So here you are! You have arrived at a place in your photography development where you, the artist, are taking full creative control of your DSLR. I am proud of you, and I can well imagine that your love of photography and your skills are blossoming and opening into realms that you may not have previously thought possible. At this point, your acquired knowledge should make shooting in Manual mode much less daunting, perhaps even a piece of cake.
You have some choices now as to how you would like to use your camera to capture those scenes that move your spirit. Do you wish to shoot in Manual mode or with the semiautomatic exposure modes? I’ve heard lots of talk and read countless arguments online about which is better, and personally I don’t understand what the big deal is. I don’t think one way is supreme, or that a photographer necessarily possesses more skill if she shoots in Manual. It’s a matter of preference.
Your DSLR is a tool, plain and simple. It’s how you choose to use it, how you take control of it to help you make the best photos you possibly can. Some photographers prefer to shoot in Manual all the time, using their DSLR’s internal light meter as a guide to achieving correct exposure. They prefer making exposure choices and corrections by dialing in settings as opposed to using features like exposure compensation or AE lock.
I’ve noticed that many SLR film photographers who have made the switch to a DSLR often prefer to shoot in Manual. That makes complete sense to me, as it’s what they know and have always done. Some professionals prefer to shoot in Aperture Priority mode most of the time, and utilize Manual mode only in special situations when they must have full control of aperture, shutter speed and ISO. I’ll give you some examples in a moment.
I shoot in Aperture Priority mode most of the time, because aperture is of utmost importance to me when it comes to making photos. I find it easiest to lock down the aperture I want, and then massage shutter speed and ISO to make it work.
I occasionally use Shutter Priority mode and rarely use Manual mode. If I were to shoot solely in Manual mode, I know that most of the time (except with tricky lighting situations) my process would be very similar to using Aperture Priority mode. I would first consider Metering mode and white balance, pick an ISO speed appropriate for the given light, dial in my aperture choice, and then manipulate shutter speed to bring the digital marker to the center of my light meter to achieve good exposure, which is exactly what the camera does for me in Aperture Priority mode, only faster. Sometimes I need to be fast, or else I miss the shot. If my setting choices are problematic, it’s easy enough to massage the ISO/shutter speed combination until it works.
There are those rare special scenarios when Manual mode is always the best choice, when you need full control over all your settings to reach your creative goal and obtain correct exposure. Manual mode is a must when taking photographs of lightning and fireworks, and is very helpful when both aperture and shutter speed are equally important for the creative outcome.
An example of that would be taking a portrait of a wiggly toddler in low light. Aperture is important because I wish to blur the background with a soft bokeh. Shutter speed is important because I have an on-the-go toddler to photograph in low light and need to keep the shutter speed set to at least 1⁄250 sec. to prevent subject blur.
In situations with plenty of light, obtaining a fast shutter speed is easy. In this case the toddler is moving around outdoors in overcast evening light, so the low light makes it harder to achieve this faster shutter speed. In Manual mode I dial in both my desired aperture and shutter speed settings and am prepared to increase ISO if necessary to maintain 1⁄250 sec.
Since this book is largely based on choice and inviting you to decide how you would like to use your DSLR to create images, I am going to present you with yet another option, a model for shooting in Manual mode that I call my “Creative Camera Model for Shooting in Manual Mode.” I am not reinventing the wheel here, but perhaps putting my own spin on similar approaches that are out there in the photography world.
Before exploring this Manual model, I recommend reviewing the Exposure’s Magic Three section, found in Chapter One.
What is most important to you: DOF or movement?
If it’s DOF, do you want shallow DOF (a wide aperture like f/4) for a soft, dreamy background that isolates your subject, or do you want greater DOF (a small aperture like f/22) for a landscape shot that’s in focus from front to back?
If movement is your main creative goal, do you want to freeze motion with a fast shutter speed (maybe a skateboarder frozen in mid-air at 1⁄500 sec.), capture motion progression with a slow shutter speed (as in a quintessential waterfall shot with a soft, cotton-candy effect at 2.5 sec.) or pan with a slow shutter speed like 1⁄60 sec. (resulting in a shot where your subject is frozen in time against a blurred background)? Sometimes thinking about what you don’t want, will help you know exactly what you do want.
Your main creative goal determines the primary camera setting, whether it be a wider or smaller aperture or fast or slow shutter speed. Your primary setting is supported by secondary settings (aperture or shutter speed, whichever one you did not select as your primary setting, and ISO) that help to achieve the creative goal and obtain a proper exposure.
Use your DSLR’s internal light meter as your guide. Dial in secondary settings that place the marker at dead-center 0 on the light meter, indicating correct exposure. Try to keep ISO as low as possible, as you know. The slightest bit of fluctuation in light will cause the marker to move, so as long as you do not go 2⁄3 of a stop above or below the center mark, your exposure should be fine.
Keep in mind that your evaluation of “proper” or “correct” exposure involves your personal taste and opinion. Are you looking for more classical shots, or something more creative like high-key photos that are a bit overexposed?
Notes: On occasion, you will have creative goals where two settings are of utmost importance (like the wiggly toddler example). Sometimes you will run into problems with your setting selections. We’ll talk about this in The Finer Details section, coming up quickly.
When making adjustments in Manual mode, you will often need to swap stops, or fractions of stops, because you are the one doing all the work.
For example, if you need an extra stop of shutter speed, you can have it as long as you give up a stop of aperture or a stop of ISO. I think you get the point; it’s all about balancing that exposure triangle to achieve correct exposure.
With the semiauto modes, although the swapping of stops occurs when you make adjustments, it feels a little bit different. For instance, when you reduce ISO speed by a stop in Aperture Priority mode, your DSLR swaps it with a stop of shutter speed to maintain standard exposure at 0.
What exactly do you do once you’ve determined what your main creative goal is? Start by setting your metering mode (Evaluative/Matrix, Partial, Spot, Center-Weighted), adjust the white balance setting, then carry out step two of your creative camera model as discussed previously.
Try to avoid unwanted aspects like high ISO or a slower shutter speed that could lead to unwanted subject blur. Use your light meter as a guide to arrive at proper exposure. Swap stops to make it work. Perhaps you need a tripod to accommodate a slower shutter speed, or if taking the shot handheld is your only option, you can always bump up the ISO or use a flash.
If you are not able to achieve your creative goal along with a proper exposure, you’ll need to go back and adjust your priorities.
Remember all of those tricky lighting scenarios we discussed when special features like exposure compensation and AE lock helped obtain proper exposure in the semiauto modes? In Manual mode you don’t have access to those features. Instead you dial in the settings yourself!
Let’s say you take a portrait with backlighting and the subject turns out underexposed. All you have to do in Manual mode is increase exposure by one to two stops by manipulating settings yourself. You can widen your aperture, slow your shutter speed or increase ISO.
Remember the rocky Maine coast example where there were dark rocks in the foreground and middle ground and a cottage on a hill in the background set against a bright sky? To achieve proper exposure in Manual mode, you would meter off the rocks in the foreground and use those settings to take the shot.
You’ve reached a very exciting point in your development as a photographer. You’re in the driver’s seat now! Congratulations! How will you choose to use your tool to make photographs?
In the e-companion to this book, I share a Composition Toolkit of rules, I mean possibilities, for creating stellar compositions. I also offer a Bag of Tricks, filled with a list of tools, tips and techniques you can use to ensure your photos come out looking well-focused and well-exposed—even in the trickiest of lighting situations. Visit CreateMixedMedia.com/artofeverydayphotography to learn more.
Toddler in Low Light - You should go into Manual mode if you need full control over both aperture and shutter speed, as I did here, creating a portrait of this moving toddler in low light by adjusting aperture control for shallow DOF to soften the background and shutter speed control to make sure the speed stayed fast enough to freeze his motion. 50mm f/1.8 lens, ISO 400, f/4 for 1⁄250 sec.
Fireworks - My brother-in-law has started a tradition of doing a fireworks display for the family. To capture some of the magic, I placed my camera on a tripod, made sure image stabilization was off, chose Continuous Focus mode, selected an aperture of f/16, set my ISO low to 100, turned the shutter speed to bulb, to allow the shutter to stay open as long as the shutter button is depressed, attached my shutter release cable, relaxed in my lawn chair with a cocktail and pressed the shutter release for a couple of seconds when I saw some pretty ones.
When shooting fireworks, I recommend doing some test shots to see how many seconds work best for you. 15–85mm f/3.5–5.6 lens at 67mm, ISO 100, f/16, bulb.
Lightning - Make sure you are in a safe place when photographing lightning. (I was actually looking out a window here.) A camera support is a must and a shutter release cable or wireless remote prevents blur that can result from touching the camera.
It’s nearly impossible to anticipate when the lightning will hit, so your best bet is to depress the shutter release for a few seconds using the bulb shutter speed setting in hopes that the lightning will strike during that time. Keep repeating this maneuver and eventually you will record the lightning.
When you do capture those amazing bolts, release the shutter button after the sky goes dark. Be sure to take your setting off of bulb when you are done. If you accidentally take a photo of the sun while in this mode, you can break your DSLR. Be sure to use the lowest ISO possible. 15–85mm f/3.5–5.6 lens at 15mm, ISO 100, f/8, bulb.
Waterfall - I placed my camera on a rock as my tripod wouldn’t go that low. Manual mode allowed me to easily manipulate my settings to accommodate the changes in light as I moved about taking waterfall shots. I set the aperture to f/22 and the ISO to 100 to allow for the slower shutter speed. The shade and overcast sky made this daytime long exposure possible without the help of a neutral density filter, which would reduce the amount of light that hits the image sensor.
Using my camera’s internal light meter as a guide, I manually set the shutter speed for as long as possible with each different shot, making sure to keep the light meter marker in the center of the continuum, ensuring proper exposure.
I also used the self-timer to avoid camera shake that would result from pressing the shutter button myself. 24–70mm f/2.8 lens at 24mm, ISO 100, f/22 for 2.5 sec. I applied the matte filter from CameraBag software.