Digital Photography Tips - Capture That Special Photo - Understanding Your Camera's Settings
By Dave Hunt

The one That Got Away makes a great fishing story, but if you're talking about the one-time special photo that got away, it can really be a very sad story. Even if you understand all the choices of settings on your camera, here's another point that is often overlooked. Most of us don't go around carrying our digital camera's manual with us, but almost all digital cameras can be a little less than intuitive when it comes to changing settings. Often the difference between catching that once in a lifetime shot and missing it is knowing how to make quick changes to the settings on your digital camera. Here's some tips to help.

1. Learn to read your digital camera's settings - First you must be able to call up your camera's settings before you can think about whether you need to change them. If you don't know how to quickly check the current settings on your camera, you can be in for an unpleasant surprise. I remember taking some great photos of Christmas light by using a trip and an ISO setting of 800. The next day I was shooting outdoors at a Christmas fair. It was only after I got home and saw the grainy photos that I realized I had not changed the ISO settings back to a lower speed.

2. Learn how to reset your digital camera to its default settings - All digital cameras have a default settings. This is how they come out of the box. The default settings are what the camera's manufacturer thinks is the best compromise for most photographic situations. Be sure you know how to restore the default settings. This way you can quickly undo any "creative" settings you've done without having to do them one at a time.

3. Change the ISO setting to match the situation - ISO determines how sensitive your digital camera is to light. You want as little electronic noise (graininess) in your digital photos as possible, so use a low ISO number such as ISO 50 or 100 when there is plenty of light. Only use a higher ISO setting like ISO 400 when you are in a low light situation. On most digital cameras, the ISO setting is easily displayed in the LCD or in the viewfinder. Then, as lighting situations change, be sure you know how to change the ISO settings as appropriate.

4. Turn flash on and off - The default settings on most digital cameras is automatic flash. This means the camera will flash whenever the camera decides there's not enough light for a good photo without additional light from a flash. This is good in most situations, even in the daylight, if you are taking a photograph in shadows. However, there are many situations when a flash could be a problem. If you are at an aquarium or at zoo where an animal is behind glass, if the flash goes off, the light will bounce back and ruin the photo. Be sure you know how to turn off the automatic flash in situations like these.

5. Turn off automatic focus when needed - If you're shooting through glass, the automatic focus on your digital camera will focus on the glass and not on the lion 20 feet behind the glass. In situations like this, learn how to quickly turn off the automatic and focus your photo manually.