RCN Camera Training Workshop

The green A+ on the dial is full auto. The camera makes every decision for you.

1. Take off the lens cap.

2. Flip the screen out to the side and turn it to face you.

3. Find the power switch on the top right, by your thumb. Click it to ON. If the screen shows video settings, you have gone one click too far. Click back to ON.

4. Find the mode dial on the top right. Turn it until the green A+ lines up with the white mark.

5. Hold the camera in your right hand by the grip. Support the lens from underneath with your left hand.

6. Point the camera at your subject.

7. Press the shutter button halfway down and hold it there. A box appears on the screen.

8. Wait for the box to turn green. Green means in focus.

9. Press the shutter button all the way down. You have taken a photo.

10. The photo shows on the screen for about two seconds.

Try this: everyone photograph the same object on A+. Keep this photo. You will compare it with your best shot at the end.

You only need five controls today.

1. Power switch: top right, by your thumb. OFF, ON, and a movie-camera position for video.

2. Mode dial: top right. Today you use two positions: the green A+ and SCN.

3. Shutter button: on the grip under your index finger. Halfway to focus, all the way to shoot.

4. SET button: on the back, in the middle of the four arrow keys. It confirms a choice.

5. Playback button: on the back, bottom right. It shows your photos.

Two more you will use now and then:

• Main dial: the ridged wheel just behind the shutter button. It scrolls through choices.

• Zoom ring: the wide ring on the lens. Turn it to go from 18 (wide) to 50 (closer).

Try this: one person calls out a control and the others point to it on their camera.

1. Press the Playback button on the back, bottom right. Your last photo appears.

2. Turn the Main dial to move through your photos.

3. To zoom in, pinch outwards on the screen with two fingers, like on a phone.

4. Drag with one finger to move around the photo.

5. To go back to shooting, press the shutter button halfway.

Scene modes are Canon's ready-made settings for common jobs. Each one has a small picture: a head, a group of people, a flower, a runner.

1. Turn the mode dial to SCN.

2. Press the SET button on the back.

3. Turn the Main dial (the ridged wheel behind the shutter button). The pictures scroll past on the screen.

4. Stop on the one you want.

5. Press SET again. The name of the mode shows on the screen.

The four you need:

• Portrait (head): one person. Headshots.

• Group Photo (group of people): two or more people.

• Close-up (flower): small objects. Products for the shop.

• Sports (runner): people who are moving. Events and speakers.

Try this: one person calls out a job, such as "new starter needs a photo" or "mug for the shop". Everyone else races to the right picture.

Every photo needs the right amount of light. The camera controls light in three ways. Together they are called the exposure triangle.

• Aperture: the size of the hole in the lens. It is written as an f-number. A low f-number (f/2.8) is a wide hole: lots of light and a blurred background. A high f-number (f/8) is a small hole: less light and everything sharp.

• Shutter speed: how long the camera lets light in. Fast (1/500) freezes movement. Slow (1/15) blurs it.

• ISO: how much the camera boosts the light it has. A high ISO makes a dark room look bright, but adds grain.

Every scene mode works in the same three steps:

1. The camera measures the light.

2. The scene mode sets its priority first. Portrait sets a wide aperture. Sports sets a fast shutter.

3. The camera adjusts the other two until the light balances.

To see what the camera chose, press the shutter button halfway and read the numbers along the bottom of the screen.

Aperture: tube and straw

1. Hold a toilet roll tube up to one eye. Notice how bright and wide the view is.

2. Now look through a drinking straw. The view is darker and narrower.

3. The tube is a wide aperture, like f/2.8. The straw is a small aperture, like f/8.

Shutter speed: the fan

1. Switch the desk fan on.

2. Turn the mode dial to the green A+.

3. Photograph the fan. Press Playback and look at the blades.

4. Turn the mode dial to SCN. Press SET, turn the Main dial to Sports (runner), press SET.

5. Photograph the fan again. Press Playback and compare the blades.

6. Sports uses a faster shutter, so the blades look more frozen.

Balance: the rope triangle

1. Three people each hold one corner of the rope triangle. The corners are aperture, shutter speed and ISO.

2. Pull the rope tight. That is a correct exposure.

3. One person takes a step in. The rope goes slack.

4. Another person steps out until it is tight again.

5. That is what the camera does in every scene mode. Change one corner and another has to move.

How Portrait thinks: aperture first. It opens the lens as wide as it goes to blur the background and make the person stand out. It also softens skin tones. Lots of light comes in, so the camera balances with shutter speed and ISO.

Set the camera

1. Turn the mode dial to SCN.

2. Press SET.

3. Turn the Main dial to Portrait (the head).

4. Press SET.

5. Turn the zoom ring on the lens to 50.

Set up the shot

1. Stand or sit your person at least two metres in front of the background. The bigger the gap, the more the background blurs.

2. Face them towards a window or the brightest light in the room.

3. Stand about a metre and a half away from them.

4. Frame them from the chest up.

Take the shot

1. Press the shutter button halfway. A box lands on their face.

2. Wait for the box to turn green.

3. Read the numbers at the bottom of the screen. Say the f-number out loud.

4. Press all the way down.

5. Take three or four shots. People blink.

6. Press Playback and zoom in on the eyes to check they are sharp.

Try this: the fairy lights

1. Hang the fairy lights about two metres behind your person and switch them on.

2. Take a headshot in Portrait. Look at the lights in the photo. They should be soft glowing circles.

3. Now change mode: press SET, turn the Main dial to Group Photo (group of people), press SET.

4. Take the same shot. Read the f-number. It should be higher than before.

5. Press Playback and compare the two. In Group Photo the lights are smaller and sharper, and the background is busier.

6. Change back to Portrait before you carry on.

What you learned: a wide aperture (low f-number) blurs the background. That is why Portrait is the right choice for one person.

Swap over so everyone has a turn as photographer and as sitter.

How Group Photo thinks: aperture first, the other way round. It closes the lens to a smaller hole so people at the front and the back are all sharp. Less light comes in, so the shutter stays open a little longer. Hold the camera steady.

Set the camera

1. Turn the mode dial to SCN.

2. Press SET.

3. Turn the Main dial to Group Photo (the group of people).

4. Press SET.

5. Turn the zoom ring towards 18.

Set up the shot

1. Arrange people in one or two rows, close together, shoulders overlapping.

2. Step back until everyone fits with a little space around the edges.

3. Check nobody is hidden behind someone else.

Take the shot

1. Tuck your elbows into your body to keep the camera still.

2. Press the shutter button halfway. Wait for green.

3. Read the f-number at the bottom of the screen. Compare it with the one you saw in Portrait.

4. Press all the way down.

5. Take at least five shots. In a group, someone always blinks.

6. Press Playback and zoom in on a face in the back row to check it is sharp.

Try this: the row of toys

1. Line up five toys in a row running away from you, front to back.

2. Turn the zoom ring to 50 and stand about a metre away.

3. In Group Photo, press halfway, wait for green, and shoot.

4. Press Playback and zoom in on the back toy. It should be sharp, or close to it.

5. Now change mode: press SET, turn the Main dial to Portrait (the head), press SET.

6. Tap the front toy on the screen to focus on it, then shoot.

7. Press Playback and zoom in on the back toy again. It is now soft.

8. Change back to Group Photo before you carry on.

What you learned: a small aperture (high f-number) keeps more of the scene sharp from front to back. That is why Group Photo is the right choice for more than one person.

How Close-up thinks: it is tuned for small things photographed near the lens. A plain background and a steady camera do the rest.

Set the camera

1. Turn the mode dial to SCN.

2. Press SET.

3. Turn the Main dial to Close-up (the flower).

4. Press SET.

5. Turn the zoom ring to 50.

Set up the shot

1. Lay one sheet of white card flat on a table near a window.

2. Stand the second sheet up behind it as a backdrop.

3. Place the product in the middle of the flat sheet.

4. Remove everything else from view.

5. Put the camera on the tripod, level with the product.

Take the shot

1. Look at the screen and move the tripod until the product fills about two thirds of the frame.

2. Tap the product on the screen. The camera focuses where you tap.

3. Wait for the box to turn green.

4. Press the shutter button gently, all the way down.

5. Press Playback and zoom in on any lettering to check it is sharp.

6. Turn the product and repeat for a second angle.

Try this: too close

1. Take the camera off the tripod.

2. Move slowly towards the product, pressing the shutter button halfway as you go.

3. At some point the box turns orange instead of green. The lens cannot focus this close.

4. Move back until the box turns green again. That is your closest working distance.

What you learned: for products, keep the background plain, keep the camera steady, and do not get too close.

How Sports thinks: shutter speed first. It uses a very fast shutter to freeze movement. That lets in little light, so the lens opens wide and the ISO goes up. In a dim room that means some grain, which is a fair trade for a sharp photo.

Set the camera

1. Turn the mode dial to SCN.

2. Press SET.

3. Turn the Main dial to Sports (the runner).

4. Press SET.

Take the shot

1. Point the camera at the speaker.

2. Press the shutter button halfway and keep it there. A blue box follows the speaker as they move.

3. When the moment looks good, press all the way down and hold. The camera fires a burst of shots.

4. Let go after a second or two.

5. Press Playback, turn the Main dial through the burst, and pick the best one.

Good to know

• Sports mode is noisy. In a quiet room, choose Silent shutter from the same scene list. It takes one silent shot at a time.

• Flash does not work in Sports mode.

• If the shutter speed number at the bottom of the screen is blinking, the room is very dark. Brace yourself against a wall or a chair.

Try this: the glow stick speaker

1. Dim the room lights.

2. One person is the speaker. They walk slowly and wave a glow stick as they talk.

3. Photograph them in Sports. Press Playback and look at the glow stick and their hands.

4. Now change mode: press SET, turn the Main dial to Portrait (the head), press SET.

5. Photograph them again. Press Playback and compare. The hands and glow stick are more likely to blur.

6. Go back to a Sports photo and zoom right in. The speckle you can see is grain from the high ISO.

What you learned: a fast shutter freezes movement. In low light the camera pays for it with a higher ISO, which adds grain.

Pick a card, choose the scene mode without help, and take the shot.

1. "A new director starts Monday and needs a photo for the website. You have five minutes."

2. "The background behind your sitter is a messy office. Make it disappear."

3. "Twelve nurses are handing in a petition. Get all of them sharp."

4. "Two rows, front and back. Nobody blurry."

5. "The shop has a new mug and needs a clean picture by lunchtime."

6. "Shoot this badge so the lettering is readable."

7. "The speaker is pacing the stage and the lights are low."

8. "Catch someone clapping without blurry hands."

Answers: 1 and 2 Portrait. 3 and 4 Group Photo. 5 and 6 Close-up. 7 and 8 Sports.

• The dials do nothing. The LOCK button on top has been pressed. Press it again.

• The screen shows video settings. The power switch has gone one click past ON. Click it back.

• The lens will not focus. Check the switch on the front of the camera, beside the lens. It should be on AF, not MF.

• The focus box is orange, not green. You are too close, or there is nothing clear to focus on. Step back and try again.

• The camera keeps firing. Portrait and Sports shoot for as long as you hold the button. Lift your finger sooner.

• I cannot find the scene pictures. Turn the mode dial to SCN, then press SET.

• The viewfinder is black. It switches off when the screen is flipped out. Use the screen.

• The photo is blurry. Hold the camera with both hands, tuck your elbows in, and press the shutter gently.