Get to grips with the fundamentals of photography in half a day with our guide

GET GREAT SHOTS Capturing stunning images such as this sunset behind Ribblehead Viaduct requires good knowledge of how your camera works. We’re going to cover all the basics you need.

One of the best things about photography is that it’s so easy to take up, yet it offers untold depth to those who choose to seek it out. Anybody can take a picture, and almost everyone you know has a camera in their pocket. But all it takes to separate the real enthusiast from the occasional taker of snapshots is a little extra knowledge.

This crash course focuses on the fundamentals of photography, and will benefit anyone who has just received a new camera and wants to get the most out if it. So go ahead and dive in!

YOUR CRASH COURSE CONTENTS

PART 1

CAMERA ANATOMY 

Your guided tour to what all those buttons actually do... 

PAGE 62

PART 2 

UNDERSTANDING EXPOSURE

The three factors that decide how a photo looks 

PAGE 64

PART 3

USING COMPOSITION 

Arrange visual elements into a pleasing scene 

PAGE 67

PART 4 

FOCAL

LENGTHS

How different lenses change what your shot looks like 

PAGE 68

PART 5 

ANGLE OF VIEW 

How your camera’s image sensor size affects your photos 

PAGE 69

PART 6

ESSENTIAL PHOTO GEAR 

Don’t go shooting without these key items 

PAGE 70

PART 1 

CAMERA ANATOMY

Here’s what the various buttons and dials on modern cameras actually do…

DSLR OR MIRRORLESS?

Read on as we guide you through the differences between the two types of consumer camera

FRONT VIEWS

1 SHUTTER BUTTON

The shutter button triggers the camera’s shutter, which exposes the sensor to light that enters through the lens. A half-press of the shutter triggers the autofocus and locks the metering.

2 POP-UP FLASH

The camera works out the strength needed for the flash by metering the subject. You can also dial in more or less power with flash compensation. A lower power is often useful outside: it creates a fill light that subtly lifts shadows.

3 ZOOM RING

Zoom lenses have a barrel ring that lets you adjust the angle of view. Rest the underside of the zoom ring in the palm of your hand with the fingers on the right and thumb on the left for an easily adjustable grip.

4 EXPOSURE COMPENSATION

The Exposure Compensation button is a sort of manual override for automatic exposure. Dark backdrops may lead to overexposure and light backdrops often mean an underexposed subject, so you use this control to dial in more or less light to compensate.

5 FOCUS RING

Either choose manual focus and use the focus ring on the lens, or set autofocus instead. There are two main autofocus settings. With Single-Servo AF, the focus stops after locking on to the subject – this is useful for focusing then recomposing. With Continuous-Servo AF, the focus engages continuously – this is useful for tracking a moving subject.

6 LENS

The greatest strength of a DSLR or mirrorless camera is its interchangeablelens design. Lenses come in all kinds of shapes and sizes, from wide-angle to telephoto, but they all have two primary functions: they provide an angle of view of the scene in front of you, and control the amount of light that enters the camera through an adjustable aperture.