Be honest.

No, seriously. Be honest.

If the answer is “no”, I’m not going to strongly reprimand you or report you to the camera police. I’ll just say what you already know…

This is probably a missed opportunity.

The modern camera has a lot of features. Some of these features a quite wonderful and are waiting to be discovered.

Did you read the manual that came with your camera? Like, front to back?

I did. Not because I’m a nerd (although that could be argued as a contributing factor), but because I want to know what my camera can do. Features like back-button focus completely changed both how I take pictures and the quality of pictures that I took.

Yes, there is something to be said for learning by fiddling. Some people may have a fairly intuitive sense for how to access options. But if you want to know every last detail about what you can and can’t do with your camera, the manual is the place to go.

Knowing your buttons also makes you more versatile as a photographer. Being able to switch settings and functions on the fly, maybe even without taking your eye off of the action, can be the difference between a moment captured and an opportunity missed.

So take the time you need to become familiar with your camera. Sit down with the manual and finally figure out what happens when you hit that curious little button you’ve been trying to ignore.

Every button and feature on your camera has been put there for a reason.

So explore!