Digital Cameras present photographers with an ever increasing array of Automatic and Semi Automatic shooting modes. Most of these center around different ways of exposing your shots – however many cameras also give options for different focusing modes (auto, continuous focusing for moving subjects and manual).

It’s no wonder then that many photographers never make use of their camera and lens’ ability to focus manually. In fact this week I spoke with one DSLR owner recently who hadn’t even noticed the manual/auto focus switch on the side of his lens.


submitted: 5 years and 3148 days ago

The auto exposure lock (AE-L) function on a D-SLR camera lets you physically lock the exposure reading from anywhere in the scene. You can use it on its own or at the point where you focus the image.

All digital SLR cameras have an auto exposure lock button. When you press the AE-L button, the current exposure settings are fixed (locked) so that they can’t change as you recompose the shot – even if the level of light alters as you aim the camera elsewhere.


submitted: 5 years and 3153 days ago

Most scenes that you photograph have an overall brightness of middle gray.
When automatic exposure works well...read about it and learn more for better photographs!


submitted: 5 years and 3689 days ago

Not all scenes average out to middle grey. Let's take a look at some of the most common situations where your automatic exposure system will have problems and you'll need to override the suggested exposure settings.


submitted: 5 years and 3689 days ago

Most digital cameras provide ways to override the automatic exposure system to get the exposure you want. The most common choices are exposure compensation, exposure lock, or autoexposure bracketing.


submitted: 5 years and 3689 days ago

Camera tutorial on the different autofocus function on a Nikon DSLRs. The camera used in the film is a Nikon d300.


submitted: 5 years and 3687 days ago