Change These 4 Camera Settings NOW & Become a Better Photographer (VIDEO)
Wouldn’t it be great if you could dramatically improve your photos by simply changing four camera settings? This sounds like a tease but it’s actually a fact, according to professional photographer Jared Collins, who specializes in teaching less-experienced shooters how to avoid common mistakes.
Collins begins with a discussion of your camera’s Aperture Priority exposure mode. When first getting started with a DSLR he listened to the chatter and used Manual mode instead. As a result, “I spent several years turning dials and changing settings completely unnecessarily.” He then experienced a eureka moment after someone convinced him to try Aperture Priority.
He doesn’t deny that Manual mode provides maximum control in some situations, and he occasionally takes this approach himself. But if you hear him out you’ll better understand the many benefits of switching your camera’s Mode dial to AV (without any feelings of guilt).
Next on the list are your camera’s drive settings and Collins makes a prediction “I believe that you should be shooting in Burst mode more often than you did in the past.” He explains his reasoning with a question: “How many times have you been on location, thought you captured the moment perfectly, only to learn later that the subject blinked just as you pressed the shutter button?”
In other words, a high-speed burst can come in super handy if anything moves at the decisive moment, which is why Collins says he configures his camera accordingly 90% of the time. It’s better to be safe than sorry, “even if you have to sort through more images because storage is cheap.”
As the episode progresses you’ll learn when and why Collins recommends shooting at high ISO values without taking things too far. He also explains why the Continuous AF mode can really pull you out of a jam.
So go grab your camera and experiment with configuring it differently based upon Collins advice. Then pay a visit to his instructional YouTube channel where you’ll find a variety of straightforward tricks and techniques for upping your game.
And don’t miss the explainer we featured recently with another popular instructor who demonstrates how he captures photographs with maximum depth of field by setting his lens to the “hyperfocal distance.”
