You know that Mode dial atop your camera that's always staring you in the face? The first thing you should understand is that the various options available don’t fall into the set-it-and-forget category of configuring a camera.
Let's say you've tried all the conventional advice for capturing sharp photos, and some of your images are still soft. You use a tripod, choose the right aperture, shutter speed, and focus area, yet nothing seems to work.
If you're unsure sure how to use a camera's White Balance settings to modify the look of an image, the quick tutorial below is just what you need to eliminate the confusion. You'll also receive a clear answer to this common question: "WTF are Kelvins?"
Our craft is resplendent with so-called "rules" or "laws" of photography that you've no doubt heard repeated time and time again. Many of these pertain composition, like the Rule of Thirds, Leading Lines, the Golden Ratio, and others that sometimes are useful and in certain situations are meant to be ignored.
If you've made the switch to mirrorless cameras as have many photographers, you've no doubt noticed that battery life isn't nearly as good as what we enjoyed with our DSLRs. In the quick explainer below, you'll learn several things you can do to make batteries last as long as possible before reaching for a spare.
Conventional wisdom has it that we should always shoot at the lowest ISO setting permitted by the situation at hand. But as you can see from the quote in the lead photo above, some pros beg to disagree. In the interesting tutorial below, you'll learn three reasons why increasing ISO settings can actually help you capture better images.
Yesterday we featured a primer on exposure bracketing, explaining how to get the light right by shooting three images of the same scene, and merging them during the editing process. Today you'll learn how nail exposure in the camera by using the oft-ignored histogram that you can set to appear on the rear LCD.
One of the easiest ways to get the best results from a camera is to configure it properly for your type of photography. In the video below you'll learn what one pro says are the "seven camera settings you should always change."
Pentax has been making diligent efforts to keep DSLRs alive, but there's no doubt that the rest of the photo industry has shifted to mirrorless cameras—likely for good. So, with this dramatic shift in technology, why are we posting the comparison below?
Some photographers prefer using a camera's Live View mode to frame images on the rear LCD, instead of doing so through the viewfinder. It's fine if that's your reference, unless you experience the problem described in the video below. We'll give you a hint: It has to do with your vision.
Image noise can really ruin an otherwise nice photo with ugly artifacts that appear as random speckles of grain and unsightly variations in the brightness and colors of your shot. It's a rather common occurrence, shrouded in a common misconception, that's demystified in the tutorial below.
Like all equipment with moving parts, every camera has a finite life cycle, and one disastrous failing is when a shutter craps out. That's why it's important to know how to check the number of images captured with your camera, or another one you want to buy used.
If you've been following Shutterbug you know how we feel about the so-called Rules of Photography; namely, sometimes they're meant to be broken. Likewise, there are several digital photography myths that need to be ignored.
There are a multitude of reasons why what you observe in the field may appear vastly different than the image you capture unless you make adjustments while shooting or do so later during the editing process. The quick video below from the Hoffman Photography YouTube channel explores an "enlightening" oft-ignored fact.
The quick tutorial below from the Adorama TV YouTube channel is all about the basics of using ISO when selecting your camera settings, and when choosing the sensitivity setting should be the first thing you do. Then, depending upon light levels and the scene at hand, you can modify shutter speed and f/stop if need be.