Bonus - "I just bought a new camera. Now what do I do?"

Ooo. New technology. So much hope. So much shiny.

A few weeks back, we talked about the secrets to buying a brand new camera. Now that you’ve plunked down the cash and put one into your hands, you’re going to need to do a few things to make sure it takes the pretty, pretty pictures. Here’s my list of must-dos straight from the box:

Switch the Factory Settings

·      Autofocus – Centre (not Face Detection)

·      Continuous Autofocus – On

·      Digital Zoom – Off, Off, Off, Off, Off (you can do this in your software program)

·      File Size – Biggest one possible (if your camera supports “RAW,” use that)

·      Volume – Low (Nobody wants to hear the shutter at 100 decibels)

·      Custom Colour Settings – Off (most software will use the straight up image without your colour settings anyway)

·      Language – Finnish (Because I always wanted to learn a new language – I’m kidding)

Tinker with Shooting Settings

Your camera is full of helpful tools to get the shot just right. Here’s what you need to do in situations:

·      White Balance – If you’re outside, it’s Cloudy or Sunny. If you’re inside, match the balance to the type of light you’re using – or use Auto White Balance

·      Flash – Reduce it by 2/3 a stop if you have this setting

·      Gridlines – Always on

·      Histogram  -- On. You might not understand it right now, but it’s very helpful

Prime My Computer

·      Files – Pick one location for all your photo files

·      File Naming – Figure out a naming system

·      Computer – Upgrade if it’s time – processor, RAM and hard drive are musts

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