Why isn’t my camera focusing where I want it to?
Your camera divides the frame into different focusing points. Keep things simple by using ‘Single Point’ and position this point in the centre of your frame.
Your camera also has different ‘Auto Focus’ modes. You can either set your focus to track a moving subject – generally called ‘Servo’ or ‘Continuous’ – which is good for sports photography. Or you can set your camera to lock the focus when you press the shutter release halfway down. This is called ‘One Shot’ or ‘Single Shot’. This in conjunction with ‘Single Point’ is the best default set-up. If you don’t want your subject in the middle of your picture, focus on it and then recompose without lifting your finger off the button.
Why does my whole picture look ‘out of focus’?
Chances are it’s not a focusing issue; it’s camera shake caused by a slow shutter speed. If you are handholding your camera, check that your shutter speed is not dropping below 1/60. If it is, try increasing your ISO (p. 50–4) or use a tripod (p.39).
Why are my pictures too dark or too bright?
Firstly check your ‘Exposure Compensation’ (p. 55). Secondly, if you’re shooting on ‘Shutter’ or ‘Aperture Priority’, make sure that your camera is able to offer you a corresponding exposure value. For example, if you’ve selected a really fast shutter speed, your camera will need to compensate by using a very wide aperture. You might find that even at the widest aperture still not enough light is entering the camera, meaning your picture is underexposed. In this case, use a slower shutter speed or increase your ISO (p. 50–4) so your camera is more sensitive to light.
Should I use ‘Aperture’ or ‘Shutter Priority’?
Work backwards. Ask yourself, ‘what’s my picture about?’ If it’s fundamentally about capturing a moving subject use ‘Shutter Priority’ (p.34–41). If it’s more about controlling your depth of field use ‘Aperture Priority’ (p.42–9).
What metering mode should I use?
Metering modes change how your camera measures the light. This calculation determines the shutter speed and aperture.
‘Evaluative’, ‘Matrix’ or ‘Multi-Segment’ measures all the light coming through the lens and offers an average. ‘Partial’ or ‘Spot’ measures the light from the very centre point of the frame, which can be helpful for backlit subjects. ‘Centre-Weighted’ is halfway between the two as it measures the light from the central area of your frame.
Rather than mess about with metering modes, set your camera to ‘Evaluative’, ‘Matrix’ or ‘Multi-Segment’ metering. Then use ‘Exposure Compensation’ if you want to make your subject brighter or darker. This way you start to get a much better feel for light.
Why do the colours in my picture look weird?
More than likely this is because your white balance is not set to the right lighting conditions (p.76–7).
RAW or JPEG?
RAW files carry more information than JPEGs, so if you’re going to do some heavy tweaking on your pictures afterwards then shoot RAW. Be warned, unlike JPEGs, RAW files chew up space on your memory card, meaning fewer shots.