Nikon Learn & Explore posted an article about how to read your Nikon manual. Regardless of whether you own a Nikon D-SLR it’s a good article because it talks about the importance of reading your camera manual. I know, I know, how boring to read a manual when you can just pick up the camera a start monkeying around with it. Do that, too. But eventually read the manual, okay?

• You’ll learn about the menu system and what all the little buttons mean on the outside of your camera body
• There’s normally a basic guide on how to take certain types of photos: portrait, landscape, night shots
• Discover how to take trick shots, like multiple exposures
• Learn about nifty things you had no idea your camera could do, like trigger remote flash units

The following is a quote form Ansel Adams, courtesy of Marc Silber…

The next time you pick up a camera think of it not as an inflexible and automatic robot, but as a flexible instrument whic hyou must understand to properly use.

Digest it slowly. Read the quick start guide first. Then read the sections that interest you. I hope this quick post has inspired you to at least think about picking up your manual!