It dawned on me yesterday that I’ve written about shooting modes, and I’ve written about exposure, but I’ve never written about how and when you might use certain modes. Treat this topic as if you’ve just moved from full-auto or program mode, into aperture priority, and I’ll walk you through everything you need to know. [...]

When it comes down to quality for price, bang for buck, a 50mm 1.8 is one of the best lenses on the market, and an upgrade that I recommend to every new SLR user. For a very small investment of $105 for the Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 or slightly more for Nikon, you can have one of the best upgrades that you can make to your camera.

Shooting with the aperture wide open is a really good way of taking soft, naturally lit photos, as the aperture produces a shallow depth of field, and allow the maximum amount of light in. It’s also a great way of drawing the viewers eye to a certain part of the photo, as the majority of the photo will be out of focus.

Depth of Field has positive and negative effects on your photos and knowing exactly what it does, and how to control it, is essential to taking the best possible photos. This post teaches you all about how to use it to your advantage and how much DoF is right for different situations.