Watch that dial

It was only after using the D90 for about a year that I noticed the exposure display in my viewfinder. It was another few months later that I realized the Manual mode is actually assisted by this display. I wished someone had told me about these earlier. So I am telling you now.

The exposure display tells you how much you have underexposed or overexposed before you take that intended shot. This feature is not available in my previous digicam (and I assume is not commonly available in other digicams as well). If you have never used it before in your DLSR, start looking at it from now on. It made a world of a difference to my photography. Here are some sample pictures I took today; without any post processing done at all. I merely relied on the exposure display, and used the histogram to check the result.

In conjunction with the exposure display, you need to be adept at using the AE compensation dial. This is a quick way to adjust the exposure up or down. It enables your camera to automatically compensate for the exposure when shooting in the P, A, S, or M modes.

While you are checking out the AE dial, check out the flash compensation as well. It allows you to set the flash output lower or higher. It is desirable to reduce the flash output when used as fill-in flash to avoid the flat flash look.

If you have never been completely satisfied with the exposure in your shots, the above will give you more control than you ever imagined, if you have never used these features before. They did for me.