The Art of Photography: Nikon D5000 From Snapshots to Great Shots by Jeff Revell

Still concerned that images can lack clarity and sharpness, and also that I struggle with getting the correct or desired exposure, I decided to re-read the manuals. This is the second time I've read this book but I felt that I needed to make sure I hadn't missed anything basic.

Learning points:

shoot in Adobe RGB colour space for best results for printing BUT in processing change to sRGB for digital use
use the histograms to determine exposure; too much skew to left or right will show under or over exposure
hold the camera properly to reduce blur!
check firmware is up-to-date regularly
where sharpness is required make sure the aperture is set to f/9 or higher (I sometimes forget to check this)
tripod and slower shutter speed and high ISO will create sharper images - bur the example used of a close up of some moss on a bark was ISO 100 1/20 sec and f/11 did he mean low ISO?
can use high key and low key settings to over or under expose deliberately for effect
I reset my focus mode from AF-S to AF-A mode so that it will switch automatically to AF-C mode if the subject is moving
use Aperture priority for wildlife, landscape, macro, architecture (smaller aperture f/11 for more sharpness)
use Shutter priority for freezing action, deliberate blur (motion), long exposures to gather light, silky looking water
use Manual mode for overriding metering - e.g. Silhouettes, or for evening out bright and dark areas, and for learning how each exposure element interacts
raise ISO only as a last resort - keep low otherwise (although Macro is better with a high ISO??)
use Exposure Compensation/Aperture button to make over and underexposure changes (doesn't work in M mode) - under exposing by 1/3 will improve colour saturation - look at the auto highlights ("blinkies") as a guide for when to use
in changing light conditions and using S priority - use the ISO sensitivity auto control feature to avoid constant resetting ISO
(don't lean on your iPad while you are in the middle of updating your blog...)
AF-C mode for fast moving objects or even AF Dynamic
3D tracking AF mode for stationary to moving
manual focus for anticipated action - pre focus on closest stationary object
continuous shoot mode for very fast moving objects
shoot moving objects coming towards you or moving into the frame
centre-weighted metering is good for portraits or strong back lighting
otherwise, matrix metering is good for most situations (I was set to centre-weighted for some reason...)
AE-Lock to lock exposure setting from any portion of the scene if using centre-weighted metering
AF-S focus mode for portraits - keeps eyes sharp
detect faces with live view - autofocus face priority
use flash to fill in shadows on faces but turn down the flash compensation
turn off VR when using a tripod
use lowest ISO possible when shooting landscapes (try not to go above 400)
shooting landscapes with vast tonal ranges - check blinkies and then use exposure compensation to underexpose - then check blinkies again and keep going until the exposure is balanced
use tripod and apply HFD/small aperture for sharp landscapes - focus on one object about 1/3 distance into frame - and AF-S focus mode (not sure what this achieves - can also move cursor to change focual point?)
use manual focus to emphasise foreground objects e.g. with wide-angle lens and low angle (rocks etc)
waterfall shots - use ISO 200 (or lower), smallest aperture, long shutter speed for silky effect - but from aperture priority - check blinkies - may need to adjust exposure to add detail into waterfall
using a polariser and adding two stops of exposure allows for longer exposure under midday sun (darkened blue sky)
N-grad filter will darken scene by one, two or three stops
think about the order in which the eye looks at an image: brightness, then sharpness, then colours. So think about how you want the eye to travel when composing - could be circular?
for scenes which have a range of tonal values (shadows and highlights) (works well with overcast skies) - use HDR: shoot in continuous mode and aperture priority, take 3 images with same ISO (e.g. 200), focal length, aperture (f/9) (on a tripod) but different shutter speeds e.g. 1/800, 1/200, 1/50 (to create over, normal, and under-exposed images) then use software "tonemapping" to combine images and produce final version - use AE bracketing AE 2.0 with the ISO and aperture set and shoot
bracketing can also be used to bracket to just one side of exposure compensation by setting exposure compensation to +/- 1
Hi 0.3 = ISO 4000, Hi 0.7 = ISO 5000, Hi 1 = ISO 6400, Lo1 = ISO 100
spot metering reads off the focus point - good for snow or beach environments - strongly backlight subjects that leave the subject under exposed, and strong contrast, sunrises and sunsets (use AE Lock to meter the brightest part of the sky and then recompose)
use BULB setting in manual mode for control over closing the shutter (good for lightening storms)
switch Active D-lighting to normal to keep brighter more detailed shadow areas while maintaining good exposure on skies (I had this turned off for some reason....)

A lot of things to practise!

Shots of my back garden using the AE bracketing at 2.0, f/9.5, ISO 100, active d-lighting at normal and matrix metering and a polariser due to the bright sunshine: