Know your camera. Stephen!

Early last year, I was the proud owner of a new Nikon D700. I picked it up just before I went across to Sydney to watch Tropfest. At the time, I had a 50mm lens with me, and I was more than happy to play with the range that the lens gave. I was happily shooting people (sounds bad), when I came across this skate park in Bondi. I turned the camera to Continuous Mode High (CH) so that I could capture multiple frames of the skaters flying by. I was about to show off to my mate how fast the D700 could go when embarrassingly I stood there capturing only 3 frames at a time in a burst. Dene asked if the buffer was filling up and I couldn’t answer him. I had been shooting all weekend, and as far as I knew, I had only changed basic settings like the White Balance, ISO, Aperture and Shutter Speed. Maybe it was the buffer? NO! I couldn’t be? What the hell? So, for the first time, I sat down, got my manual out, and realised I had accidentally set the camera to to take 3 frames in a row where it would shoot a frame at 0ev, +1ev and -1ev. I had inadvertently switched to that setting without knowing. I could have captured so much more if I KNEW my camera! Oh well… Learnt my lesson. The message to everyone, know your camera. Read the manual, become familiar where options are, what the buttons and dials do, and how you can set the custom settings. It will save you in the field, and allow you to capture images unhindered. And your mates won’t scoff!