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Canon T3i Experience
6
Learning to use and get the most out of a versatile dSLR camera like the T3i takes time,
practice, patience, mistakes, and experimentation. If you are not yet familiar with all the
controls of a dSLR and the exposure concepts of digital photography, don’t expect to
just pick it all up at once, in one or two readings of a single book. (In fact, you wouldn’t
want to, as the never ending task of learning and mastering photography is a big part of
what it’s all about!) Try not to become frustrated when you don’t quite understand
something or aren’t yet getting the results you desire. Instead learn the controls,
functions, settings, and concepts bit by bit, try them out in real life shooting situations,
and return to this guide, the manual, and other photography books to address questions
and problems you encounter. Continue to learn and to photograph often and it should
all begin to come together, sometimes slowly and sometimes in rapid spurts of
discovery and understanding.
If you have upgraded from an older dSLR to the T3i, you should find that many of the
basic controls and features are similar. And its additional features and capabilities will
more easily help you to capture images and photographs that you may have been
limited in consistently attaining before. If you are new to dSLR photography, this book
will help guide you through its features, controls, and capabilities. Be sure to take it
slowly and patiently and start with the basic features and concepts that I will explain.
With practice and experience you will soon be shooting with confidence and can begin
to take advantage of the camera’s more advanced functions.
Using This Guide
There are many different ways to use a digital SLR camera and its controls to capture
images, and many diverse situations in which photographers work. I’m going to
concentrate on the techniques that I believe are the most practical, useful, and effective
for the majority of intermediate and dedicated photographers. The settings and controls
I discuss can apply to various types of photography including everyday general
photography, action, and travel photography. Once you have a firm grasp of the
controls, settings, and basic techniques you will have the tools and knowledge to
address different issues and challenging situations, and I encourage you to experiment
and continue to learn.
Since this guide is intended to help you get the most out of your T3i, it will not go into
detail about all of the automatic features. The Canon T3i is a sophisticated tool that
deserves to be used to its full potential, and that involves taking control of the camera
and its functions, which means taking it off Auto, off Program, off automatically selected
auto-focus points, off Auto ISO. While this may be more challenging at first, these are
the techniques that are necessary to take full advantage of the capabilities of any dSLR
including the T3i, and will lead you to having more control and consistency over your
image making. Hopefully this will inevitably lead to better images!
This guide is intended to be used with the camera in your hands. That is the best way
to directly follow and understand the controls, functions, and settings as they are being
explained. It is also intended to be used in conjunction with and in addition to the
camera’s manual, not to completely replace it, so every bit of information in the Canon