EXIF Data
EXIF Data is the information stored in an image file, and you can access it in a variety of ways.
If the camera you purchased came with bundled software, and, of course, if you installed this software, then it might have an option that shows you the EXIF data.
But you can access this information without any special software. In Windows XP, for example, right click on the file you want to see the EXIF data for, and click properties (you can just press Alt + Double Click). Choose the Summary Tab and click Advanced. If you are new to this, here are some screenshots that could help you:
On the “Summary” Tab, click “Advanced”
On the “Advanced” screen of the “Summary” tab, you can see the settings the photographer used when shooting the photo.
If you have Firefox installed, yet another way to access this information is with the help of a free extension called Exif Viewer. This nifty extension shows you everything there is to see as far as photos are concerned. Sometimes, though, the EXIF Data is omitted when photos are saved on websites. In that case, Exif Viewer won’t be able to show you anything, obviously.
This extension shows you a lot of info about a photo. Just right-click on any photo in Firefox and choose “View Image Exif Data”.
If you are a beginner photographer, we highly recommend studying the EXIF data of photos shot by good photographers (bad photographers don’t have very valuable EXIF data, do they?). It’s the best thing to do to learn from them aside from communicating directly with them.