How to Figure Out Camera Settings
- 1). Adjust your aperture by rotating a dial on top of your camera. Most cameras will have a dial or button on the top that allows you to change the aperture, while some older cameras will have a ring on the lens with numbers ranging somewhere between 2 and 32. Your camera's aperture works exactly like the pupil in your eye, adjusting to let either more or less light in. The larger the aperture, the more light will get in at once, and the shorter your depth of field, or the amount of the picture that is in focus, will be. Portrait takers tend to use large apertures, designated by smaller numbers in your camera, since their subjects don't need a large depth of field. Landscape photographers often use a small aperture, designated by a large number in your camera, since they often need things in both the foreground and background in focus.
- 2). Change the shutter speed with another dial, or by changing the mode in your camera and using the same dial. Most cameras can vary the shutter speed between half a minutes and 1/8000 of a second. The shorter the shutter speed, the less time the lens will be open. Fast shutter speeds are perfect for taking pictures of moving objects, since long shutter times can cause them to blur. You have to use shutter speed in conjunction with aperture, since a very fast shutter speed needs a slightly larger aperture (smaller aperture number) in order to get enough light to expose the image.
- 3). Press the ISO button on the camera and turn a dial to adjust the ISO. If your camera doesn't have an ISO button, look through the menu system to find and change the setting. ISO is an old film camera term that represented the sensitivity of the film to light. While film cameras obviously can't change their ISO, digital cameras can adjust the sensitivity of the light sensor. Choosing a higher ISO will let you use higher apertures and faster shutter speeds to get the same picture. High ISOs can also improve the quality of nighttime photography. The ISO numbers are: 50, 100, 200, 400, 800, 1600 and 3200, with each number being twice as sensitive as the previous.
- 4). Adjust the white balance to automatically correct your digital camera pictures to adjust for the current lighting conditions. Different types of lights have a different hue that you may not notice with your eye, but the hue will definitely show up on your photographs. By changing the white balance to the type of lighting in the area when you are taking your pictures, the camera will automatically correct the image to remove the hue, leaving you with a much better looking picture.
Source...