Don't Be a Chimp

In this lesson you'll get an introduction to the topic of this chapter, which is how to correctly carry, hold, and handle your camera.

There are few things that are either "right" or "wrong" in photography - but how you carry your camera is one of them. In this video you'll learn how to separate yourself from the tourists and look like a pro carrying that dSLR wherever you go!

Lens caps are there to protect your camera, but they don't make for good photos. And if you have to take your lens cap off every time you want to fire a shot, chances are you'll miss more than you'll catch. In this lesson we'll discuss how to protect your lens while you're out shooting without having to keep the lens cap on.

Many of us wear corrective eyeglasses, but they can get in the way of shooting. In this lesson you'll learn how to make a correction in-camera so you don't need glasses to shoot.

This lesson walks you through the basic concepts of camera stability and what they mean to your photographs.

Most of your shooting will be done handheld. In this lesson you'll learn that how you stand, hold, and handle the camera can make a huge difference in how stable the shot really is.

Sometimes it's simply not possible to handhold a shot, but you may not always have a tripod available. Look around; there are loads of ways to stabilize the camera with a little creative thinking, as you'll see in this lesson.

This lesson introduces you to the basic concepts of manual and semi-automatic shooting modes.

This lesson explores the automatic modes that you'll find on most dSLRs, like P, or the green square, or action, or portrait, or nighttime. These can be a great way to teach yourself how to adjust for a particular situation, and also to ensure a good shot when you hand the camera to someone else.

Aperture priority is by far the most common "semi-automatic" mode that professional photographers use. It gives you control over only depth of field, letting the camera figure out the rest. What's an "aperture" and what's "depth of field," you say? This video will explain.

Shutter priority mode allows you to dictate the shutter speed while the camera sorts out the rest. In this lesson you'll learn what's happening inside the camera in this mode and how it affects your photos.

Full-manual mode is the best choice for certain situations, and it's also the best way to truly learn how one change affects your photos. In this lesson we'll play with the settings while doing non-critical shooting; you may be surprised at how quickly you learn the ins and outs of technical photography this way!

Back in the days of film, the ISO (or ASA) was an important choice when buying a roll. Today we can change that on the fly in the camera. But what are the tradeoffs of a high or low ISO? This lesson explains.

This lesson provides an overview of the semi-automatic modes that will be covered in the lessons, including Aperture Priority and Shutter Priority, along with a discussion of ISO.

Aperture controls depth of field, but when do you want the focus shallow, and when do you want it deep? What is too much focus and what is too little? This lesson explores and demonstrates different apertures in various environments so you can see the effect this choice has on your photos.

A fast shutter speed freezes action; a slow one blurs it. As this video demonstrates, there are creative choices to be made here, and finding the right shutter speed to get "that look" is a matter of experimentation and experience.

Usually you'd only adjust the ISO if you found yourself in a very low-light situation - but you may be surprised at just how little light there is indoors. This lesson will show you how keeping an eye on other settings can tell you when to kick the ISO up (or down).

When you change the settings in an automatic or semi-automatic mode, the camera compensates to try to "fix" the exposure. This lesson shows you how to make a scene lighter or darker than the camera thinks it should be by overriding the settings with the Exposure Compensation dial.

This lesson will introduce you to the panoply of buttons on the modern dSLR, which are often are flanked by acronyms and abbreviations that mean nothing to the common man.

Finding the "right" depth of field for the image you're trying to create is mostly trial and error, but this lesson will teach you about one button on the camera that can show you exactly what to expect - albeit with some caveats.

Want to expose as if you're pointing here, while actually pointing there? There's a button for that, as this lesson explains.

Every dSLR has a series of autofocus modes. Understanding the difference between them can spell the difference between an unrecognizable blur and a razor-sharp photo, as this video demonstrates.

When you push the button to take a picture, do you want it to fire once, or keep on firing as long as you hold the button down? How about if you want to be in the photo yourself? This lesson will show you how to do all of these.

Every dSLR has a variety of metering modes, and understanding what each funny little pattern means can make the difference between a photo that is properly exposed and one that isn't. This lesson will help you learn the patterns and control your exposure.

What is white, anyway? Is the light above your head right now white, or is it yellow, or blue? Modern dSLRs have remarkable auto white balance control, but in this lesson you'll learn when and how to take over and show that camera who's boss.

This lesson introduces the key concepts behind the autofocus feature on your camera so you can understand how it works and how to control it.

You know all those squares that show up in the viewfinder and light up when they focus on something? Did you know that you could control which ones the camera will use to focus? Now you do, and in this lesson you'll learn how.

Modern dSLRs are remarkably good at focusing, but when you focus AND meter AND actually take the picture with the same single button, it's easy to lose control. In this lesson you'll learn how to reassign autofocus to a different button.

This lesson provides an overview of the lighting concepts that will be covered in more depth in the other videos in this chapter, including different types of flashes and techniques for using them.

There's a basic premise to flash photography that can be a bit of a head-scratcher, but once you "get it," it will forever change how you view flash photography. This video explains it once and for all so you'll never be confused again.

That tiny pop-up flash on many dSLRs isn't exactly great. But with a little modification, you can get quite a bit out of it, as you'll see in this lesson.

Leaving the flash on-camera can be a bad idea, but there are many options to make it better. This video explores several of them, from the totally free to moderately expensive.

The quickest way to improve your flash photography is to get the flash off of the camera. In this video, we'll look at the difference this makes and the easiest (and cheapest!) ways to achieve it.

Once you get the flash off-camera, why not add a few more? Multiple-flash photography is an entire training series unto itself, but this video will give you a sense of what the possibilities are.

In this video we'll start thinking outside the box, looking at photography in different ways.

The easiest thing to change is your perspective. Changing your point of view can make all the difference in every aspect of life, but in this lesson we will focus on how it affects your photography.

The angle at which you view something can make a mundane object seem interesting. Whether you're tilting the camera, the subject, or simply the direction you're looking at it from, the angle can make or break a photo.

Life is in the details - and so is photography. As this lesson shows, this doesn't necessarily mean breaking out the macro lens for extreme close-ups, but can be as simple as paying attention to - and focusing on - subtle details that others may have missed.

So you have a pocket full of money and are itching to buy some new gear. How do you make the most out of your investment? This video looks at different types of gear, where to invest your money, and how to do your research when it comes time to buy.