Read Your Camera Manual - Better Photos... Now!

So, you want better photos?  Put down that camera and pick up a good book.  No, I'm not talking about a book that will teach you all about photography.  I'm talking about a book that will teach you all about your camera.  That's right.  You need to read your camera manual.

You probably already know enough about your camera to take pictures, so why would you want to read your camera manual?  I'd be willing to bet that you'll find at least one thing in there that you've been wondering about. Maybe, instead of finding the answer to a question that you have, you'll discover something that you never knew your camera could do!

When I pulled out my camera manual and started flipping through it, I noticed that there was a setting that enabled a high-speed sync between the camera and an off-camera flash.  Instead of being restricted to a shutter speed of 1/200 of a second, I could go all the way to my maximum shutter speed!  Curious, I enabled it and gave it a shot.

Although it's not something that I use all the time, high-speed sync has helped me to nail a shot on more than one occasion.  If I had never read my manual, I never would have known about it and might not have gotten those shots.

You might know about lots of great settings on your camera.  You might have lots of tricks up your sleeve.  You might be able to take wonderful photos.  Just think what could happen if you were able to find an solution to that one little thing that is still driving you crazy.  The answer is waiting for you.  All you have to do is read your camera's manual.

For this photo, I was able to use the high-speed sync on my camera to trigger an off-camera flash. This allowed me to shoot at f/2.8 and 1/1250 of a second to get a soft and properly exposed background, but still fill Ross' face with light from the flash.

Read all of my DSLR tips here.