DSLR News

How often have you captured what you thought was a great photo, only to view it on the computer and discover it’s not sharp? If you’re like the rest of us, the answer is “more than one or twice.”

Amidst the ongoing race for the latest and greatest gear, some photographers minimize the important role they play when it comes to capturing great images. Hence the adage, “It’s the photographer, not the camera, that makes a photo.”

Camera sensor sizes can be confusing for the uninitiated because of the various options available. Pros and enthusiasts typically use cameras with either full-frame, APS-C, or 4/3 sensors. But there are a number of smaller options too, usually found in compact cameras, super-zoom models, and even our phones.

Many photographers rely on their camera’s sophisticated metering system to provide the “correct” exposure for the scene at hand. While this approach works well under a wide variety of lighting conditions, there are times when even the smartest camera can be fooled.

Many photographers are confused by the fact that some modern cameras have two shutters; a conventional mechanical one and another that’s electronic. The explainer below from the Montana-based Rocky Mountain School of Photography (RMSP) demystifies the difference.

Just because you have a camera with a fast and accurate autofocus system, and a bag of lenses to match, that doesn’t mean you should simply depress the shutter button half-way and wait for the green LED to light up. As you’ll see in this tutorial, there’s a lot more to sharp photos than that.

One of the first challenges faced by inexperienced photographers is arriving at a correct exposure, and this can be particularly difficult when shooting outdoor scenes full  of bright highlights and deep shadows. This tutorial explains how to take advantage of a simple camera setting that enables you to control the brightness of an image by instantly increasing or decreasing exposure.