Canon Rebel XS Please help I need it.

I have had this camera long enough and figured maybe it would be a good idea to see what it can do in the hands of someone that knows what they are doing.
I usually just use one of the auto settings and it takes decent pictures but would really like to learn more about shooting in raw and the settings I should be using.Thanks in advance for your help.8)8)
I am using the stock IS 18-55MM.

 

The lens is a good performer. To shoot raw you will need to need to set that in the menus.

Use the manual (M) setting. Then set your aperture to the depth of field you want, the larger the number the greater the depth. You will want to set your ISO to 800 or 1600, I think 1600 is the max it goes and then set your shutter speed so your meter is between centered and +1. You will probably need a tripod so you can get the best picture and a remote release to overcome shake cause from pressing the shutter button.

 

Thanks John I figured the tripod was pretty important because of the slower shutter speeds. Tinker time.;D

 

Personally I usually shoot in aperture priority mode (Av) I set the depth of field and the camera does everything else. You can get by without a remote by using the timer. My new camera automatically sets the ISO as well but with my previous one, I shot using 400-800 ISO.

 

Good advice, esp. on the tripod. Another thing you might want to do is adjust your white balance to the lighting of your tank. You can just put something white in the tank and adjust your camera to that...the lid of a prescription drug vial on a stick works well for this. I'll ask Renee what she sets her ISO to, but I do believe she pushes it some.

We pretty much never use flash photography for tank pix, FWIW.