Basics on Using DSLR

Camera
 Steps for Learning How to use your DSLR

• Mastering Shooting modes (including priority modes and full

manual)
• Understanding ISO
• Learning the ‘exposure triangle’
• Mastering Metering including exposure compensation
• Learning Focusing
• Understanding file size/types
• Grasping White balance
1. Shooting
Modes
Aperture Priority (Av or A)
An aperture of f/13 was used here to
give a large depth of field, ensuring
that the whole image, from the
foreground grasses to the
background mountains. was sharp
A large aperture of f/4.5 was
used to capture this water
vole, against a soft, out of
focus background
 Shutter Priority (TV or S)

A very fast shutter

speed of 1/4000th sec
was used to freeze the
motion of this grouse in
flight
To capture the motion of the waves, and render the water with a soft, milky texture, a shutter
speed of 6 seconds was used here
 Program (P)
Program mode is almost a halfway house between the semi
automatic modes of aperture/shutter priority and full manual
control. In program mode, you are able to set either the
aperture or shutter speed, and the camera will maintain the
correct exposure by adjusting the other one accordingly, i.e.
as you change the aperture, the shutter speed will
automatically change, and vice versa. This gives you
additional freedom that using either aperture priority or
shutter priority cannot give without switching between
shooting modes.
 Manual (M)

Manual mode is exactly what it sounds like, you are

given full control over the exposure determination,
setting both the aperture and shutter speed
yourself. There will be an exposure indicator either
within the viewfinder or on the screen that will tell
you how under/over exposed the image will be,
however, you are left to change the shutter speed
and aperture yourself to ensure you achieve the
correct exposure.
 2. ISO

• ISO is a measure of how sensitive the sensor of your

camera is to light. The term originated in film
photography, where film of different sensitivities could
be used depending on the shooting conditions, and it is
no different in digital photography. The ISO sensitivity is
represented numerically from ISO 100 (low sensitivity)
up to ISO 6400 (high sensitivity) and beyond, and
controls the amount of light required by the sensor to
achieve a given exposure
 Low ISO Numbers

Taken at ISO 100,

the image does not
show signs of noise
(even when looking
at the 100% crop
(right)
High ISO Numbers

This image was taken

as the sun was going
down, meaning there
was not much
ambient light.
Therefore, this was
shot with ISO4000,
however you can see
very obvious noise in
the 100% crop (right)
 3. Completion of the Exposure Triangle
• It’s important to note that aperture, shutter speed and ISO are all part of the ‘exposure
triangle’. They all control either the amount of light entering the camera (aperture,
shutter speed) or the amount of light required by the camera (ISO) for a given exposure.
• Therefore, they are all linked, and understanding the relationship between them is
crucial to being able to take control of your camera. A change in one of the settings will
impact the other two. For example, considering a theoretical exposure of ISO400, f/8.0,
1/10th second. If you wanted to reduce the depth of field, and decided to use an
aperture of f/4.0, you would be increasing the size of the aperture by two whole f/stops,
therefore increasing the amount of light entering the camera by a factor of 4 (i.e.
increasing by a factor of 2, twice). Therefore, to balance the exposure, you could do the
following:
• Situation 1: Reduce the shutter speed by a factor of 4, i.e. to 1/40th second.
• Situation 2: Reduce the ISO by a factor of 4, i.e. to ISO100
• Situation 3: A combination of the above, shutter speed by a factor of 2 (to 1/20th
second) AND reduce the ISO by a factor of 2 (to ISO200).
Aperture, shutter speed and ISO
are all factors that influence
your exposure, and are all
linked. It’s just a case of
balancing the books!
 4. Metering
• Average – The camera will assess the tones across the entire image form
corner to corner, and expose the scene to 18% grey from that assessment.
• Centre-weighted – The camera weights the exposure reading for the area in
the center of the viewfinder that can total up to approximately 80% of the
scene, ignoring the extreme corners of the image.
• Spot metering – The camera will use a very small area of the scene,
typically a small circle in the center of the viewfinder that totals
approximately 5% of the viewfinder area. It will make the assessment of
dark/light tones in this area and expose the entire scene to 18% grey, from
that assessment.
A spring lamb leaping in front of a snowy hillside. Left: Straight out of camera, with the snow caught as grey. Right: With +2
stops exposure compensation (added in post processing). The bright snowy background caused my camera to underexpose this
scene by nearly two stops, which could have been corrected by exposure compensation in camera.
 5. Focusing
• Autofocus modes
DSLRs come with a range of autofocus modes, however, for simplicity, the
two that are most important to understand are AF-S and AF-C
• AF-S – autofocus-single. This is best used when taking photos of stationary
subjects such as portraits of people, landscapes, buildings etc. When you
half-press the shutter, the focus will be acquired and locked on that point for
as long as you hold the button down. If you want to change to focus, you
need to release the button, recompose and then re-half-press.
• AF-C – autofocus-continuous. This is best used when taking photos of
action or moving subjects such as sports and wildlife. When you half-press
the shutter, focus will be acquired and locked on to a given subject. When
that subject moves, the focus will adjust with it, refocusing all of the time
until the photograph is taken.
• Focus Points
Both of those focus modes rely on what are known as focus
points. When you look through the viewfinder, you should see a number
of squares/dots overlaid across the screen. When you half-press the
shutter, you should see one of these squares be highlighted in red. That
is the active focus point, and it is that position within the frame that the
camera is focusing on. A viewfinder with 9 focus points is shown below:
6. File Size/Types
 7. White Balance

Left: The image

captured using auto
white balance has a
heavy yellow tone from
the artificial street
lighting. Right: the same
image, corrected for a
‘Tungsten’ white
balance, giving the
cooler tones on the
stone work, and the
bluer sky
• Daylight – To be used on clear sunny days. Bright sunlight, on a clear day is
as near to neutral light that we generally get
• Cloudy – To be used when shooting on a cloudy day. Adds warm tones to
daylight images.
• Shade – To be used if shooting in the shade, as shaded areas generally
produce cooler, bluer images, so need warming up.
• Tungsten – Used for shooting indoors, under incandescent light bulbs, or
under street lights, to cool down the yellow tones.
• Fluorescent – Compensates for the green/blue tones of fluorescent light
strips when shooting indoors.
• Flash – the flash will add a cool blue cast to the image, so used to add some
warmth.