1. PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT

2. ???BEST WAYS TO HOLD THE CAMERA???

3. RIGHT AND WRONG WAY

4. AUTO MODE / FIXED FOCAL LENGTH
In the field, quick use of the camera, can make all the difference between capturing a “decisive moment” and a dull shot.
Using a zoom lens is a great way to become lazy.
There can be a great difference in images shot from different locations, but with a zoom lens we tend to root in one place, rather than staying on the move.

5. EXERCISE 1; FULL WIDE
Zoom your lens out to full wide, and leave it there.
Now spend a few minutes shooting with it at full wide.
As you will see , instead of zooming to frame a different shot you’ll have to move around and reposition yourself, and this might lead you to discover shots you hadn’t recognized earlier.
It’s important to learn that the world can look very different through the camera, and that when you look through the viewfinder, you might see potential shots that you didn't see with the naked eye.

6. EXERCISE 2; FULL TELE
Zoom to the longest focal length of your lens and repeat the previous exercise.
Please don’t Zoom in more than ONCE!

7. EXERCISE 3; NORMAL
Set your zoom lens to somewhere in the middle, so that it shows roughly the same focal length as the naked eye.
On most SLR’s this will be around 30mm.
On a full frame SLR, this will be about 50mm.
On most P&S cameras try 50mm, Some of the best pictures ever captured were through a 50mm lens.
REPEAT PROCESS FROM EXERCISE 1 AND 2.

8. WATER AND DIGITAL CAMERAS
Rule of thumb FOR FILM CAMERAS: if it falls in water, grab the camera, and put it in a bucket of that same water.
Keeping the camera submerged will prevent the camera from rusting up, and thus being destroyed.
After, take it apart and clean every inch of it, making sure it is completely DRY!
Rule of thumb FOR DIGITAL CAMERAS: IF IT FALLS INTO WATER, GET IT OUT IMMEDIATELY!! DRY IT!!
Then store it into a dry place for a day or two.

9. COLD WEATHER
Shooting in cold weather can create a number of problems for your digital camera.
First, the LCD screen, as temperatures drop, your LCD screen will become far less crisp, it will start to look somewhat unclear.
Be sure not to put your camera through a fast temperature change, this can cause it to malfunction and thus be destroyed.

10. WARM WEATHER
As the weather starts to get hotter, your camera can be greatly affected.
Shooting in hot weather can cause a visible increase of stuck pixel noise (bright white images scattered about your images)
LCD screen may also act a little sluggish.
The screen may get dim or even completely black in some extreme cases.

11. MEDIA CARDS
The bigger the card’s capacity, the more power it takes to keep it running.
Larger capacity cards generate more heat.
If something goes wrong with a larger capacity media card, you’ll lose more images than you would if you had been using a smaller capacity card.