If you are more of a visual person, I go over some of these tips in some video tutorials I made that can be found at www.youtube.com/calliebealephotograp.

I hope that everyone is having a great start to the year! One of my big goals for 2013 is to really focus on helping people who are new to photography. So many people have “nice” cameras but use them on Auto mode! I get it, though- it can be intimidating! There are so many random buttons and dials and it can be really confusing. There is so much more that you can do with your equipment after you learn a few basics. I will be providing some information that I have learned for both those who have just picked up a camera for the first time as well as some of my peers who have been into it for a little while. I don’t claim to have all of the answers or know the “right” way to do everything. In fact, I have never taken a single class on photography or editing. I learned because I loved it and I wanted to be good at it, so I learned by trial and error- and most importantly with the help of others who were kind enough to offer me an opinion or critique along the way. I feel so thankful for those who helped me, so that is one reason why I am so excited to pass that along to you guys. In this post I am going to highlight a few pieces of advice that I always tell people who just got cameras when they ask me the question “what next?” These tips are for those of you who have a Digital SLR Camera (DSLR). This is a camera that has a lens that is interchangeable.

1) Make an effort to sit with your camera (preferably when you have a decent amount of light) and play with it. You can’t break it by changing settings around. If you seem to have done something and you can’t figure out what you have changed, feel free to contact me and I will be happy to help. There’s also a setting in your menu to reset camera back to factory settings. Bust out that instruction manual and figure out which buttons do what. Most importantly- what button changes your ISO, SHUTTER SPEED, & APERTURE. So yeah- pick one thing, shoot it…. change the aperture to the next number, shoot it- see the difference, etc etc.

I also recommend that at this time you make sure that your camera is shooting on a Single Point focus. The options in the menu will mention that your choices are auto area AF, Dynamic, & Single Point. You want single point! What this means is that YOU will be the one to determine what your camera focuses on. You move this one point around by looking through your camera, pressing the shutter (button to take the photo) half way, and you will see one dot light up. Whatever this dot is on will be in focus when you take the shot. You can move this around by moving it with the keypad or dial on your camera- yours will be unique depending on the camera. You don’t have to spend thousands on a great camera. I started off (and shot some of my favorite weddings) on a Nikon D80. You can probably grab one of these gently used online for 200-400 bucks! I am only familiar with Nikons- but search for D40s-D90s. You can’t buy them new anymore because as soon as Nikon creates the “latest and greatest” camera they stop producing the ones that worked fine before! If you can help it, get a camera that has a “full frame sensor.” They can be more expensive, but if you want to spend a little more to get equipment that is most compatible with the most lenses, this will be the best option.

When I am taking a picture with ample light, my settings are usually as follows: ISO 200-600 depending on how dark or bright the room is. 400 is a good one to start with. I am in single point auto focus. I shoot on matrix metering (will explain later). Make sure your exposure compensation is at 0. I shoot in fine jpg. I use a custom white balance, but for now just keep it in auto WB. My shutter speed and aperture (f/#) varies depending on the environment. And on the side of your camera by the lens you will see a switch that says “C,S,M” This setting helps your auto focusing decide how to operate. I keep mine on C. C stands for continuous… so if the subject is moving it will continue to follow my subject. S freezes the focus even if the subject is moving. So, if it was on S and your subject started walking it would be out of focus. This can come in handy later. M stands for Manual- turn the switch to this if you are manually focusing your lens and be sure to switch your lens over to manual as well if there is a button for that.

As we start out, I want to teach you to get OFF OF AUTO MODE and we will begin on Aperture Priority mode. This will be an “A” or “Av” on your dial. As you switch over from Auto, feel an instant sense of accomplishment 🙂 After we get the hang of that I will get you shooting in Manual mode! It’s much easier than you think! In Aperture Priority Mode, you tell the camera what f/# you want. That is, how big is the opening that lets in the light when you press the shutter button. The camera decides the shutter speed based on what Aperture you selected. A bit about Aperture- it is the number that says F/# when you look at your camera. The lower the number on your camera, the more light it is letting in. When you have a lot of light coming into the camera the shutter speed can be really quick- this is key! What lens you have determines how low that number can go. This is why I always recommend right off the bat to get you a 50mm prime lens. Prime, or “fixed” lenses don’t zoom. They are built to create those photos that you love where one subject is in focus and the rest is blurred out in the background and it looks really dreamy. After all, that’s the idea when it comes to photography, right? To highlight one thing that sets it apart from the surrounding environment. Lenses that come with your camera usually only go down to about 3.5. This works great- but if you really want to see a drastic difference in your photography you want to be able to get down to a f/1.8. There are tons of great zoom lenses that have to same effect- but the better ones can be pretty pricey. And you can grab a 50mm lens off of amazon, craigslist, ebay for a super price.

2) GET A 50MM LENS!

3) Join Flickr. This is how I really first displayed my photos. I think it’s worth it to buy the $20 pro membership for a year. Join groups that you are interested in- photomanipulation, a group for your specific camera, view groups with photos taken with your lens or the lens you want to buy to see what everyone else is doing with theirs. Join “Prime of your life” group- it’s a group for photos taken with prime lenses… what I was talking about ^up there. Add your photos to groups for people to see your work! There are critique groups…. Facebook is mostly to share your work with others in your network. With Flickr you are completely anonymous. You don’t have to worry how others will perceive your stuff as you are figuring it out. It is here that you can get inspiration as well as ask questions like “how the heck did you do that!?” Let your freak flag fly- get creative! There is no pressure to conform and learning photography is so much more fun when you are getting down to the soul of what matters most to you.

4) Network. So many of my best friends that are photographers started with awkward facebook messages. “Uhhh so HI I think your photos are so awesome and I would love to get together some time and shoot, ask you questions if that’s okay!” I have a Facebook group for photographers in Georgia to connect with one another. It’s called “The Connection.” Feel free to hop in there! https://www.facebook.com/calliebeale?sk=approve&highlight=114721185371435&queue_type=friends&log_filter=review&ref=notif&notif_t=mention#!/groups/178165008965894/. Photographers never have photos of themselves! It’s so fun to get together with another photog to practice on one another. The photo I have uploaded below was taken by one of my new friends that is a fantastic photographer that lives in my apartment complex!

5) Back up your photos! A really great and cheap solution is through a web company called “Backblaze.” I pay $3.00 per month and my computer is continually backing up my files. If, heaven forbid, my house were to catch on fire my files would be safe and secure! Backing them up on external hard drives and through Dropbox is a great solution as well.

6) Organize! I keep all of my files organized by month.

7) Keep your equipment safe and secure. Use a camera strap. Make others who use your camera wear the strap. Use lens protection filters. Don’t set your camera on a table where there is something that can be spilled. Don’t leave it in your car. When changing your lens, make sure the body is facing down so it is not so easy for debris and dust to get inside your camera. Don’t touch the lens! Your fingertips have oils that can disrupt the clear film on the lens surface. Keep caps on your camera and lens when they’re not in use! Keep your spare batteries charged and your memory cards in a case.

8) If you can spare $150, get Lightroom! This is what I use to edit my photos. I only use Photoshop if there is a major change that needs to be implemented in the photo. Photoshop CS2 is available now to the public for free, though if you want to download that!

9) Always consider how you can change your positioning to make a photograph more visually appealing. Take flowers, for example. When someone looks at a flower, it’s usually looking down. Flowers are always viewed like this. Instead, how about you get down on it’s level and shooting up towards the sky? Get those feet moving! Challenge yourself to start thinking out of the box!

10) Don’t be afraid to ask questions! Sure, some photographers feel as if they have to hoard information to be successful. That is not true for so many great photographers, so try again! I am always open to any and all questions. My e-mail address is callie.beale@gmail.com if you prefer that manner of communication!