Hi and welcome to Episode 100 of the Photography Explained podcast.
I’m your host Rick, and in each episode I will try to explain one photographic thing to you in plain English in less than 10 minutes (ish) without the irrelevant details. What I tell you is based on my lifetime of photographic experience. And not Google.
Before I go on I need your help. I need your questions to answer. This is why my podcast exists, so please get in touch with your question and get a shout-out from me in a future episode. Just head over to photographyexplainedpodcast.com/start.
OK – thank you and I really look forward to hearing from you.
Yes, episode 100. More on that later. But now I want to get straight into this week’s episode.
Here is the answery bit
Camera settings allow photographers to change the way in which the camera takes a photo. After all, we are converting light into digital stuff so there needs to be some control over how this happens.
Whilst there seems to be an endless number of camera settings these can be split into three main groups of settings
- Camera settings that are set once in camera and you may never change them again
- Camera settings that you might change during a shoot/ taking photos
- Camera settings for each specific photo
In this episode, I will start to explain this little lot and tell you how to approach getting on top of the camera settings on your camera.
You can listen to the episode here
Or keep on reading. Or do both. Entirely up to you!
And this is going to take more than one episode, so bear with me as I break this down into manageable chunks. But don’t worry, we will get there.
OK – that was the longest answer ever. And up to writing this I was beginning to regret tackling such a broad subject but I have found a way, it was the bit in the answer.
Breaking this down
As I said, there are three broad types of camera settings. And this is how I am going to break this down into three episodes. Maybe.
So in 40 ish minutes, I will have explained camera settings in enough detail to help you with your photography. And for completeness, I will finish off with an episode all about camera settings for beginners. And then I will tell you the camera settings that I use.
Sorted. Nice.
OK – I am going to quickly go through the three types of camera settings
Ones that you set and leave
- I take photos in RAW. I never change from that, so this is set in camera and never changed.
- Another example, I would not change, say, the Noise Reduction settings. Well I would if there was a major problem with noise and I needed to, but that is unlikely.
The ones that you might change during a shoot.
There are lots of these, here are some examples
- Picture-taking modes – AV to manual for tricky lighting.
- Metering mode – evaluative to spot metering
- Drive mode – single shot to continuous shooting
And the ones that you set to take a photo
- Aperture, shutter and ISO, focal length, focus point.
What do I do?
If you are worried about this, let me tell you what I do. And in a future episode, I will expand on this.
I tend to use the same settings for every shoot.
- Shooting mode – AV
- Aperture – normally F8, which gives me the best quality and the depth of field that I need.
- Shutter speed – as I am taking photos on a tripod this is determined by the camera
- ISO100 – the lowest ISO for the highest quality. I am taking photos with my camera on a tripod after all so this is fine.
- Focal length – 17mm
- Auto-bracketing on.
- AF ON
And that is pretty much it. I may change the aperture from F8 to F16 if I need more depth of field.
That leaves me to get the composition that I want, and the only other variable is where I focus.
So don’t worry, this can be as complicated or as simple as you want it to be.
And having spent all these years learning this stuff I have told you what I do. And it is that simple.
Learn your camera
Whatever your level, whatever your camera, you need to learn how to use your camera, how to change all the settings, and how to set up your camera so it works at its best for you.
You, and I, need to learn how to use our cameras properly.
The talky bit
There seems to be an endless number of camera settings, and it can appear daunting. I completely get that.
But don’t worry, what we need is a plan to get through all of this. And this is it.
You can download most manufacturers’ camera manuals these days as Pdfs which is dead handy as you can have them with you on your device, and they should be searchable too.
So get the manual for your camera. And if you want to, get a book about how to use your camera. I have one book for my Canon 6D. Check out the content and reviews, and buy the best book that you can.
Get your camera, manual, and book if you have one. Find a quiet place where you have some uninterrupted time and do this.
Go through the camera manufacturer’s manual from start to end, changing the settings on the camera as you work through them.
And take photos and see what these settings do – this is the beauty of digital photography of course. You can take as many photos as you want and it doesn’t cost you anything.
Really? Have I done this?
Yes, I have.
Well in the past I have just taken the camera out of the box and started using it. And would you believe with one camera I did this and was quite frankly disappointed with the results? So I bought another camera.
I know – what was I thinking? But you can learn from my stupidity.
When I bought my Canon 6D I went through the manual, and I really did. And then I went through the book.
And I have a Pdf version of the manual with me wherever I go on my phone.
If you think about it this just makes perfect sense, doesn’t it? A camera is a major investment, so why wouldn’t you learn how to use it properly?
Why would I spend over £1,000 on a camera and not take the time to learn how to use it properly?
What you need to do is learn what the camera settings are on your camera, what they do, how they change the photos that you take, and which are the settings that you need for your photography.
You need to do this once so you can get your camera set up for you. And sure, refer back to the manual and the book if you need to at any time in the future.
But get your camera set up and go out and use it. Take photos, see what results you get, and if you need to change something then fine do that.
But taking photos, consciously practising and learning, and of course, looking at your photos and seeing what you get will quickly get your photography to another level.
And also get you to the point where camera settings are no longer a worry.
Episode 100.
Wow. I have made it. I started my podcast in October 2020, and have managed to get one episode per week published since I started, which I am pleased with. I did have a phase of two episodes a week but went back down to 1 episode a week. I couldn’t keep that going.
So here I am now sitting recording episode 100.
And going forwards I am focussing on the quality of the content and the quality of the production. And also trying to inject more of me into episodes. And more fun.
Related episodes
Well to be honest with you, loads of episodes relate to this. So just check out the Photography Explained Podcast website where you will find the full list of episodes.
Next episode
Photography Explained Podcast Episode 101 – no I am not going to call it Photography 101 (although I am tempted), shall I? In the next episode of my podcast – Camera Settings 1 – Things That You Can Set And Forget.
Shout out
Shout out to me and my course – find out more at rickmcevoyphotography.com/courses. Well if I can’t promote myself here where can I?
OK – I’m done
Thanks for listening to my small but perfectly formed podcast. To find out more about my podcast and do stuff to help me check out Photographyexplainedpodcast.com/start.
Brought to you by
This episode was brought to you by water. Lots of lovely water.
I’ve been Rick McEvoy, thanks again very much for listening to me and for giving me 10 (ish) minutes of your valuable time, and I will see you on the next episode.
Cheers from me Rick
OK – that was the podcast episode.
Want to know more?
Head over to the Start page on the Photography Explained Podcast website to find out more.
And here is the list of episodes published to date – you can listen to any episode straight from this page which is nice.
Let me know if there is a photography thing that you want me to explain and I will add it to my list. Just head over to the This is my list of things to explain page of this website to see what is on there already.
Let me send you stuff
I send out a weekly email to my subscribers. It is my take on one photography thing, plus what I have been writing and talking about. Just fill in the box and you can get my weekly photographic musings straight to your inbox. Which is nice.
And finally a little bit about me
Finally, yes this paragraph is all about me – check out my Rick McEvoy Photography website to find out more about me and my architectural, construction, real estate and travel photography work. I also write about general photography stuff, all in plain English without the irrelevant detail.
Thank you
Thanks for listening to my podcast (if you did) and reading this blog post (which I assume you have done as you are reading this).
Cheers from me Rick
