{Tutorial Tuesday} Your New DSLR Camera

Happy New Year!! 2019 is finally here! I've decided to try spending a little more time on my blog, updating with sessions, sharing some educational things, maybe even throwing in an editing before/after.

Since it's the new year, and maybe a few of you got a new camera for Christmas, I thought a great place to start might be learning about cameras in general.

DSLR cameras (AKA those fancy cameras where you can change the lenses) come in several brands, the most common being Canon and Nikon, Pentax and Sigma. Sony also has a camera with interchangeable lenses, but it is mirrorless, which makes it slightly different. I'm going to stick with talking about DSLR cameras, particularly Canon, because that's what I own, but the Nikon models are very similar.

So Canon makes 22 models of DSLR cameras, and every year or two, they make upgrades to the flagship models in their line. I have a 5D Mark ii, which is not the most current model, but certainly meets my needs. The upgrades in the newest models include wi-fi connectivity, increased sensor capabilities and screen upgrades.

So one of the hardest adjustments for me when I got my first DSLR was learning how to take pictures through the viewfinder. Sounds silly, right?! But truth be told, in the age of cell phone photos and point-and-shoot cameras with viewing screens, it was hard to look through the viewfinder and figure out exactly how my picture was going to turn out. It was an adjustment, for sure! But don't let that deter you from picking up your camera! DSLRs are bigger than a cellphone and not nearly as easy to "shoot and share" but you'll be so happy with the quality of your pictures that you will begin to prefer it over any other camera.

A great place to start when you unbox that awesome camera is to put on your kit lens, set the camera to "auto" and get to snappin'! Sounds easy enough, right?! Today's cameras do a great job of guessing what settings best fit a scene. So put your camera in control, and take some awesome shots.

After you get all those amazing pictures, the next step is to look at what settings your camera chose for you on each picture. There are 3 main settings you should pay attention to- ISO, shutter speed, and aperture. These three setting unlock a world of potential that can make you the master of the photographic universe!

In the coming weeks we'll talk about each setting and what it means, and how we can manipulate it to fit our needs. Soon you'll be ready to flip your camera over to manual mode and be the ultimate master of your settings that will enable you to create photos exactly as you imagine them!

So, this week's assignment- unbox that camera and start taking pictures. Make sure to take a variety of pictures- daylight, dim lighting, inside, outside, pictures with a still subject, pictures with a moving subject. Let your camera make all the choices about how best to photograph a scene. Then download your pictures, look at the settings for each picture, and evaluate if there is something you wish your camera had done differently. Maybe there's motion blur. Maybe there's not enough light, maybe you want the background more blurry, maybe there's something you wish was more in focus. We'll work on correcting all these problems in the next few months!

Thanks for visiting, and come back next Tuesday for another lesson!

#tutorials