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Wednesday, October 10, 2012
What's up dock? Apple to shrink connector for iPhone 5
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Samsung Galaxy S III Sales Break 10 Million
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Nokia Has 'Something Amazing' on the Way in September
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Facebook alumni line up $28 million for workplace app Asana
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Android 4.1 Jelly Bean Coming to Select HTC One Handsets, Confirmed
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Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III Available at a Steep Discount
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Nokia Lumia 900 vs. HTC Titan II vs. Samsung Focus 2: AT&T's Windows Phones Go Head-to-Head-to-Head
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Inside Source Says Windows Phone 8 To Be Launched In November
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Amazon's mobile ambitions grow
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Netflix investors want to know if more viewing equals more subscribers
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Amazon Rumored To Have Smartphone In The Works
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Apple heads into choppy waters as new iPhone awaited
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Youku, Tudou shares fall on China content crackdown
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App aims to improve accessibility for visually impaired
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AT&T's Samsung Galaxy Note Getting Android OS Upgrade Tomorrow
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iPhone 5 Smaller Dock Port All but Confirmed
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Canon to enter mirrorless camera market from September
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For Asia's tech giants, clouds before the windows
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Push in U.S. for fewer sales bans for patent infringement
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Analysis: Tech Inc's invincible aura fades
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Nokia Survivors Give MeeGo Another Go
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Siri's Accuracy: A Work in Progress
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Exec Confirms Nokia Smartphones On Verizon In The Works
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T-Mobile Announces Latest Additions to myTouch Series
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Monday, October 8, 2012
How to Insert Sim card in Nokia Lumia 900 (Specifications)
Nokia Lumia 900 is a stylishly designed smartphone With Microsoft Windows Phone 7.5 Mango Operating system. It was designed with 1.4 GHz Scorpion processor, 8 MP (3264×2448 pixels, Carl Zeiss optics, autofocus, dual-LED flash) camera, 16GB storage, 512 MB RAM. Nokia Lumia 900 is looks similar to Nokia 800, N9.
Specifications
Network : 2G Network :GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900
3G Network HSDPA 850 / 900 / 1900 / 2100.
Dimensions :127.8 x 68.5 x 11.5 mm, 90 cc.
Weight :160 g.
Display : AMOLED capacitive touchscreen, 16M colors (Size 480 x 800 pixels, 4.3 inches) (217 ppi pixel density)
Multitouch, Corning Gorilla Glass, Nokia ClearBlack display.
Memory : Internal memory 16GB storage, 512 MB RAM ( no external card slot).
Connectivity :GPRS Class 33, EDGE Class 33 (Speed HSDPA, 42 Mbps; HSUPA, 5.76 Mbps), WLAN (Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n), Bluetooth v2.1, USB (microUSB v2.0).
Camera : Primary (8 MP, 3264×2448 pixels, Carl Zeiss optics, autofocus, dual-LED flash) with Geo-tagging, Video (720p@30fps, video stabilization)
Secondary (1 MP, VGA with15fps).
Operating System : Microsoft Windows Phone 7.5 Mango.
CPU :1.4 GHz Scorpion.
Battery : Standard battery, Li-Ion 1830 mAh (BP-6EW), Stand-by (Up to 300 h (2G) / Up to 300 h (3G)), Talk time Up to 7 h (2G) / Up to 7 h (3G, Music play Up to 60 h.
Radio : Stereo FM radio with RDS.
GPS : A-GPS support and GLONASS.
Body Colors available : Black, cyan, white, magenta.
Insert Sim in Nokia Lumia 900 is little hard. We cant insert normal Sim, it supports only micro Sim ( Micro Sim is smaller than normal Sim card). The process of inserting Sim in Lunia 900 is just like iPhone. If you want to insert normal Sim card into mobile, you can cut the Sim manually using Sim card cutter. I recommended you to ask you carrier to get a micro Sim
Steps to insert Sim in Nokia Lumia 900
Step 1: Turn Off your mobile.
Step 2 : Pull out the SIM door key that comes within the package to unlock the SIM tray.
Step 3 : Insert Sim inside Sim card tray (golden side on Sim card must come on the upside)
Step 4 : Push Sim card tray back into your mobile until it locks in correct manner
Step 5 : Switch On your Mobile
Related posts:
How to insert sim in D-link USB modem/adapter(PRODUCT SET UP)How to lock Nokia phone with security codeNokia Cheap mobile phones Specifications PriceRECOVER LOST MEMORY CARD PASSWORDRestarting Problum in Nokia Mobile Phones and its Solutions
Maneksh M.S is the founder of this Blog.. currently living in Thiruvananthapuram , kerala, India . I Like to spend free time for Computer tricks , Mobile phone tricks , Internet tricks etc.. Encrypt Folders and files for all version Windows Operating System
To protect your Folder or files on you computer you can use Encrypted File service (EFS). It is also called Bit locker.For every version of windows consist of EFS. It is a easy task any one can do it. Suppose your computer consist of more than one user account . Other user can view your files but that can open that file. So you can increase your security.Be aware : File can decrypted by using the Windows log-in that encrypted those files.In this articles I will help you to encrypt files and folder on your computer.
Step 1 : Select the file that you are going to protect.
Step 2 : Right click on that file then select properties
Step 3 : Select General tab then click on advance settings.
Step 4 : Then Some message will pop up select Apply changes to this folder, sub folders and files.
After encryption is finished, you can see that folder in green color. I recommended you to create a back up before encrypting.
Related posts:
Method to hide Files and folder in Mac OS with out SoftwareHow to hide a folder in windows 7 and windows XP/ComputerSimple Method to Hide and Lock Your Folders Without Any SoftwareHow to make a Invisible folder in WindowsHow to hide Media files from Gallery/hide images videos filles in nokia symbian phones Maneksh M.S is the founder of this Blog.. currently living in Thiruvananthapuram , kerala, India . I Like to spend free time for Computer tricks , Mobile phone tricks , Internet tricks etc.. Encrypt Folders and files for all version Windows Operating System
To protect your Folder or files on you computer you can use Encrypted File service (EFS). It is also called Bit locker.For every version of windows consist of EFS. It is a easy task any one can do it. Suppose your computer consist of more than one user account . Other user can view your files but that can open that file. So you can increase your security.Be aware : File can decrypted by using the Windows log-in that encrypted those files.In this articles I will help you to encrypt files and folder on your computer.
Step 1 : Select the file that you are going to protect.
Step 2 : Right click on that file then select properties
Step 3 : Select General tab then click on advance settings.
Step 4 : Then Some message will pop up select Apply changes to this folder, sub folders and files.
After encryption is finished, you can see that folder in green color. I recommended you to create a back up before encrypting.
Related posts:
Method to hide Files and folder in Mac OS with out SoftwareHow to hide a folder in windows 7 and windows XP/ComputerSimple Method to Hide and Lock Your Folders Without Any SoftwareHow to make a Invisible folder in WindowsHow to hide Media files from Gallery/hide images videos filles in nokia symbian phones Maneksh M.S is the founder of this Blog.. currently living in Thiruvananthapuram , kerala, India . I Like to spend free time for Computer tricks , Mobile phone tricks , Internet tricks etc.. How to open Excel files on phone or Tablet (Android)
Now there are lot of mobile phones, tablet PC are available in market, technology is increasing in day by day.now a days mobiles are just like a microcomputer. In this article help you to open excel files on your phone or Tablet (Android).
Documents to Go
Documents to Go is a android application which Supported file formats include .doc,. docx,. xls,. xlsx,. ppt,. pptx etc. Includes password protected Word and ExcelGoogle Docs Download, it can view and edit your files from Google Docs directly Supported languages : English, French, Japanese, Italian, German, Spanish, Portuguese, Brazilian Portuguese,Turkish, Russian, Polish, Czech and Arabic and traditional and simplified Chinese.Send & receive attachments via Gmail and other e-mail applications.Very user friendly.It includes rich formatting features like bold, italics, underline, font color, alignment, bulleted & numbered lists, tables, bookmarks, comments, footnotes, endnotes, track-changes, word count, find and replace, etc.Sheet To Go offers powerful data computation with support for 111 functions, cell, number & sheet formatting, row & column preferences, auto-fit options, freeze panes, sort, cut, copy, paste, undo, redo, charting, etc.Slideshow features is also included in itPDF To Go provides high-fidelity viewing of important reference materials with options for page view, word wrap, auto-rotate, bookmarks, search, select and copy text, and more…sync files to Computer via USB.Total access with support for attachments, memory card support, password-protected files, built-in file browser, and new Live Folder for recently used documents Related posts:
Method for Extracting .apk files from your AndroidTrick to download torrent files via mobiles (All mobile phones)How to hide Media files from Gallery/hide images videos filles in nokia symbian phonesMethod to hide Files and folder in Mac OS with out SoftwareBest Android Applications for Playing Video Maneksh M.S is the founder of this Blog.. currently living in Thiruvananthapuram , kerala, India . I Like to spend free time for Computer tricks , Mobile phone tricks , Internet tricks etc.. Sunday, October 7, 2012
Samsung Galaxy S4 release date
Galaxy series is a great successful model from Samsung.Samsung galaxy s3 is the best phone on galaxy series. For those who like to buy latest model to line up, this post will help you to know when the next model will be here
All galaxy models release by Samsung are accepted by the users. So there is no doubt that the next model name should be Samsung galaxy s4. According to Korea times a Samsung representative said that the Samsung galaxy s4 will be available on market after March 2013, it should be a advanced version of s3, and having great performance.
Previous version
Samsung Galaxy s
Samsung galaxy was announced by Samsung in march 2010.
Samsung Galaxy s2
The Samsung Galaxy S II is a smartphone running the Android operating system, that was announced by Samsung on 13 February 2011.
Samsung galaxy s3
Samsung Galaxy S3 Android 4.1 Jelly Bean released on may 2012.
By considering the previous release. Once a year new model will launched
Related posts:
Price and Specification of Samsung Galaxy S3A Guaranteed Method to Update samsung Android Device Maneksh M.S is the founder of this Blog.. currently living in Thiruvananthapuram , kerala, India . I Like to spend free time for Computer tricks , Mobile phone tricks , Internet tricks etc.. Friday, October 5, 2012
How do I get 500-1000 Unique Visitor Everyday
Hello,
Today I will learn how to get traffic on
Google Images. This is a Search Engine Optimization Techniques and simple steps
that take only minutes........
Just
Moment, Let’s Start.....
☀
Create a blog related to the photo (
Photo of celebrities etc.)
☀
Install a Blogspot or Wordpress or any
others script as you like.
☀
Start Posting pictures blog, for example-Keaton Marilyn, Monroe Meg,
Stevie wonder, Noy George, Micheal Etc.
Source
Browsing Your Firefox Double Speed
Whether or not you’re a hard core Firefox user or a casual surfer,
you’re going to want to start using these tweaks. Now. You’re just a few
steps away from reducing the amount of RAM that Firefox uses and
cutting your page load times in half.
Some of you hardcore users may already have known about some of these
tweaks but Gnoted has put together a few new ones that will make you
forget about how fast Chrome was that one time you tried it.
Reduce the amount of RAM Firefox uses for its cache feature
1. Type “about:config” (no quotes) in the adress bar in the browser.
2. Find “browser.sessionhistory.max_total_viewer”
3. Set it’s value to “0“;(Zero)
2. Find “browser.sessionhistory.max_total_viewer”
3. Set it’s value to “0“;(Zero)
Increase the Speed at Which Firefox loads pages
1. Type “about:config” into the address bar and hit Enter.
(Normally the browser will make one request to a web page at a time. When you enablepipelining it will make several at once, which really speeds up page loading.)
(Normally the browser will make one request to a web page at a time. When you enablepipelining it will make several at once, which really speeds up page loading.)
2. Alter the entries as follows:
Set “network.http.pipelining” to “true”
Set “network.http.proxy.pipelining” to “true”
Set “network.http.pipelining.maxrequests” to some number like 10.
Set “network.http.pipelining” to “true”
Set “network.http.proxy.pipelining” to “true”
Set “network.http.pipelining.maxrequests” to some number like 10.
This means it will make 10 requests at once.
3. Lastly, right-click anywhere and select New-> Integer. Name it “nglayout.initialpaint.delay” and set its value to “0“;.(Zero)
This value is the amount of time the browser waits before it acts on
information it receives. If you’re using a broadband connection you’ll
load pages faster now.
Optionally (for even faster web browsing) here are some more options for your about:config(you might have to create some of these entries by Right Click –> New– > Interger or String
Optionally (for even faster web browsing) here are some more options for your about:config(you might have to create some of these entries by Right Click –> New– > Interger or String
network.dns.disableIPv6: set “false”
“content.notify.backoffcount”: set “5“; (Five)
“plugin.expose_full_path”: set “true”.
“ui.submenuDelay”: set “0; (zero)
“content.notify.backoffcount”: set “5“; (Five)
“plugin.expose_full_path”: set “true”.
“ui.submenuDelay”: set “0; (zero)
Reduce RAM usage to 10MB when Firefox is minimized:
This little hack will drop Firefox’s RAM usage down to 10 Mb when minimized:
1. Open Firefox and go to the Address Bar. Type in about:config and then press Enter.
2. Right Click in the page and select New -> Boolean.
3. In the box that pops up enter “config.trim_on_minimize”. Press Enter.
4. Now select True and then press Enter.
5. Restart Firefox.
Source
2. Right Click in the page and select New -> Boolean.
3. In the box that pops up enter “config.trim_on_minimize”. Press Enter.
4. Now select True and then press Enter.
5. Restart Firefox.
Source
Thursday, October 4, 2012
7 Simple Steps to build traffic to your site.
If you have a website, chances are your biggest worry, and stress is, as more people visit it on your site. It has to do a serious mathematics because it is about something that you seem to have to contend with, is not it? Here are seven steps to help you drive traffic to your website.
First Content is King! You may have heard somewhere, but it’s true. Check the
content and tweak it a little. You probably feel like you have done enough and
are tired to openly look at it, but this is a big factor. To an article by University of Nebraska
at Lincoln
states the contents of the first key to generate web traffic posted. If you do
anything to win, or you do not give them enough for a good reason to bookmark
your site, then you need better content.
Second Article writing is a great way to get your business out there. To help write articles for your company, yourself as an expert. Write articles for other sites to your site and link back to you and traffic information.
Third Books will be the driving force for enticing more visitors from your site. If you plan well, you can also repeat visits by commissioning a series of books on topics related to your products / services. If you ever asked for in this bill, this could be another source of income.
4th Some say SEO is a way. Search Engine Optimization is the process to get your site up in the list on the first page, if someone is leaving Google for example. Be described by using the best keywords, your website are very important here.
5th Newsletters are a great business to produce and generate traffic. This is an old-fashioned method, but the new old fashioned way of doing it. Sending you get a monthly electronic newsletter, links to the web address of your site traffic to see.
6th Your e-mail signature is the easiest way to get from there to your site and generate traffic. Always a web address. You can also use a voucher via e-mail signature to redeem lead potential customers to your website. Free and easy to advertising is the best advertisement!
7th Blogs are the next generation of TV commercials. Adding comments or sending a guest blog post, you are basically increasing the commercial part of someone blog. You can also create your own blog refers back to the site and the products and services.
Most of them are free. Some require a credit card to pay for the service. You may feel that you do not have time to write articles for your blog or newsletter, this would be something, to make a monthly service fee. Earn points and generate business!
These guidelines will help to maintain traffic and more business. Updating you are satisfied with the keywords, add an article or blog and you’ll be looking for a company to watch.
Source : it24info.blogspot.com
The Basic Course of Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
Today I am on a series of
articles that offer tips on how to optimize on-site, the easiest and least time
for two is going behavior.
Domain Name
If you do not choose a domain name nor the one that contains the main keyword.
The ideal would be to get a domain like “mainkeyword.com,” but it is very hard to find is now available. You can use the “yourmainkeyword.com” or “mainkeyword4you.com ‘experiment, though.
People rely on (and remember). Com domain names are better. If you can not really find the right fit. Com, you can still go. Net, if you want.
Having your most important keywords in the domain name will help you because:
First The main website keyword in their domain tend to be better
Second Keyword is in bold type the search results displayed when you remove your stand
Third because it is important to show keyword anchor text (clickable text) and links to your site, keyword-rich domain also helps in cases in which people link to your domain name is a link anchor text.
If you do not choose a domain name nor the one that contains the main keyword.
The ideal would be to get a domain like “mainkeyword.com,” but it is very hard to find is now available. You can use the “yourmainkeyword.com” or “mainkeyword4you.com ‘experiment, though.
People rely on (and remember). Com domain names are better. If you can not really find the right fit. Com, you can still go. Net, if you want.
Having your most important keywords in the domain name will help you because:
First The main website keyword in their domain tend to be better
Second Keyword is in bold type the search results displayed when you remove your stand
Third because it is important to show keyword anchor text (clickable text) and links to your site, keyword-rich domain also helps in cases in which people link to your domain name is a link anchor text.
Do you already have a domain name? Although it does not contain your important keywords, you can still benefit from it. Google tends to like older domains because, as “real companies” that it seems to stay. It is not uncommon to see significant improvements in the rankings just some of the on-site optimization, in these cases. Just follow the tips I am giving to you.
Navigation
The technology that allows the site navigation has an impact on how many pages of engine indexes. Search engines can only follow the standard HTML links.
If you are navigating based on Flash animation, search engines will not be able to spider your web page. The same goes for JavaScript.
The names
It does not matter whether you use the technology to create a web page. Google searches.Htm,. Asp,. PHP,. Aspx pages, and many other formats (eg Word documents and PDF files, for example).
How do you see your site name, however, can be found on the leader board. Take the keywords in the page name, you can help with SEO perspective.
Instead, “yourwebsite.com / page.php? Id = blue widgets”, something like “yourwebsite.com / blue-widgets.php ‘. Separate the words in the name of the sideline, so Google knows where every word begins and ends.
Source : it24info.blogspot.com
SEO approach for Small Business
Small business has many advantages compared to large businesses. It is not perhaps as seems at first. They have the money, personnel and attorneys, but the advantage of a small company’s ability to adapt to changing conditions. Smaller companies are not stuffy government feared that even a small change in how each can affect the result. Small businesses are dependent on the guts and courage to do things.
SEO campaign starts with your
website
When should you start SEO? I’ll go there on one leg and suggest starting a website. Get the site ready before worrying about climbing the search rankings. It does not matter what is the company’s primary product or service, you can develop a website that meets the needs of customers.
When should you start SEO? I’ll go there on one leg and suggest starting a website. Get the site ready before worrying about climbing the search rankings. It does not matter what is the company’s primary product or service, you can develop a website that meets the needs of customers.
Your site should send a message to professional customers. Go figure, however. You must be helpful and customer-friendly website, where all the. Recent changes in the SEO have done country, what the site is now more important than ever before. Offers tips and tricks for using your product. Insert the installation instructions and DIY techniques to see the world. For more information you can grab it on your website, the better it looks in the eyes of search engines.
If you write it, you need to link
Inbound links are still the main way that search engines determine the relevance of the page. Networking with other small business sites and links, and more quickly snowball into a good link structure. You should not go out and make the spam links to your site in trouble. To other entrepreneurs to talk with them and a little link exchange. Most small business owners I know are afraid of SEO. You do not understand and do not really want to. Come SEO Ambassador. Help other small business owners to understand that SEO does not care about a demon, but a tool of the marketing arsenal.
Social Media
Personally, I hate social media marketing, but it works. If you customers to “friend” you can go online, they can become your marketing department. A large number of users who look forward to Facebook us about your business through the complex web of personal connections that most of the planet together. Your message can get through this network, travel and more people than million dollar Super Bowl commercial. The effort that you have done your own social media marketing will pay you back with interest.
SEO is the work of the
SEO is hard work. You can do it yourself, which means spending most of their waking hours online, or you can just do it and hire a SEO company to do it for you. Factors that list sites change constantly. SEO consultants to keep what works today and you will of getting into trouble tomorrow.
Source : it24info
Wednesday, October 3, 2012
How to Buy a Digital Camera – A 9 Step Guide
1. Determine what you need
A mistake I see some digital camera buyers making is that they get sucked into buying cameras that are beyond what they really need. Some questions to ask yourself before you go shopping:- What do you need the camera for?
- What type of photography will you be doing? (portraits, landscapes, macro, sports)
- What conditions will you be largely photographing in? (indoors, outdoors, low light, bright light)
- Will you largely stay in auto mode or do you want to learn the art of photography?
- What experience level do you have with cameras?
- What type of features are you looking for? (long zoom, image stabilization, large LCD display etc)
- How important is size and portability to you?
- What is your budget?
2. Megapixels are NOT everything
One of the features that you’ll see used to sell digital cameras is how many megapixels a digital camera has.When I first got into digital photography, a few years back, the megapixel rating of cameras was actually quite important as most cameras were at the lower end of today’s modern day range and even a 1 megapixel increase was significant.
These days, with most new cameras coming out with at least 5 megapixels, it isn’t so crucial. In fact at the upper end of the range it can actually be a disadvantage to have images that are so large that they take up enormous amounts of space on memory cards and computers.
One of the main questions to ask when it comes to megapixels is ‘Will you be printing shots’? If so – how large will you be going with them? If you’re only printing images at a normal size then anything over 4 or so megapixels will be fine. If you’re going to start blowing your images up you might want to pay the extra money for something at the upper end of what’s on offer today.
3. Keep in mind the ‘extras’
Keep in mind as you look at cameras that the price quoted may not be the final outlay that you need to make as there are a variety of other extras that you might want (or need) to fork out for including:
- Camera Case
- Memory Cards
- Spare Batteries/Recharger
- Lenses (if you are getting a DSLR)
- Filters (and other lens attachments)
- Tripods/Monopods
- External Flashes
- Reflectors
4. Do you already own any potentially compatible gear?
Talking of extra gear – one way to save yourself some cash is if you have accessories from previous digital cameras that are compatible with your new one.For example memory cards, batteries, lenses (remember that many film camera lenses are actually compatible with digital SLRs from the same manufacturers), flashes, filters etc.
5. DSLR or Point and Shoot?
While
digital SLRs are getting more affordable they are not for everyone.
Keep in mind that they are usually bigger, heavier, harder to keep clean
(if you’re changing lenses) and can be more complicated to operate than
point and shoot. Of course there are some upsides also.If you’re trying to make a decision between a point and shoot and DSLR you might want to read my previous posts titled Should you buy a DSLR or a Point and Shoot Digital Camera? and it’s companion piece How to Choose a DSLR.
6. Optical Zooms are King
Not all ‘zooms’ are created equal.When you’re looking at different models of digital cameras you’ll often hear their zooms talked about in two ways. Firstly there’s the ‘optical zoom’ and then there’s the ‘digital zoom’.
I would highly recommend that you only take into consideration the ‘optical zoom’ when making a decision about which camera to buy. Digital zooms simply enlarge the pixels in your shot which does make your subject look bigger, but it also makes it look more pixelated and your picture ‘noisier’ (like when you go up close to your TV).
If you’re looking for a zoom lens make sure it’s an optical zoom (most modern cameras have them of at least 3x in length – ie they’ll make your subject three times as big – with an increasing array of ‘super zooms’ coming onto the market at up to 12x Optical Zoom).
7. Read reviews
Before buying a digital camera take the time to do a little research. Don’t JUST rely upon the advice of the helpful sales person (who may or may not know anything about cameras and who may or may not have sales incentives for the camera they are recommending).Read some reviews in digital camera magazines or online to help you narrow down the field. There are some great websites around that give expert and user reviews on virtually every camera on the market – use this wonderful and free resource.
A little self promotion here – one such site is my Digital Photography Blog which is a site that collates the reviews of many sites from around the web. To use it best enter the camera’s model name that you’re looking for a review on in the search feature in the top right side bar. It’ll give you a link to a central page that has information on the camera as well as links to any reviews published online on that camera from around the web.
8. Hands On Experience
Once you’ve narrowed down your search to a handful of cameras head into your local digital camera shop and ask to see and play with them. There’s nothing like having the camera in your hands to work out whether it suits your needs.
When I shop for a camera I generally use the web to find reviews, then I head into a street in my city with 4 camera shops side by side and I go from shop to shop asking for recommendations and seeing the cameras live in the flash. In doing this I generally find the same camera or two are recommended in most shops and I get to see them demonstrated by different people (this gives a more well rounded demo). I also get to play with it and get a feel for which one I could see myself using.
9. Negotiate
After you’ve selected the right digital camera for you it’s time to find the best price.Once again, I generally start online (on a site like our store) and do some searches to find the most competitive prices on the models I’m interested in. With these in hand I’m in a good position to be able to negotiate in person with local stores and/or with online stores. I generally find that retail stores will negotiate on price and will often throw in freebies. Online stores are more difficult – most bigger ones don’t give you the ability to negotiate but smaller ones often will if you email them.
Don’t forget to ask for free or discounted bonuses including camera cases, memory cards, extra batteries, filters, free prints, cases etc. I even know of a couple of stores that offer camera lessons that you can ask to be included. Some stores will also consider giving you a trade in on older gear.
I generally do negotiating from home on the phone and only go into a store to pick up the camera after a price is agreed upon.
10. Your Tips
The above is my advice on buying a digital camera and comes from my own experience of buying numerous cameras, but I’m sure others will have useful tips to add. Feel free to add your suggestions on how to buy a digital camera in comments below!Update
Looking to buy a digital camera? Check out the most popular digital cameras as rated by what other DPS readers are buying.
Basics of Photography: The Complete Guide
We spent the last week learning all about the basics of photography,
from the way your camera works to composing your photos to editing them
in post. Here's the complete guide, along with a PDF of all the lessons
and some additional resources fo learning more.
Note: Click the lesson title to view the lesson—it's a link!
With
so many cameras available, figuring out how all the specifications and
options translate into your everyday use is complicated. For our first
lesson in the Basics of Photography, we learn how cameras work and make
sense of what that means in terms of choosing a camera to buy and how
that choice affects your photographs.
In this lesson we take a look at your camera's various assisted and automatic settings.
In
this lesson we take away our handicap and jump into the fun stuff:
manual mode. We look at the details of shutter speed, ISO, and aperture,
as well as how those settings affect your photos.
A
well-composed photograph is really a matter of opinion, but there are a
few tricks that tend to result in better pictures. That's what we take a
look at in this lesson.
For
our final photography lesson, we look at the final step: editing your
images. We try different kinds of techniques for color correction, touch
ups, and a few other fun effects.
If you'd like all of these lessons in a printable PDF file, click here to download one. (Note: The photos in the composition lesson were cropped because they didn't fit, so visit the original post to see them in their entirety.)
Source of the post
Note: Click the lesson title to view the lesson—it's a link!
Part I: Understanding How Your Digital Camera Works
With
so many cameras available, figuring out how all the specifications and
options translate into your everyday use is complicated. For our first
lesson in the Basics of Photography, we learn how cameras work and make
sense of what that means in terms of choosing a camera to buy and how
that choice affects your photographs.
Part II: Your Camera's Automatic and Assisted Settings
In this lesson we take a look at your camera's various assisted and automatic settings.
Part III: Your Camera's Manual Settings
In
this lesson we take away our handicap and jump into the fun stuff:
manual mode. We look at the details of shutter speed, ISO, and aperture,
as well as how those settings affect your photos.
Part IV: Composition and Technique
A
well-composed photograph is really a matter of opinion, but there are a
few tricks that tend to result in better pictures. That's what we take a
look at in this lesson.
Part V: Editing Images in Post
For
our final photography lesson, we look at the final step: editing your
images. We try different kinds of techniques for color correction, touch
ups, and a few other fun effects.
If you'd like all of these lessons in a printable PDF file, click here to download one. (Note: The photos in the composition lesson were cropped because they didn't fit, so visit the original post to see them in their entirety.)
Additional Resources
If you want to learn more about digital photography, there are plenty of resources to help you out. We've broken them up into three sections so you can focus on the resources that are most appropriate for your needs.Understanding the Way Your camera Works
- Curtin's Guide to Digital Cameras will take you through every little thing your camera can possibly do. If you still don't have a digital camera yet, this guide also contains a ton of advice on what to buy based on your needs and intended use.
- The Shortcourses Bookstore has books on tons of popular digital cameras so you can learn more about how they work. You can even get digital copies of the books for your mobile devices.
- Geoff Lawrence offers up a lot of information, ranging from the basic to more complex. This site will teach you simple things, like holding your camera properly, as well as more complex things, like exposure bracketing.
Composing Better Photographs
- Samy's Camera, which is a great camera store (that happens to be down the street from me) also has a bunch of online photo lessons that will teach you a lot about lighting and composing your photos. They even have some lessons in Spanish.
- Web Photo School has a few free lessons to help you shoot better photos.
- This short course on Digital Desktop Studio Photography will teach you all about photographing objects in a controlled studio environment. It's pretty much something anyone can do on their desk (hence the name).
- Best Photo Lessons contains a bunch of basic lessons on the principles of photography, including a few things we didn't cover.
Editing Your Photos
- If you want to learn Photoshop, we've got a night school for that, too. It's not all about Photography, but you'll learn about how the application works and plenty about color-correcting and touching up your images.
- Lynda.com is an online training service that'll teach you all sorts of things about Photoshop. It costs $25 per month, but if you're on a tight budget you can just pay for a single month, learn what you need to learn, and then cancel your membership.
- The National Association of Photoshop Professionals is the organization that puts out the great Photoshop magazine Photoshop User. For $99 a year you get that magazine plus a membership. You probably don't want to sign up for this if you're not going to spend a lot of time learning about Photoshop techniques, as it's pricey, but there's tons of great info and tutorials. I used to subscribe back when I did more photography and learned a ton of great Photoshop tricks this way. It's not for everyone, but if you've got the time it is a great resource.
- You Suck At Photoshop is free training and comedy rolled into one. It's been around for awhile and you've probably heard about it, but it's still awesome. The videos aren't just funny—they actually teach you Photoshop.
Other Stuff
- DIY Photography is a great resource for projects for your camera. Photography can be a really expensive hobby, but you can build a lot of the equipment you want/need yourself. DIY Photography has plenty of light rings, diffusers, camera straps, and even cameras you can build yourself.
- Here's a lesson on Displaying and Sharing Your Photos—a topic we didn't have time to cover.
- We have an Ask Lifehacker focused on how to take better photos in low light. If that's your primary concern, this should cover all the bases for you.
Source of the post
Editing Images in Post
For our final photography lesson this week, we're going to talk about
the final step: editing your images. We'll take a look at different
kinds of techniques for color correction, touch ups, and a few other fun
effects.
This lesson is really more of a roundup than anything because we've covered tons of photo editing tips and tricks in the past that it would be kind of redundant to re-write them all here. First things first, we have entire night school on Photoshop, including a lesson on color correction and touch ups, so you might want to start there. If you're looking for more, here are a bunch of handy tips and tricks to get your photos into shape.
Note:
A lot of these tips are demonstrated in Photoshop, but not all of them
are and many can be replciated in other (cheaper) image editors.
This lesson is really more of a roundup than anything because we've covered tons of photo editing tips and tricks in the past that it would be kind of redundant to re-write them all here. First things first, we have entire night school on Photoshop, including a lesson on color correction and touch ups, so you might want to start there. If you're looking for more, here are a bunch of handy tips and tricks to get your photos into shape.
Note:
A lot of these tips are demonstrated in Photoshop, but not all of them
are and many can be replciated in other (cheaper) image editors.Color and Tone Correction and Enhancement
- Our comprehensive guide to getting the best color out of your photos
- Change a specific color in a photo.
- Brighten up a specific part of a photo
- Fix poorly exposed photographs with the Levels tool
- Give your photos a gritty, high-contrast look
- Fix uneven skin tones
- Get better black and white conversions
- Make any photo look like it was taken with a vintage camera
- Create color correction/enhancement presets to save you time later
- Simple, fast, and accurate color and tone correction
Correcting Scratches, Blemishes, and Other Problems
Other Enhancements
- Make crappy photos look much nicer
- Add sharpness and detail without adding noise
- Learn all about sharpening techniques
- Sharpen photos better with unsharp mask
Composition and Technique
A well-composed photograph is really a matter
of opinion, but there are a few tricks that tend to result in better
pictures. That's what we're going to take a look at today.
Generally you want to place important elements where the grid intersects. Here are a few examples:
The intersection points are where the eye tends to go first, so it's useful to place your subject on one of those points. People generally tend to aim for the center, but that's often less effective.
If you find the rule of thirds a little boring, try composing using Fibonacci's ratio.
Additionally, left and right positioning isn't as direct and can often make a photograph feel more honest and candid. When capturing a moment, whether it's staged or not, photographing the subject head-on can often seem a little awkward and end up being less-effective.
Of course, you can also combine different positioning elements to create other effects. Try taking photographs of the same subject from different perspectives and see how people interpret them. This is a good way to understand the effects your choices have on the end result.
Perspective can even make a road straight ahead appear like a triangle and draw the eye into the horizon. Whatever the case may be, make sure your shapes and lines are taking the viewer where you want them to go.
Photo by Dan Eckhart
With the house, for example, using nearby trees (or what remains of them) may help. You'll want to make sure the trees don't create lines and shapes that draw your viewer away from the subject (the house), as previously mentioned, but often times they can be helpful in making your photograph more interesting and helping to draw the eye where you want it.
You might choose to do this because you want to draw the viewer's eye away from the subject and make them look at the space behind the subject's head. In the background, something's happening that's slightly out of focus. You could argue that this is a way of depicting a subject trying to remember a past event, or being lost in a half-memory. This may or may not be the most successful way of getting such a message across, but it's a reason to try breaking one of the "rules" you'd generally adhere to when composing a photograph.
If you're just trying to take a pleasing picture, the rules are your friend. On the other hand, if you're trying to convey something with the photograph, figure out how you want to convey it and compose your image accordingly. This may or may not involve breaking the rules, but you increase your chances of ending up with a compelling image if you choose a specific composition for a specific reason.
Source
Rule of Thirds
The rule of thirds is the simplest rule of composition. All you do is take your frame and overlay a grid of nine equal sections. This means you split the vertical space into three parts and the horizontal space into three parts. Here's what that looks like:Generally you want to place important elements where the grid intersects. Here are a few examples:
The intersection points are where the eye tends to go first, so it's useful to place your subject on one of those points. People generally tend to aim for the center, but that's often less effective.
If you find the rule of thirds a little boring, try composing using Fibonacci's ratio.
Perspective
Photographing your subject straight-on is sometimes the right choice, but you can create visual impact by moving the camera left, right, above, and below. When you're beneath the subject it often makes them/it appear more powerful to the viewer. Conversely, when you're above the subject it makes them/it appear more diminutive. You can use this to an extreme for a powerful impact, but it's also a very good subtle technique for portraits. Slight positioning above or below the subject can subconsciously imply aggressiveness and passivity (respectively) without being too, uh, obvious...Additionally, left and right positioning isn't as direct and can often make a photograph feel more honest and candid. When capturing a moment, whether it's staged or not, photographing the subject head-on can often seem a little awkward and end up being less-effective.
Of course, you can also combine different positioning elements to create other effects. Try taking photographs of the same subject from different perspectives and see how people interpret them. This is a good way to understand the effects your choices have on the end result.
Use Shapes and Lines to Draw the Eye to a Specific Point
The viewer's eye doesn't magically end up looking at one of the intersections in the rule of thirds grid, it's just more natural. That said, if you have a reason to draw the eye elsewhere you can accomplish that pretty easily by choosing where you place shapes and lines in your photograph. A shape doesn't mean a literal, detail-less shape, but in the sense that a building could serve as a rectangle. Roads often make nice lines in landscapes. When you're composing your photograph, consider the shapes and lines and where they draw your eye. If they're taking you out of the photograph or away from the primary subject, you'll probably want to consider a different composition. Let the roads lead where you want the eye to go.Perspective can even make a road straight ahead appear like a triangle and draw the eye into the horizon. Whatever the case may be, make sure your shapes and lines are taking the viewer where you want them to go.
Frame Your Subject with Objects
A subject against a white background can often be simple and effective if you have a good subject. If you have a boring subject, like an ordinary house, a blank background (like a clear sky) isn't going to be very compelling. Instead, try framing your subject with surrounding objects.Photo by Dan Eckhart
With the house, for example, using nearby trees (or what remains of them) may help. You'll want to make sure the trees don't create lines and shapes that draw your viewer away from the subject (the house), as previously mentioned, but often times they can be helpful in making your photograph more interesting and helping to draw the eye where you want it.
Make Your Choices for a Reason
You don't have to follow any of the "rules" of photography to end up with a good photograph. What's probably the most important is that you make your choice for a reason. When you take a picture and choose where something goes in the frame, know why you're doing it. An example of a rule-breaking image would be to have a person facing left and placing them in the left third of the photograph:You might choose to do this because you want to draw the viewer's eye away from the subject and make them look at the space behind the subject's head. In the background, something's happening that's slightly out of focus. You could argue that this is a way of depicting a subject trying to remember a past event, or being lost in a half-memory. This may or may not be the most successful way of getting such a message across, but it's a reason to try breaking one of the "rules" you'd generally adhere to when composing a photograph.
If you're just trying to take a pleasing picture, the rules are your friend. On the other hand, if you're trying to convey something with the photograph, figure out how you want to convey it and compose your image accordingly. This may or may not involve breaking the rules, but you increase your chances of ending up with a compelling image if you choose a specific composition for a specific reason.
Source
Your Camera’s Manual Settings
In the previous lesson we covered the basic settings on your camera.
Today we're jumping into the fun stuff: manual mode. We'll learn the
details about shutter speed, ISO, and aperture, as well as how those
settings affect your photos.
If you're following along with your camera, be sure to set it into manual mode so you can access every setting we're going to discuss.
Aperture
is often the most difficult concept for people to grasp when they're
learning how their camera works, but it's pretty simple once you
understand it. If you look at your lens, you can see the opening where
light comes through. When you adjust your aperture settings, you'll see
that opening get bigger and smaller. The larger the opening, or wider
the aperture, the more light you let in with each exposure. The smaller
the opening, or narrower the aperture, the less light you let in. Why
would you ever want a narrow aperture if a wider one lets in more light?
Aside from those situations where you have too much light and want to
let less of it in, narrowing the aperture means more of the photograph
will appear to be in focus. For example, a narrow aperture is great for
landscapes. A wider aperture means less of the photograph will be in
focus, which is something that's generally visually pleasing and isn't
seen as a downside. If you've seen photographs with a subject in focus
and beautiful blurred backgrounds, this is often the effect of a wide
aperture (although that's not the only contributing factor—remember,
telephoto lenses decrease depth of field as well). Using a wide aperture
is generally considered the best method for taking in more light
because the downside—less of the photograph being in focus—is often a
desired result.
Aperture is represented in f-stops. A lower number, like f/1.8, denotes a wider aperture, and a higher number, like f/22, denotes a narrower aperture. Lenses are often marked with their widest possible aperture. If you see a lens that is a 50mm f/1.8, this means it's widest aperture is f/1.8. The aperture can always be set to be more narrow, but it won't be able to go wider than f/1.8. Some lenses will have a range, such as f/3.5-5.6. You'll see this on zoom lenses, and it means that when the lens is zoomed out to the widest position it's f/3.5, but when it's zoomed in all the way it can only have an aperture as wide as f/5.6. The middle changes as well, so halfway through the zoom range you'll end up with a widest aperture of about f/4.5. An aperture range is common with less-expensive zoom lenses, but if you pay more you can get a standard aperture throughout the range.
That's pretty much all you need to know about aperture. The important thing to remember is that a wide aperture, like f/1.8, lets in more light and provides a shallow depth of field (meaning less of the photo appears in focus). A narrow aperture, like f/22, provides deeper focus but lets in less light. What aperture you should use depends on the situation and the type of lens you're using, so experiment to see what effects you get and you'll have a better idea of how your aperture setting affects your photographs.
First, the sensor is exposed to more light because it's been given more time. This is useful in low light situations. Second, the sensor is subject to more motion which causes motion blur. This can happen either because your subject is in motion or because you cannot hold the camera still. This is fine if you're photographing a landscape at night and the camera is placed on a tripod, as neither the camera nor your subject is going to move. On the other hand, slow shutter speeds pose a problem when you're shooting handheld and/or your subject is moving. This is why you wouldn't want a shutter speed any slower than 1/30th of a second when photographing handheld (unless you're known for your remarkably still hands).
In general, you want to use the fastest shutter speed you can but there are plenty of circumstances where you'd choose a slower shutter speed. Here are a few examples:
ISO
is the digital equivalent (or approximation) of film speed. If you
remember buying film for a regular camera, you'd get 100 or 200 for
outdoors and 400 or 800 for indoors. The faster the film speed the more
sensitive it is to light. All of this still applies to digital
photography, but it's called an ISO rating instead.
The advantage of a low ISO is that the light in a given exposure is more accurately represented. If you've seen photos at night, the lights often look like they're much brighter and bleeding into other areas of the photo. This is the result of a high ISO—a greater sensitivity to light. High ISOs are particularly useful for picking up more detail in a dark photograph without reducing the shutter speed or widening the aperture more than you want to, but it comes at a cost. In addition to lights being overly and unrealistically bright in your photos, high ISO settings are the biggest contributors to photographic noise. High-end cameras will pick up less noise at higher ISOs than low-end cameras, but the rule is always the same: the higher you increase your ISO, the more noise you get.
Most cameras will set the ISO automatically, even in manual mode. Generally you can stick with the same ISO setting if your lighting situation doesn't change, so it's good to get used to setting it yourself. That said, sometimes lighting changes enough in dark, indoor settings that letting the camera set it for you automatically can be helpful—even when shooting manually.
In manual mode your camera should let you know if you're over- or under-exposed by providing a little meter at the bottom (pictured to the left). The left is underexposed and the right is overexposed. Your goal is to get the pointer in the middle. Once you do that, snap your photo, and it should look just how you want it.
We're all done learning about how your camera works in all its modes. Tomorrow we're going to explore composition and technique. As always, if you're behind on our lessons, you can find everything you've missed and a PDF of all the lessons in the Basics of Photography Complete Guide.
Source : lifehacker.com
If you're following along with your camera, be sure to set it into manual mode so you can access every setting we're going to discuss.
Aperture
Aperture
is often the most difficult concept for people to grasp when they're
learning how their camera works, but it's pretty simple once you
understand it. If you look at your lens, you can see the opening where
light comes through. When you adjust your aperture settings, you'll see
that opening get bigger and smaller. The larger the opening, or wider
the aperture, the more light you let in with each exposure. The smaller
the opening, or narrower the aperture, the less light you let in. Why
would you ever want a narrow aperture if a wider one lets in more light?
Aside from those situations where you have too much light and want to
let less of it in, narrowing the aperture means more of the photograph
will appear to be in focus. For example, a narrow aperture is great for
landscapes. A wider aperture means less of the photograph will be in
focus, which is something that's generally visually pleasing and isn't
seen as a downside. If you've seen photographs with a subject in focus
and beautiful blurred backgrounds, this is often the effect of a wide
aperture (although that's not the only contributing factor—remember,
telephoto lenses decrease depth of field as well). Using a wide aperture
is generally considered the best method for taking in more light
because the downside—less of the photograph being in focus—is often a
desired result.Aperture is represented in f-stops. A lower number, like f/1.8, denotes a wider aperture, and a higher number, like f/22, denotes a narrower aperture. Lenses are often marked with their widest possible aperture. If you see a lens that is a 50mm f/1.8, this means it's widest aperture is f/1.8. The aperture can always be set to be more narrow, but it won't be able to go wider than f/1.8. Some lenses will have a range, such as f/3.5-5.6. You'll see this on zoom lenses, and it means that when the lens is zoomed out to the widest position it's f/3.5, but when it's zoomed in all the way it can only have an aperture as wide as f/5.6. The middle changes as well, so halfway through the zoom range you'll end up with a widest aperture of about f/4.5. An aperture range is common with less-expensive zoom lenses, but if you pay more you can get a standard aperture throughout the range.
That's pretty much all you need to know about aperture. The important thing to remember is that a wide aperture, like f/1.8, lets in more light and provides a shallow depth of field (meaning less of the photo appears in focus). A narrow aperture, like f/22, provides deeper focus but lets in less light. What aperture you should use depends on the situation and the type of lens you're using, so experiment to see what effects you get and you'll have a better idea of how your aperture setting affects your photographs.
Shutter Speed
When you press the shutter button on your camera and take a picture, the aperture blades take a specific amount of time to close. This amount of time is known as your shutter speed. Generally it is a fraction of a second, and if you're capturing fast motion it needs to be at most 1/300th of a second. If you're not capturing any motion, you can sometimes get away with as long of an exposure as 1/30th of a second. When you increase your shutter speed—the length of time where the sensor is exposed to light—two important things happen.
First, the sensor is exposed to more light because it's been given more time. This is useful in low light situations. Second, the sensor is subject to more motion which causes motion blur. This can happen either because your subject is in motion or because you cannot hold the camera still. This is fine if you're photographing a landscape at night and the camera is placed on a tripod, as neither the camera nor your subject is going to move. On the other hand, slow shutter speeds pose a problem when you're shooting handheld and/or your subject is moving. This is why you wouldn't want a shutter speed any slower than 1/30th of a second when photographing handheld (unless you're known for your remarkably still hands).
In general, you want to use the fastest shutter speed you can but there are plenty of circumstances where you'd choose a slower shutter speed. Here are a few examples:
- You want motion blur for artistic purposes, such as blurring a flowing stream while keeping everything else sharp and un-blurred. To accomplish this you'd use a slow shutter speed like 1/30th of a second and use a narrow aperture to prevent yourself from overexposing the photograph. Note: This example is a good reason to use the Shutter Priority shooting mode discussed in the previous lesson.
- You want an overexposed and potentially blurred photograph for artistic purposes.
- You're shooting in low light and it's necessary.
- You're shooting in low light and it's not necessary, but you want to keep noise to a minimum. Therefore you set your ISO (film speed equivalent) to a low setting and you reduce your shutter speed to compensate (and let in more light).
ISO
ISO
is the digital equivalent (or approximation) of film speed. If you
remember buying film for a regular camera, you'd get 100 or 200 for
outdoors and 400 or 800 for indoors. The faster the film speed the more
sensitive it is to light. All of this still applies to digital
photography, but it's called an ISO rating instead.The advantage of a low ISO is that the light in a given exposure is more accurately represented. If you've seen photos at night, the lights often look like they're much brighter and bleeding into other areas of the photo. This is the result of a high ISO—a greater sensitivity to light. High ISOs are particularly useful for picking up more detail in a dark photograph without reducing the shutter speed or widening the aperture more than you want to, but it comes at a cost. In addition to lights being overly and unrealistically bright in your photos, high ISO settings are the biggest contributors to photographic noise. High-end cameras will pick up less noise at higher ISOs than low-end cameras, but the rule is always the same: the higher you increase your ISO, the more noise you get.
Most cameras will set the ISO automatically, even in manual mode. Generally you can stick with the same ISO setting if your lighting situation doesn't change, so it's good to get used to setting it yourself. That said, sometimes lighting changes enough in dark, indoor settings that letting the camera set it for you automatically can be helpful—even when shooting manually.
Combining the Settings
In manual mode you set everything yourself (except ISO, if you set it to automatic), so you have to think about all three of these settings before you take a photograph. The best thing you can do make this easier on yourself and hasten the decision is to give priority to one of the settings by deciding what's most important. Do you want to ensure a shallow depth of field? If so, your priority is your aperture. Do you want the most accurate representation of light? Make ISO your priority. Do you want to prevent as much motion blur as possible? Concentrate on shutter speed first. Once you know your priority, all you need to do is set the other settings to whatever is necessary to expose the right amount of light to the photograph.In manual mode your camera should let you know if you're over- or under-exposed by providing a little meter at the bottom (pictured to the left). The left is underexposed and the right is overexposed. Your goal is to get the pointer in the middle. Once you do that, snap your photo, and it should look just how you want it.
We're all done learning about how your camera works in all its modes. Tomorrow we're going to explore composition and technique. As always, if you're behind on our lessons, you can find everything you've missed and a PDF of all the lessons in the Basics of Photography Complete Guide.
Source : lifehacker.com
Your Camera’s Automatic and Assisted Settings
Now that you've got a pretty good idea of how the different parts of your camera work,
we're going to take a look at its various settings. In this lesson
we'll cover the basics, and in the following lesson we'll take a look at
manual mode.
Here's a look at what we'll be covering today:
Automatic takes care of everything for you. There's not much to explain here.
Program automatic
sets your aperture and shutter speed automatically, but gives you
control over other settings like ISO (the rating that affects how
sensitive your camera's sensor is to light—similar to film speed in film
cameras).
Scene modes
generally have icons to represent their purpose, such as a mountain for
landscapes or a fast-moving person for sports. Scene modes can be
useful if you want the camera to assist you in photographing the types
of photos each mode is designed for, but hopefully after you're done
with these lessons you won't need or want to use them anymore.
Shutter priority
allows you to set the shutter speed and ISO but allows the camera to
set the aperture automatically. This mode is useful if the shutter speed
is the most important consideration when taking a photo. This is often
the case when you want to make sure you take a photo fast enough to
capture motion but do not care about the aperture. This is useful for
photography sports, dance, or anything with a lot of movement.
Aperture priority
allows you to set the aperture and ISO but lets the camera set the
shutter speed automatically. This is useful when the aperture is the
most important consideration in your photograph. The aperture can have
some of the greatest visual impact on your photographs because it is one
of the largest contributing factors to depth of field. A wide aperture
(represented by a low f-stop like f/1.8) will produce a photo where your
subject is in sharp focus but the background is very much out of focus.
This is useful for portraits, or focusing on a single object in an
otherwise busy frame. A narrow aperture (represented by a higher f-stop,
like f/8) will produce a photo where most everything appears to be in
focus. This is useful for landscapes, or any other situation where
keeping everything in focus is desirable. Wider apertures also let in
more light, so they're useful when you don't have much and want to avoid
using a flash. Aperture priority is one of the best shooting modes your
camera has because you can still control your ISO settings (light
sensitivity) and the shutter speed is often something that's best left
for the camera to decide unless you have a reason to choose it yourself.
Don't worry if you don't fully understand this yet. We'll be discussing
aperture, shutter speed, and ISO in much more detail in the next
lesson.
Manual
mode lets you set everything, and we'll be discussing this mode in
detail in the next lesson. It's worth noting, however, that this mode
does not imply manual focus with DSLR cameras. Switching between manual
and automatic focus is generally a dedicate hardware toggle switch on
your lens and not on the camera. If you want to focus manually on a
DSLR, you can use any shooting mode you want if the switch is set to
manual on the lens.
Automatic flash
will only fire the flash when needed, which the camera determines by
reading the available light on the subject. This generally happens when
there isn't enough light anywhere in the frame or if the subject is
backlit and appears dark to the camera as a result.
Automatic flash with red eye reduction
works the same as the regular automatic flash mode but attempts to
reduce the red eye effect that flashes often produce. If you're going to
use an automatic flash mode, you might as well use this one.
Forced/Fill-in flash
means the flash fires with every exposure regardless of whether or not
the camera believes it's necessary. This is the mode you choose when you
know you're always going to need the flash, or just think it's funny to
cause temporary blindness to a bunch of people in rapid succession.
Slow shutter flash (with red-eye reduction)
is what you want to use in a very low light situation, as the shutter
speed will be reduced and the flash needs to offer a repeated bursts of
light to compensate. If you're using an automatic mode, the camera will
determine when this is necessary and do it automatically. If you know
you're going to need a slow shutter flash, however, you can force it
with this mode.
No flash is pretty obvious. It turns the flash off so it won't be used under any circumstances.
Fancier flashes will have additional modes and settings on the flash units themselves, so if you have a nice external flash be sure to experiment with everything it can do.
Not
all cameras have image enhancement settings, but it's become more
common in DSLRs and nicer compact cameras in recent years. The ones you
want to want to pay the most attention to are lighting correction and
noise reduction. Lighting (and tone) correction, which is referred to as
D-lighting on Nikon cameras and Auto Lighting Optimizer and Highlight
Tone Priority (the modes are split into two) on Canon, will try to
retain more detail from under- and over-exposed parts of your
photographs while improving color as well. Noise reduction does what
you'd expect—it reduces noise. It also reduces detail. Lighting
correction tends to increase noise. Basically, these modes are nice but
they have their drawbacks. Often times you can set how aggressively they
alter your photos. Low settings are recommended.
We're dealing with photography, so we're not going to talk much about video mode. It's also handled very differently by different cameras as there isn't currently much of a standard. Additionally, video mode varies significantly between the different types of cameras. Point-and-shoots can often automatically focus very quickly in video mode and act a lot like a dedicated video camera. Compact mirror-less cameras with interchangeable lenses tend to provide a higher quality video but automatically focus a bit slower and are not terribly easy to focus manually. DSLR cameras generally produce the highest quality video, automatically focus extremely poorly (if they do at all), but provide excellent control over manual focus. If you're recording video with a DSLR, you'll want to become comfortable with manually focusing your lenses.
When you record video on any camera, it's generally saved in the same folder as your photos on your flash card, but some cameras have a dedicated folder for video. If the file was saved as an AVI, MOV, or MP4, you should be able to just copy it off your camera and play it back. All of these formats also work fine for uploading to video sharing sites like YouTube or Vimeo. Other formats may be video streams which generally require conversion to be useful, so consult your camera's manual if you don't recognize the file type.
If you'd like to learn more about video, be sure to check out our guide on recording great video with your DSLR.
That's all for this lesson, but next time we'll be diving into your camera's manual settings and learning how they affect its operation and the resulting photos. As always, if you're behind on our lessons, you can find everything you've missed and a PDF of all the lessons in the Basics of Photography Complete Guide.
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Here's a look at what we'll be covering today:
- Shooting modes, or the different ways your camera can assist you in taking a photograph.
- Flash modes and when to use them.
- What different image enhancement settings do and what they're good for.
- Shooting assistance functions, like auto focus.
- A brief look at video mode.
Shooting Modes
Most cameras come with a few different types of shooting modes, from full automatic to full manual. We're going to take a look at the most common and discuss when you should use them. You may not be familiar with terms like shutter speed, aperture, and ISO but don't worry—we'll be going over those in detail in the next lesson.Automatic takes care of everything for you. There's not much to explain here.Program automatic
sets your aperture and shutter speed automatically, but gives you
control over other settings like ISO (the rating that affects how
sensitive your camera's sensor is to light—similar to film speed in film
cameras).Scene modes
generally have icons to represent their purpose, such as a mountain for
landscapes or a fast-moving person for sports. Scene modes can be
useful if you want the camera to assist you in photographing the types
of photos each mode is designed for, but hopefully after you're done
with these lessons you won't need or want to use them anymore.Shutter priority
allows you to set the shutter speed and ISO but allows the camera to
set the aperture automatically. This mode is useful if the shutter speed
is the most important consideration when taking a photo. This is often
the case when you want to make sure you take a photo fast enough to
capture motion but do not care about the aperture. This is useful for
photography sports, dance, or anything with a lot of movement.Aperture priority
allows you to set the aperture and ISO but lets the camera set the
shutter speed automatically. This is useful when the aperture is the
most important consideration in your photograph. The aperture can have
some of the greatest visual impact on your photographs because it is one
of the largest contributing factors to depth of field. A wide aperture
(represented by a low f-stop like f/1.8) will produce a photo where your
subject is in sharp focus but the background is very much out of focus.
This is useful for portraits, or focusing on a single object in an
otherwise busy frame. A narrow aperture (represented by a higher f-stop,
like f/8) will produce a photo where most everything appears to be in
focus. This is useful for landscapes, or any other situation where
keeping everything in focus is desirable. Wider apertures also let in
more light, so they're useful when you don't have much and want to avoid
using a flash. Aperture priority is one of the best shooting modes your
camera has because you can still control your ISO settings (light
sensitivity) and the shutter speed is often something that's best left
for the camera to decide unless you have a reason to choose it yourself.
Don't worry if you don't fully understand this yet. We'll be discussing
aperture, shutter speed, and ISO in much more detail in the next
lesson.Manual
mode lets you set everything, and we'll be discussing this mode in
detail in the next lesson. It's worth noting, however, that this mode
does not imply manual focus with DSLR cameras. Switching between manual
and automatic focus is generally a dedicate hardware toggle switch on
your lens and not on the camera. If you want to focus manually on a
DSLR, you can use any shooting mode you want if the switch is set to
manual on the lens.Flash Modes
Your camera has a couple of different flash modes, and most of them you'll never need. Here's what they're called and what they do.Automatic flash
will only fire the flash when needed, which the camera determines by
reading the available light on the subject. This generally happens when
there isn't enough light anywhere in the frame or if the subject is
backlit and appears dark to the camera as a result.Automatic flash with red eye reduction
works the same as the regular automatic flash mode but attempts to
reduce the red eye effect that flashes often produce. If you're going to
use an automatic flash mode, you might as well use this one.Forced/Fill-in flash
means the flash fires with every exposure regardless of whether or not
the camera believes it's necessary. This is the mode you choose when you
know you're always going to need the flash, or just think it's funny to
cause temporary blindness to a bunch of people in rapid succession.Slow shutter flash (with red-eye reduction)
is what you want to use in a very low light situation, as the shutter
speed will be reduced and the flash needs to offer a repeated bursts of
light to compensate. If you're using an automatic mode, the camera will
determine when this is necessary and do it automatically. If you know
you're going to need a slow shutter flash, however, you can force it
with this mode.No flash is pretty obvious. It turns the flash off so it won't be used under any circumstances.Fancier flashes will have additional modes and settings on the flash units themselves, so if you have a nice external flash be sure to experiment with everything it can do.
Image Enhancement Settings
Not
all cameras have image enhancement settings, but it's become more
common in DSLRs and nicer compact cameras in recent years. The ones you
want to want to pay the most attention to are lighting correction and
noise reduction. Lighting (and tone) correction, which is referred to as
D-lighting on Nikon cameras and Auto Lighting Optimizer and Highlight
Tone Priority (the modes are split into two) on Canon, will try to
retain more detail from under- and over-exposed parts of your
photographs while improving color as well. Noise reduction does what
you'd expect—it reduces noise. It also reduces detail. Lighting
correction tends to increase noise. Basically, these modes are nice but
they have their drawbacks. Often times you can set how aggressively they
alter your photos. Low settings are recommended.Video Mode
We're dealing with photography, so we're not going to talk much about video mode. It's also handled very differently by different cameras as there isn't currently much of a standard. Additionally, video mode varies significantly between the different types of cameras. Point-and-shoots can often automatically focus very quickly in video mode and act a lot like a dedicated video camera. Compact mirror-less cameras with interchangeable lenses tend to provide a higher quality video but automatically focus a bit slower and are not terribly easy to focus manually. DSLR cameras generally produce the highest quality video, automatically focus extremely poorly (if they do at all), but provide excellent control over manual focus. If you're recording video with a DSLR, you'll want to become comfortable with manually focusing your lenses.
When you record video on any camera, it's generally saved in the same folder as your photos on your flash card, but some cameras have a dedicated folder for video. If the file was saved as an AVI, MOV, or MP4, you should be able to just copy it off your camera and play it back. All of these formats also work fine for uploading to video sharing sites like YouTube or Vimeo. Other formats may be video streams which generally require conversion to be useful, so consult your camera's manual if you don't recognize the file type.
If you'd like to learn more about video, be sure to check out our guide on recording great video with your DSLR.
That's all for this lesson, but next time we'll be diving into your camera's manual settings and learning how they affect its operation and the resulting photos. As always, if you're behind on our lessons, you can find everything you've missed and a PDF of all the lessons in the Basics of Photography Complete Guide.
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