Photo credit

1. There is a correct way to press the shutter button. After you frame the shot, press and hold the shutter button  halfway down. When focus is established, the camera will give a little beep.  The focus indicator is a little green light that indicates that the camera has locked focus. It is located on the far right side of the viewfinder screen. Then you press the shutter button the rest of the way down to record the image.
2. Early morning and late afternoons (right before the sunrise) usually provide the best lighting so try to take your photographs at that time of day. For any time of day though make sure the sun is at your back as much as possible.
3. You can adjust the viewfinder focus to suit your eyesight. Right at the top-right edge of the viewfinder is a tiny black knob called the dioptric adjustment control.  To do this first remove the lens cap from the front of the lens. Look through the viewfinder and you will see the focusing screen which contains a group of nine autofocus points. They are little squares with dots inside. Rotate the viewfinder adjustment knob until the autofocus points seem to be in focus. Don’t worry about the actual picture now; just pay attention to the sharpness of the autofocus points.
4. A lot of the buttons on the T1i have multiple names because they serve multiple purposes. It all depends on if you are taking pictures, reviewing pictures, or doing some other function.
5. You access many of your camera’s features through the internal menus that appear on the monitor when you press the Menu button. There are nine menus. Color has a purpose on these menus. Shooting Menus and the Movie Menu are red. Playback menus are blue. The “My Menu” icon is green.