Basic Tips for Beginner Photographers

Many beginner photographers often wonder what camera settings they should use to get the best possible results with their current camera gear. While there is no set rule for camera settings that work well in every shooting environment, I noticed that there are some settings that I personally set on every camera I use, which are universal across all brands of cameras on the market. These are the “base” settings I set initially – once they are done, I rarely ever revisit them. In addition, there are particular camera modes that make the process of capturing images easier or quicker, especially for someone who is just starting out. Let’s go through these common camera settings in more detail!

Camera Setup

First, let’s go over some of the camera settings that should apply to any modern digital camera. You should be able to find all the settings specified below, since they are more or less universal across different camera brands and models:

• Image Quality: RAW
• RAW Recording: Lossless Compressed (if available)
• White Balance: Auto
• Picture Control / Picture Style / Creative Style / Film Simulation: Standard
• Single Point AF Area Mode Colour Space:RGB

Aperture:

Aperture is often associated with how separated your subject appears from the background, but that’s only one of its many functions. In the example above, you can see how different an image can appear when photographed at a wide aperture like f/2.8 versus a small aperture like f/8.0.It is important to understand the impact of aperture and what it can do to your photographs, so I highly recommend that you read the linked articles above.

Aperture is often associated with how separated your subject appears from the background, but that’s only one of its many functions. In the example above, you can see how different an image can appear when photographed at a wide aperture like f/2.8 versus a small aperture like f/8.0.It is important to understand the impact of aperture and what it can do to your photographs, so I highly recommend that you read the linked articles above.

Best Shutter Speed

Just like aperture, the choice of the best shutter speed will highly depend on what you are trying to capture. For example, if your goal is to capture a dreamy photograph of a waterfall, you will need to use a slow shutter speed that might last several seconds to make the running water appear blurry:

Whereas if you want to freeze a subject in your scene, you will need to use very fast shutter speeds that are a very small fraction of a second:For most situations, however, you are better off using shutter speeds that are fast enough to capture images without introducing camera shake. For that reason, I would recommend that you read our article on reciprocal rule and enable Auto ISO (more on ISO and Auto ISO below).