Don't Read your Camera Manual

Is that startling for me to say?

Why do I say that? I've often said, read your manual. But I don't I don't read mine. It's not a novel, not interesting, book clubs don't recommend it. Don't read it.

About 70 years ago my highschool instructor offered this advice. "You don't have to remember everything. You need to know how to find everything". Reflecting on much of my life that's just what I've done. 

Technical documents, manuals, ... You don't read them you discover where to find "everything".  Start with the chapters,  contents, features index, index.

So don't read, discover. Remember you eat and elephant bite by bite.  Topic by topic.

I want to take good pictures

If your goal is to only take good pictures just learn about composition and use the camera you have in your hand. Do you mean a cellphone camera? Yes. Most newer phone cameras do a fantastic job. But I have a top level camera. You will get good pictures in Auto mode. My camera doesn't have a Auto mode. Then you purchased a camera beyond just taking good pictures, it's a pro-rated camera.

What should I do to get pictures that are better than good? Study, it's that simple. Photography is about light. There are 3 adjustments that control light. Two are creative and one a brightness control, like a volume control.

The creative controls are Aperture and Shutter Speed. 

Aperture - the size of the lens opening, f-stop. Aperture controls DoF, Depth of Field. Although distance from camera to subject to background DoF.

Shutter Speed - controls motion, your motion as well the scenes motion.

Brightness - known as ISO. Higher ISO, like gain or volume, increase noise.

"Choose your Shutter Speed with PURPOSE and your Aperture with FEELING. Then adjust the BRIGHTNESS with ISO." Joe Edelman

There's much more in later posts and in previous posts.