All in one screen...

About Histogram...

A histogram is a chart that represents the distribution of pixels in each image. It is visible on the rear LCD screen during Live View shooting, or during playback, and is a very useful way to evaluate exposure. Histograms are sort of mountain-shaped; the height of each peak indicates how many pixels were recorded at particular brightness levels. The left side of the chart represents shadow areas; the right side represents highlight areas, and the center represents mid-tones.

Reading a histogram properly helps photographers determine the appropriate exposure for the scene, and whether they are at risk of severe under- or overexposure.However, if your histogram shows portions of the graph that appear to get cut off on the right, that means portions of your scene are severely overexposing to the point that detail may be lost. This is a warning that your exposure should be adjusted. Try applying minus Exposure Compensation, until you see that no part of your histogram is cut off at the right edge.

Another way to check for overexposure during playback is with a feature called Highlight Alert. When active, this alert shows all portions of the frame on the verge of overexposing with a blinking indicator. This is an optional feature that can be enabled or disabled,although Digital Rebels use it as a default during histogram playback.

About Metering system...

Camera meters measure the light reflecting off of subjects in the frame, and use those measurements to determine the appropriate exposure settings such as shutter speed, f-stop, or ISO.

This system is universally designed to render subjects as ‘middle gray’ or ‘18% gray’.

Just to clarify what that means: Middle gray is roughly the midtone on a gray scale – appearing to fall exactly between pure black and pure white.

Subjects of this tone reflect about 18% of light (comparatively, white objects reflect nearly 100% and black objects reflect nearly 0%).

In-camera light metering works reasonably well with most subjects, in most lighting situations.

However, there are tricky scenes that will baffle most meters – and snow is a classic example.

Most cameras have more than one metering mode (though they all use the basic reflective approach described above).

Evaluative: 

Metering is directly linked to, and concentrated on, the active Autofocus (AF) point.

Light values measured at the active AF point are compared with light values measured from the metering segments surrounding the active point, and the camera's metering system attempts to provide an accurate exposure based on that comparison.

This metering pattern is often effective when photographing people, but may not be quite as effective when photographing snowy landscapes depending on other elements in the scene.

Note that because Evaluative Metering is linked to active AF points,focusing on a different subject may result in a very different exposure – even within the same shot. Note: In the simulated viewfinder,Evaluative mode is shown with the left-most AF point active.

Spot: 

This metering mode gets exposure information only from the single exposure zone in the center of the frame (approximately 3% of the total picture area)

Partial: 

This metering mode is similar to Spot Metering, but covers a slightly larger area, reading only the cross-shaped central five metering zones (approximately 10% of the total picture area)

Center-weighted Average: 

This metering mode averages the exposure for the entire picture area, but with greater emphasis on the center metering zones.

When photographing snow, If the overall scene is evenly lit and of generally even brightness, than Center-weighted Average will work well to give a good overall exposure.

Spot and Partial metering will work well with subjects that have more extreme contrast, and/or when you don’t want one part of the shot to ‘confuse’ the meter.

These modes are very useful when used in combination with the Auto Exposure (AE) Lock button found on most digital SLRs.

Unfortunately, even when the camera ‘accurately’ determines the correct exposure using the metering mode of your preference,

with a subject like snow you are likely to see underexposed results. You can compensate by adding about one or two stops of exposure through Exposure Compensation in most of the Creative Zone AE modes (more on that below),

or by using a slower shutter speed, a wider aperture, or a higher ISO speed setting in Manual exposure mode

Exposure Compensation

Exposure Compensation (EC) is an easy way to get around your camera’s tendency to underexpose bright subjects, and overexpose dark ones.

It’s also very useful for photographers who are new to Creative Zone shooting because it doesn’t require extensive knowledge of f-stops or shutter speeds.

Exposure Compensation is available in P, Tv, Av and A-DEP shooting modes only (in Manual 'M' mode,

EC is completely disabled, and you have to make all exposure adjustments yourself)

   

About White balance...

The white balance is basically color correction right in your camera.

If the light you are photographing has more cold/blue tones,you will want to raise the white balance to a warmer/redder color temperature to even out the tones.

The basic white balance presets should be on your DSLR and are probably ordered in the exact same way:

• Incandescent/Tungsten (2500-3000K)

• Fluorescent (~4000-5000K)

• Daylight (~5200)

• Flash (~5400K)

• Cloudy (~6500-8000K)

• Shade (~8000-10000K)

• Custom / Saved Preset / Set Color Temperature

About ISO...

The ISO,International Organization for Standardization (also known as 'ASA' or simply 'film speed') determines how sensitive your sensor is to light.

The higher the ISO number, the brighter your image will be. The lower the ISO number, the darker your image will be.

But surely there is a side effect that comes along with ISO, and that is called noise.

Noise is basically color grain that destroys the fine detail and color in your photographs.

Always try to use the lowest ISO you can, especially when doing long exposure work.

Try to keep ISO in the 100-400 range.

About Aperture...

The aperture is how wide the hole in your lens is. It is very similar to your eyeball's pupil.

The bigger the diameter, the more light hits your camera's sensor. So, the bigger the opening, the brighter the image!

Sometimes you will hear people refer to the aperture as the “F-Stop” number. It's the same thing.

About Shutter Speed...

The shutter speed will be determined by you and how long you think it will take to make your light painting. In all DSLR cameras, there is a piece of cloth or plastic that is between the lens and the camera's sensor. This cloth is called the “shutter”.

When you push the button on your camera to take a picture, it opens the shutter for a duration of time, and then shuts it back up again to stop the exposure from taking place. Hence the term “shutter speed.

About Tripods...

A tripod is essential to have when you are working with trick photography because many of the tricks require that the camera remain in the exact same location in 3D space when taking a series of photos.

An old, heavy, bulky, clunky aluminum tripod purchased at a thrift store is probably better than a cheap plastic one purchased brand new at a camera store.

About Lenses...

Another reason to get a DSLR over a point-and-shoot is because DSLRs give you the option to swap different lenses on and off the camera body.

Lenses are more valuable than the camera body itself because the technology doesn't get outdated as frequently, they are a bigger factor in determining image quality, and they can be used with other DSLRs of the same brand.

That means that if you buy a good lens today, you will be able to use it on different camera bodies of the same brand tomorrow.

You will most likely go through more cameras than you will lenses.

One recommended additional item is a high quality protective UV filter for your lens .

This protects it from scratches and smudges.

About Camera...

Before starting to say about this,for those who are just starting out in photography,would be not to wory about what type of equipment to use.

Use a camera that is affordable to you and later if your passion increases,only then you should use something more expensive like DSLR cameras.

The reason why is that DSLR cameras are able to manually adjust the aperture, shutter speed, ISO, and white balance. Most DSLRs also have the option to take exposures that are 30 seconds in length.

This will be a useful feature to have when doing the tricks covered in the long exposure effects module.

Some high-end point-and-shoot cameras will work okay, but chances are if you want to have more control over what your final image will look like, a DSLR would be a much better option than a point-and-shoot.

After learning how to use the camera for a year or two get a better one.

Don't worry too much about which brand of camera to get because they are all basically the same. Canon, Nikon, Sony, whatever. It's the image that matters,not the what brand of camera it was taken with.

Getting a camera that allows wireless remotes, cable releases, an external flash sync (PC) port, and a mirror lock up mode is the next step up from a entry level DSLR.