Most of the steps involved in taking a still picture in Live View mode on your Nikon D7100 are essentially the same as for viewfinder photography.
By pressing the i button, you can display a control strip that offers quick access to the settings labeled in the figure.
After you display the strip, use the Multi Selector to highlight the option you want to change and then press OK to display a list of the available options for that setting. Make your choice and press OK again. Press i again to exit the control strip.
With that detail out of the way, here are the steps to shoot a photo:
Choose an exposure mode (Auto, P, Scene, and so on).
Select this setting via the Mode dial on top of the camera; be sure to press the lock release button in the center of the dial before attempting to turn the dial.
The exposure mode determines what picture settings you can control. For full control over all camera options, use the P, S, A, or M mode. (P is the most automatic of these four modes.)
Choose the Release mode via the Release mode dial.
The Release mode dial lies underneath the Mode dial; don't forget to press the adjacent button to unlock the dial before trying to rotate it. For normal photography, set the dial to S for Single Frame shooting.
You then get one photo for each press of the shutter button. Note that for remote control shooting with the ML-L3 wireless remote, you must enable the feature via the i button control strip or the Shooting menu.
Rotate the Live View switch to the still camera position and then press the LV button in the center of the switch.
Review and adjust other picture settings.
At the default Live View display mode, you can view critical shooting settings on the monitor. (Press the Info button to change display modes.) A few side notes:
Some settings, such as Exposure Compensation and Flash Compensation, appear only when those features are enabled.
If you enable automatic exposure bracketing, you also see a BKT symbol underneath the Image Size/Quality icon at the top-right corner of the monitor.
The exposure meter appears in M (manual exposure mode) to help you gauge whether your exposure settings are on track. In the P, S, and A exposure modes, the meter appears only if the camera anticipates an exposure problem; the meter tells you how far over- or underexposed the image will be.
In this regard, the aperture or shutter speed value blinks to indicate an exposure issue. You may also see a blinking flash symbol, which is a suggestion that you use flash. (Just press the Flash button on the side of the camera to raise the flash.)
If focusing manually, turn the focusing ring to set focus.
If using autofocusing, position the focus frame over the subject.
And if you’re using Subject Tracking autofocus, press OK to initiate tracking.
Press and hold the shutter button halfway down.
Exposure metering begins but is adjusted up to the time you take the picture. If you're using Auto exposure mode or certain Scene modes, the built-in flash may pop up in dim lighting.
You can lock autoexposure by pressing the AE-L/AF-L button; an AE-L symbol then appears next to the Metering mode icon.
If you’re autofocusing, focus locks when the focus frame turns green and remains locked as long as you keep the shutter button pressed halfway.
Press the shutter button the rest of the way to take the picture.
If you're shooting in Continuous High or Continuous Low (burst) Release mode, the photos being recorded appear on the monitor in place of the live scene while the shutter button is pressed. In other Release modes, the picture appears briefly on the screen immediately after you take the shot, and then the Live View preview reappears.
