depth of Field. This is often used to make all the elements in the picture sharp and in focus. For example, many landscape and building shots benefit from this (especially if you are using the tried and tested technique of putting some foreground interest in the photo).

One point to note is that depth of field is also affected by the lens type and subject distance. I'll cover this in a later tutorial.

Shutter Priority Mode

What Is It?

This means that you decide how long the exposure needs to be, and the camera does its best (and it can’t always meet your demands!), to change other things so you get a decent shot.

Why Use It?

If you want to freeze the action in a photo, then you will want to use a very short exposure (i.e. a fast shutter speed). Alternatively, longer exposures let you show motion blur. For example, this can be particularly effective for shooting moving water, giving it a  silky, ethereal look:

How to Use It?

I'm going to show you how to use a high shutter speed (fast exposure), to 'freeze' some moving water, making it look like a glass sculpture.

1. Move the mode dial to ‘Shutter Priority’. On a Canon, it is represented by the letters 'Tv', like this:

On a Nikon, you will need to move the mode dial to the 'S' setting.

2. In Shutter Priority mode, turn the main dial clockwise and anti-clockwise. You will see the large number on the camera screen change. On a Canon, it looks something like this:

This number is the exposure time in seconds. Move it to something like 1/1000, which means the shutter will be open for one thousandth of a second - not long.

3. Find a subject. This works well on flowing water, so fountains or fast moving rivers are great. It you are stuck, try a tap in a well lit bathroom!

4. Press the shutter button half way down and check the screen on the back of the camera. If the F number is flashing, then the ambient light is not bright enough to give a good exposure at this shutter speed (fast shutter speeds need brighter light). Try reducing the shutter speed, or even better, finding a subject that is better illuminated.

Now, take a photo of the flowing water and check it out on the preview screen. You will see that the individual droplets are visible and that the water looks frozen, like ice. I used a similar technique with a flash to get these shots of droplets falling into a coffee cup:

Next Steps

I mentioned the camera adjusts ‘other parameters’ when you use aperture or shutter priority. These adjustments do have an impact on the resulting shot, so next you might want to understand how, and ultimately take full control of these yourself. Subscribe to our blog to find out more!

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