ChApter 1. digitAl CAmerAs & imAges
20 For more on textbooks in digitAl photogrAphy, visit http://www.photoCourse.Com
When taking a picture
don’t jab the shutter
button! Press it gently
halfway down and
pause there until the
camera locks focus and
exposure. Only then do
you press it gently the
rest of the way down to
take the picture.
- Autofocus. Compose the image in the viewfinder so the subject that you
want sharpest is covered by one of the focus areas in viewfinder or on the
monitor. Some cameras have more than one focus area and will focus on the
closest part of the scene covered by one of them. Other cameras have one
focus area but let you move it to cover any part of the scene. These options
make it easy to focus on a subject that isn’t centered in the viewfinder. - Autoexposure. An exposure system measures light reflecting from vari-
ous parts of the scene and uses these readings to calculate and set the best
possible exposure. This happens at the same time focus is locked—when you
press the shutter button halfway down. - Autoflash. If the light is too dim, the autoexposure system will usually fire
the camera’s built-in flash to illuminate the scene. If the flash is going to fire,
it pops up or a flash lamp glows when you press the shutter button halfway
down. If the flash lamp blinks instead, the flash is charging. Release the shut-
ter button for a few seconds and try again. - Automatic white balance. Because the color cast in a photograph is
affected by the color of the light illuminating the scene, the camera automati-
cally adjusts white balance to make white objects in the scene look white in
the photo. - Taking the picture. The shutter button has two stages. When you press it
halfway down, the camera locks focus and exposure and the camera beeps or
an indicator lights up. (If the indicator blinks, it means the camera is having
trouble focusing.) At this point, press the shutter button all the way down
to take the picture. Captured photos are first stored in the camera’s buffer.
When the buffer is full you’ll have to wait until one or more of the images has
been transferred to the memory card before taking any more pictures. - Image review. Many cameras briefly display the image immediately after
it’s captured. This lets you decide if it’s good enough or needs to be reshot. - Increase your odds of getting a better photo by taking as many
shots of a given scene as you can think of; changing positions, distances, and
angles. You may be surprised later at what works and what doesn’t. - Quit. When finished taking pictures, turn the camera off to conserve bat-
tery power. If an image is being stored when you turn the camera off, the
image will be completely stored before the camera powers down.