Chandratal

Bhaswaran

Mridula, have you used an SLR before? You can visit this site www.betterphoto.com for tutorials. They can guide you.

There are many things in your camera- The focussing is automatic, so leave that to the camera.

If you cannot find out, just put the camera on the Program [P] mode and use as a point and shoot camera. Still, it will give nice pics. But if you can understand Shutter Priority and Aperture Priority modes, you can get better results.

The camera manual goes through a lot of things, understanding all of which may be tiresome and not necessary for you.

Just remember, when on Aperture Priority, as you move up on the aperture number, it will give sharper landscapes. For example, Aperture No. 16 will given sharper result than 5.6.

But also notice the relevant shutter speed at the same time, it should not come down below 1/60 of a second if you are hand holding the camera (for it will blur the image). As you will be trekking, I will advise you to keep it 1/125 or higher (at least at the time when you are gasping for air). If you put the camera on a tripod, then you need not worry about shutter speed. Early morning and late evening, and if moonlit shots will require tripod for better results.

Try to shoot at apertures about f8 to f22 for better landscapes (aperture priority) and while trekking, turn to shutter priority and keep the shutter speed at 1/125 or 1/180 for better results.

At those altitudes and my experience at Lahaul, I think you need not worry about good sunlight.


Dhananjay - I agree with you but filters will give you better results if you can use them in the correct way. (and remember they also acts as protector of the lens from the front, in a case if you knock the lens on a rock, the broken filter will be easy to replace but not the lens for its cost)

mridula

Bhaswaran, many thanks for all your tips and the link to the bestphoto website. I will surely share the results with all of you. I do use the manual modes but of course not too happy with the results as of now. But I am trying

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mridula

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