No matter where your skill level as a photographer might sit, I would encourage you to make sure and schedule a handful of photo trips a year. Now, these trips do not have to be a 6 month tour of the Natural Wonders of the World or a laborious grueling hike of the Appalachian Trail….
Now that you have had some time to experience the Program (P) mode on your camera let’s try something new. Click the dial over one more spot to the Aperture (Av-if you use a superior Canon camera, A if you use a capable but lesser Nikon camera) mode. Aperture mode allows you to have control…
Hey! What do you mean ‘capable but lesser Nikon’??? 
Thanks for the informative and useful article!
Very informative articles, thanks for the info. How useful is the aperture setting when taking pictures meant for HDR?
The aperture setting is critical in an HDR image. For HDR you want to maintain a constant aperture and only change the shutter speed to vary the exposure. By keeping the aperture constant you will maintain a constant depth of field so when you combine the images in processing, all the areas that are in focus are the same across all images. Thus, a typical series would be three shots all at let’s say f/16 with 3-5 different shutter speeds each a stop or so apart. Hope that helps. Thanks for dropping by the site.
-Alex
“Superior Canon camera.” I love it! My first camera (first after my Polaroid One Step – yeah, I’m showing my age 
was a Canon AE1, and I haven’t looked at another brand since. I spent 27 years in the Navy and must have taken a million photographs. Okay a million pictures and a few thousand photgraphs. My trusty Canon went with me everywhere my ship or aircraft went. My favorite place for photography was Thailand, closely followed by Sicily. In the States Maine must have given me the majority of my photos. I never got serious about the mechanics of photography until I retired in 2006. I always had an instinctive feel for what was right for the shot but I still had more misses than hits. I’m a big fan of B&W photos for the times I want to convey mood, but living overseas so much let me see the color in the places I visited. Getting asway from the city and into the villages and rural backroads was so rewarding. Cities are the same wherever you go but the villages are where you see people and the culture they spring from. My camera is always set to automatic for those shots that just seem to spring into view as I am passing by. Manual setting comes when I have time to compose. We’ve come a long way from Mom’s instamatic with the Sylvania flash bulbs.
Shutterhogs and DPS are my field manuals
@Will
I bet you have some amazing photos from your travels. The digital photography revolution has definitely made things easier for the average photo enthusiast. Heck, now we can change ISO between shots without the need to change film in the camera. You should consider digitizing/scanning some of those photos you have taken and share them for others to experience. Thanks for stopping by the site.
-Alex
I have a problem…none of the pictures in your articles are showing up…they only show as a red x….please advise…thanks
Hi Deb,
We had to do some website maintenance and apparently the images did not reload properly. We are working on getting it fixed. Thanks for making us aware of this though.
-Alex
All of the images should now be working. Thanks for notifying us. Enjoy!
I’m a digital photography group leader. I’d like to use your photos in a short video I created through Animoto. This is for a non – profit organization. No money comes from attending meetings, only member dues. Membership is not required.
Pleas let me know if I have permission to use your photos. I will give your credit, with photo and links. Thank you for creating a wonderful site. Have a great day!
So, I have been on a bit of an introspective kick lately. I don’t know if its the time of year, the point in my life, or just my allergies, but I find myself doing a lot of reflecting of late. I am not sure if anyone can really learn enough about themselves or where…
Earlier this year I was on a trip with the family and we hiked to Stewart Falls near the Sundance ski resort in Utah. I had been there many times before with my wife WAY back when we were dating and first married. I remembered how much I enjoyed the waterfall there and was excited…
Very nicely written work!!! Awesome!!!
All of us photo enthusiasts are great at getting out and taking photos, But are we exercising just to maintain status quo or training for a triathlon? What I mean by this, is are we just out snapping the shutter at will, numerous times, hoping we get a great capture, or are we planning a…
by awsmith
These are all great tips, especially taking it all in. I do get so focused on taking the shot and then moving on to the next one, that I forget to slow down. I joined my local camera club about 4 years ago, and found a friend who is as passionate about photography as I am, and we found we travel well together. We have managed to take at least 1 trip or more per year. Great fun! Printing your photos is a great idea also, I have one wall that has 4 different sized framed photos that I swap out yearly.