Mastering Camera Controls

 For more than 150 years, photography has become faster, easier, and less complicated. Once a pursuit of artists and craftspeople who had to be part mechanic and part alchemist, photography first reached the masses in 1888, when George Eastman introduced the first handheld Kodak camera. His goal was to make the camera as convenient to use as the pencil, and promised the world, "You press the button, we do the rest."

Of course, in those days, "the rest" involved mailing your camera back to Kodak for processing and waiting until the camera returned, loaded with fresh film, accompanied by a set of prints. Everything that happened between the release of the shutter and the return of the film was quite literally out of the amateur photographer's control.

Today, the digital camera puts all the control back into your hands in a most versatile way. You still need to compose the photo, but you can allow the camera to set the focus, exposure, and even color balance and other parameters for you automatically. Or, if you like, you can make these adjustments yourself. Once the picture is taken, you can review it and decide whether to discard the photo, reshoot, or simply take another picture. Serious photographers now have the choice of taking pictures in "point-and-shoot" or "point-and-think" modes.

The term "point and shoot" is often applied to the most basic cameras, because they ask nothing more of the photographer than the ability to aim the camera and press the shutter release. Many of these cameras don't even require remembering to remove the lens cap: the lens appears automatically from behind a protective door or flap as soon as you turn the power on. If you can find the power switch and shutter button, a point-and-shoot camera will take care of everything else, including focus, exposure, and flash (if you need it) automatically.

When I started in photography, the distinction between point-and-shoot cameras and more advanced amateur and professional models was clear. The point-and-shoot cameras were automatic, and offered few, if any manual adjustments (other than focus, before autofocus became prevalent). All other cameras were fully manual. The photographer had to focus, select a shutter speed, and specify a lens opening by matching a needle with an indicator in the viewfinder (or by using a handheld light meter).

Today, even $6,000 professional/prosumer cameras have point-and-shoot functionality. If you like, virtually every digital camera can analyze your scene, determine the correct exposure from a complex set of alternatives, set focus for the main subject of the photo, and snap off a picture or sequence for you. You don't even have to press the shutter release: an infrared remote control or a built-in self-timer can select the decisive moment for you. Computer technology is so precise today that, in full automatic mode, you can get excellent pictures without giving the mechanics of the photo a second thought.

Even so, there are times when you'll want to take total control of the process. Other times, you'll need to use your knowledge of how your camera's automated features work to make sure your camera's brains aren't fooled by an unusual situation.

Although every camera uses different buttons and menus to control key features, nearly every digital image grabber includes some variation on the basic array of controls. This chapter provides an overview of the controls a digital photographer must master, and includes descriptions of how these controls differ between digital cameras and film cameras. I'm not going to explain how to operate your camera's controls. Your user's manual is your best guide to the nuts and bolts. Instead, we're going to concentrate on how these controls can affect your photographs, and what you can do to optimize their use.