Practical Tips For Photography In Manual Mode

Alex Katsikides - Once you realise that photography in manual mode is a juggling act between 3 main things on your camera you will grasp the concept. So you must be prepared to learn the ideas and concepts behind each of the 3 following things.

1. SHUTTER SPEED
2. APERTURE VALUES
3. ISO SETTINGS

Once you have each individual concept for the above in your head start taking photos. The only way to truly understand each factor above is to put them into practice and learn by doing. You may not achieve what you want straight away however, with persistence you will get there. Don't be afraid to fail, the beauty of digital photography is that you can take as many photographs as you want until you get your desired result.



10 Tips On Manual Photography

1. Pick up your camera and start snapping.
2. Understand the 3 basic settings of photography that allow your camera to capture a picture: shutter speed, ISO, aperture.
3. Begin with camera in aperture priority mode, which will allow you to adjust the aperture and ISO settings but will choose the shutter speed for you. Do this until you feel comfortable.
4. With a better understanding of each factor switch to manual mode and adjust each setting until the see the correlation between the numbers and the results.
5. Don't give up.
6. Learn to read your camera's lighting meters.
7. Learn about white balance and how to adjust it.
8. Change your camera to shoot in RAW instead of JPEG. This way you can adjust the exposure and many other settings of your photograph in Adobe Photoshop or similar programs without affecting the quality too much.
9. Use one lens to begin with until you understand the basic settings.
10. Once mastered learn about lenses, the different types and how a lens can effect the overall settings of your camera.

I could go on, however for me the main thing about photography is not to be scared of that big "M" on the dial as at some point the only way to be able to achieve the photograph you want will be to use manual mode. I make many mistakes every time I go out to take photographs. For me it's about learning from those mistakes and having the knowledge to be able to correct each mistake until you get the photograph you want. Good Luck!

We are a small photography company based on the Isle of Wight. We are inspired by long shutter speeds in most situations... Day or night. Astrophotography is a particular passion.

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