Say Cheese! Part 2: Now What?

So you've bought a camera and you're asking the questions, "What do I do now?" "How do I work this thing?" "What do I do once I've taken a handful of photos?" Here are few simple suggestions to those questions:

What do I do now?

After you've opened the box, seen what you've got, charged the battery, I suggest taking a half hour or so to read through the manual. It's a great first source to figure out how the camera operates and what functions and features are available to you. I remember when I bought my first DSLR and for the longest time I wished that it had a certain feature that for the life of me thought didn't exist on this particular camera. Well, one day I happened to be scanning through the manual and low and behold the camera had that feature the entire time! I had owned that camera for almost two years and had just upgraded to my current camera. The button that operated the feature just wasn't in the traditional area as other cameras. So the moral of the story is, there is a lot to learn from reading through the manual that comes with your camera.

How do I work this thing?

After you've spent some time in owner's manual, it's time to turn it on and snap a few photos. In my opinion, there's no greater way to gain knowledge than experience. If you're just starting out in photography, begin with the AUTO mode. It will set everything for you, so all you have to do is point the camera and press the button; it will help get your feet wet using it. If you're not new to photography, but no expert either, the way I started to learn MANUAL mode was to first snap a photo in AUTO, then go into the REVIEW or PLAY mode and hit the INFO button to get the exposure settings (Don't know what the stuff is? Check the Owner's Manual). Note the settings as far as Aperture (ex. f/11), the Shutter Speed (ex. 1/800) and the ISO (ex. 400). Then once you've done that, go back into MANUAL mode and adjust those settings on the camera to the numbers from the photo taken in AUTO mode. This provides a starting point to learn how to adjust the camera according to your scene or subject. Once you start taking photos in this manner you can then adjust those values up or down depending on whether or not your photo is overexposed or underexposed.

You can also go out and purchase 3rd party books on how to use your camera. Stores like Barnes and Noble, Borders, or online at Amazon.com are great places to search for these type of books. One suggestion I would make is that if you go into a bookstore to buy them, you briefly scan them before purchasing. There are a lot of different books out there and it's always good to scan them to see if it will fit your needs. Also, the "...for Dummies" series is always a great place to start. They break it down and make using a digital camera easy to learn.

What do I do once I've taken a handful of photos?

Load them onto your computer and share them with your family and friends. Upload them to Facebook or sign up for a Flickr account. I personally use Flickr because it's great place to share my photos with anyone who has an internet connection. I can even place my photos in Flickr Groups to get them noticed by people I don't even know, so if you're looking to get a little more exposure as you get better it's a great community to grow in. One last tip, once you've uploaded your photos to your computer, organize them. Create folders and categories, because eventually you'll have thousands of folders and it will be impossible to find anything if you don't keep them organized.

Hit me up in the comments section if you have any questions you'd like answered.