Mastering Your Digital SLR or Mirrorless Camera (Self-Paced Tutorial)

Lesson 1

Getting to Know Your Digital SLR Camera

In this lesson, you will explore the basics of your DSLR camera such as buttons, and controls, and the exposure mode options for different shooting situations. This lesson also covers some general maintenance and housekeeping issues with memory cards, batteries, and cleaning—and by the end of this lesson, you will feel empowered to get started with your DSLR camera.

Zooming In on Lenses

This lesson is all about DLSR lenses. One of the most important features of the DSLR is the ability to change lenses based on shooting conditions. You will find out how lenses work, some of the most common DSLR lenses, and what shooting conditions those lenses can help you.

Seeing Clearly: Exposure, Focus, and Metering

Do you know how your camera sees a photo? In this lesson, you will learn about the three components of exposure—aperture, shutter speed, and ISO. You will also learn about metering modes and how your camera uses these to determine the correct exposure for a photo.

Going Deep: Using Aperture

Briefly lessons introduced the aperture, but this lesson goes deep into aperture. You will learn how this aspect of exposure controls how much light enters the camera, and you will discover how to control this light to affect the quality of your photos as well as certain focusing effects.

Speeding Up and Slowing Down With Shutter Speed

This lesson is all about shutter speed—a second aspect of exposure. Shutter speed controls the amount of time that light enters the camera when you take a photo. You probably equate shutter speed with fast-action shots, such as sports photos. A fast shutter speed can stop action, but a slow shutter speed also offers a world of shooting opportunities.

Getting Bright With ISO

This lesson explores how ISO settings affect camera exposure. ISO manages the camera's sensitivity to light—the higher the ISO setting, the more sensitive. While ISO appears to be an easy fix for potentially dark photos, it can be a tricky setting to use. You will learn all about ISO solutions, potential ISO problems, and how to manage ISO on your DSLR.

Making the Most of Flash Photography

In this lesson, you will explore your DSLR's flash options. You will learn about using and controlling the on-board flash, and you will also learn how to use an external flash with your DSLR's hot shoe.

Managing Photo Files, Editing, and Movies

This lesson is all about editing photos and shooting movies on your DSLR. Your camera organizes photo information and stores the photos you take on memory cards. This way, you end up with a digital photo you can use on a computer or print.

Working With Manual Mode

Manual mode is an exposure mode on your DSLR that lets you make all of the decisions. In this lesson, you will learn how to master manual mode and use it in a variety of shooting situations. To be a great DSLR photographer, manual mode is a must.

Getting Better Exposure

Your DSLR is a sophisticated tool that can help you take great photos. But the DSLR can only capture what you choose for it to capture. For all of the bells and whistles, your DSLR needs a human—a photographer—to capture great photos. In this lesson, you will explore how to get better exposure through composition, and managing available light.

Shooting HDR Photos

In the previous lesson, you learned about a helpful feature called exposure bracketing. With exposure bracketing, you can take several identical photos using different exposures. This way, you can choose which photo looks best. Exposure bracketing also offers another option—shooting high dynamic range (HDR) photos.

Mastering Difficult Shooting Situations

In this final lesson, you will explore the three kinds of photos that give DSLR photographers the most trouble: fast-action shots, macro shots, and low-light photography. The good news is your DSLR can help you master these shooting situations if you know how to use the camera's tools and features, and in this lesson, you will see how to put these features to work.