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Congratulations!! You are the proud owner of a new DSLR camera! The question is, now what do you do? I am going to walk you through 6 steps to get more comfortable with your new camera.

Step 1: Review the manual

The first thing you must do with your new DSLR camera is review the instruction manual. I am not asking anyone to actually read the manual, but simply review the table of contents to know what information is available. The manufacturer created this manual to teach you everything you will need to know to become a master of your new camera. The first few chapters are usually setup to get you started even if you never used a DSLR camera before. Canon goes the extra step and provides a DVD about the basics and includes additional brochures on flash photography, specifics about your new lenses.

Step 2: Practice changing your lenses

Many cameras come with two zoom lenses: one for your wider shots, and one for your long range pictures. In step 3, I’ll be asking you to take lots of test pictures. You will also need to practice changing your lenses to meet your desired photo result. You’ll need to read the manual to learn how to safely change the lens and then practice this transition so you are smooth with the switch when it matters. You don’t want to be changing lenses for the 1^st time when you are in a hurry to catch that special moment at a sporting event. Please practice, practice, practice!

Step 3: Take 1,000 pictures!

Ok so you don’t have to take a thousand pictures, but you do need to take a lot of unimportant pictures to get comfortable with how the camera works. The beauty of a digital camera is there is no cost to you if you take a “bad” photo, so shoot away! For beginners you should just set the camera on full auto mode, this means letting the camera make all of the technical decisions regarding the various settings on your camera. The point of these early pictures with your new camera is to get comfortable and trust what the camera can do for you. When I am in a really tough shooting situation, and I am not sure what to do, I will “cheat” and set my camera to full auto mode and let the camera do the heavy lifting. Then I can focus on my composition and get the picture I want.

Step 4: Create a habit of importing pictures from your memory card to your computer

I can’t stress enough the importance of creating a habit of getting the pictures off your memory card and stored on to your computer. Memory cards store so many pictures that you can easily get lazy about this step. You will need to read your manual to learn how to import pictures from your camera using a cord that connects to your computer. After you import your pictures to your computer you should use the camera to format the memory card which will delete the pictures off the card and basically reset the card to be used again. Another option is to purchase more than one memory card. Owning multiple memory cards allows me to rotate the cards if I haven’t had time to import the images from the last shoot. I won’t mix days/events/projects on one card.

Step 5: Download a free photo editing software

If you want to wow your friends and family on Facebook with the pictures you take, you are going to need a photo editing software program that makes it easy to edit the thousands of pictures I demanded you shootJ. Every picture I post to my social sites are edited to increase the quality of the picture that I captured with my DSLR camera. I purchased Adobe Lightroom and am super happy with the control this software provides, however when I want to edit a picture with one click of a button, I use Picasa which is a free, and super easy, photo editing application from Google. There are several free options available on the internet (do a web search for: best free photo editing software), find the best one for you and become a fanatic about the quality of your pictures!

Step 6: Time to turn the full auto mode off and take control of your camera!

Full auto mode is like riding a bike with training wheels. You will take good pictures in full auto mode, but you will take AMAZING pictures if you start taking more control. There are a few important ways to control the results of your pictures: ISO setting, Aperture setting (depth of field), Shutter speed (control the motion), and last but definitely not least…exposure compensation. You’ll need your manual to get an understanding of where these various features live on your camera and how/when to change them. I shoot almost 100% of my photos in aperture priority because I want to control the depth of field (make my subject sharp and the background out of focus). I regularly use the exposure compensation control when I need to make the picture brighter or bring the brightness down. ISO determines how sensitive the “film” is to light. Do you remember when you used to buy a roll of 200 speed film for a sunny day of pictures, or a roll of 400 speed film for pictures that were indoors or needed a flash? That was the ISO setting. Now with digital cameras you control the speed of the “film” for every picture. If I am standing outside taking wedding photos I set the ISO to 200, but when I go inside the church and I don’t want to disrupt the service with flash, I change the ISO setting to 1600 which allows me to take the picture without slowing down the shutter speed. I don’t want to lose you in all of this technical jargon; the point is…you need to understand these terms to take your pictures beyond the auto everything mode.

Thanks for reading my recent blog post, I hope you found my information helpful! Please post comments here and I will do my best to answer any questions you may have about getting started with your new DSLR camera.

-CG

P.S.

If you are considering the Canon Rebel T3i camera, you will want to read my review to help you decide if this is the right camera for you. CLICK HERE TO READ MY REVIEW OF THE THE CANON REBEL T3i