Learn Digital Photography: Camera Cheat-Sheet

Experiment with exposure Digital cameras usually work best in sunlight, just like film cameras. When you move indoors, or into dim light, things get much trickier -- just like film cameras. So experiment.

If you can, shoot your subject from different angles and with different lighting. If you can manually turn off your flash, do so. Other flash settings can also be tried such as 'fill flash.' Sometimes even a perfectly exposed picture can be improved with fill flash. Other times turning off the flash leaving the subject underexposed can add an element of drama.

You can take the same photo three different ways using three different exposure options and the result will be three totally different pictures. What's even better is that all three can look good, but you have to experiment.

Bracket your shots if you can, with one shot slightly underexposed, one slightly overexposed, and one "just right." Even though some digital cameras will do this automatically, you still need to practice. The last thing you want is two of your shots to look as if they were taken accidentally or by a surprised photographer who was expecting only one shot instead of three.

Special features Many digital cameras have some interesting in-camera special features. Some will allow you to take short QuickTime clips, some will allow you to record sound annotations, and some will allow you to experiment with special effects, such as shooting black and white or sepia-tone images. Ignore the special features until you learn the basics.

Remember that some of these effects such as black and white or sepia toned images can be created without the camera. Photoshop can transform a color image into black and white in a few simple steps. Basically, if you can do it easily in Photoshop, focus on taking a top quality color photo behind the camera and take care of the special effects without it.

On the other hand, you should try out other special effects. For example, if you pan your camera to track a car moving at high speed, the car will be in sharp focus but the background will be blurred, making an interesting picture. Or you can do the opposite: focus on a particular stationary object -- a child flying a kite, a freshly-painted fire hydrant -- and allow a speeding car to enter the frame. You'll then have a sharply focused center of attention with the added benefit of motion.

Silhouettes are another nice special effect. Try taking a photo with your subject in shadow, eclipsing a brightly-exposed object in the background. The reverse -- a brightly exposed subject against a dark background -- can be just as interesting. Getting a good silhouette with film is expensive: you shoot a lot of frames with little or no reward. With a digital camera, however, the only cost is your time and patience, and your patience will be rewarded.

Looking into digital photography? Check out this Digital Photography Guide . Get Great Tips on how to take Digital Photographs plus Digital Camera Reviews