The Photo Lab in Your Camera

You didn’t know there was one? Well there is one in every digital cameras, let me explain.

Referred to as “setting”.  Some of the settings are for how your camera will take the image.  These would include

• F-stop
• ISO
• Shutter speed
• Flash (auto/red eye/off)
• Exposure Compensation
• Focal Area
• Light Metering

There are a host of other settings which determine how that image is going to be processed.  Most digital cameras will let you set:

• B/W  Vivid Color, Sepia
• Bracket Exposure
• Image Resolution
• Backlight Compensation
• White Balance
• Aspect Ratio

Most of these settings can be somewhat Tweaked in post.  (Post on this blog will always refer to Post Processing and not the writing of a post unless otherwise indicated).

I like shooting in RAW, but my Panasonic Lumix TZ5 doesn’t have a raw mode.  Therefore I set it up to give me the maximum ability to alter the images in Post.

Choosing your Settings

Most point and shoot digital cameras have a variety of “Scene” settings.  These are mini lab settings pre-programmed for your camera based on the sensor it has for capturing images.  If you want to know what these do, then it will require some time to practice.

I know, you never heard of such a thing.  It is true, take your camera out and under the situations for those scenes try them and see what you get compared to what your own settings would be.  Maybe those scene settings are great, maybe they aren’t so great.  The more you know about your camera the better images you will take.

Setting the Camera for Maximum Post Processing

Most digital cameras have a dial setting which allows you the user to customize some of the settings.  This is where my point and shot is all the time.  I know what I want the camera to capture so I have maximum flexibility to tweak that image in Post.  I’ll talk about those settings sometime this week.

For now, take a few minutes when you can and learn the most you can about your camera.  There isn’t any reason to miss great shots.  Being in the moment, with your camera in hand is only an advantage to you if you know how to set it for the shot.  Believe me, “Getting the Shot” is so much better than getting home and knowing you didn’t get a single decent picture.  Those moments in time are gone forever.  You can’t get them back.

Take control of the photo lab in your camera.

Tags: camera photo lab, default settings, take control