How To use Your camera on manual
Learning how to use a camera can be frustrating and time consuming, but if you understand how to work your camera using the manual settings you'll find it much easier to take pictures when it's on auto. When the camera is on auto it makes exposure settings according to how much light is coming into the lens, and even though cameras these days are very clever they can't cope with every situation. You will often need to take control yourself, and with digital cameras you can tell whether your manual adjustment has made a difference.
You don't always need to set your camera to ‘full manual setting' to make changes to the camera auto settings, I'll talk about this at the end of this piece but first I need to get the tech stuff out of they way.
Aperture Size.
The size of the aperture determines how much light passes through your lens, large apertures let more light pass through, small apertures let less light pass through.
Aperture settings are referred to as f-stops, or f-numbers, expressed as a fraction, such as f/22. However, to save space, f-numbers are often denoted by just their denominator, such as 22. Note, the larger the f-number, the smaller the relative aperture.
On a manual camera, f-numbers are usually adjusted with a ring outside your lens barrel. A typical sequence of f-numbers on a camera run, from largest to smallest aperture: 1.8, 2.8, 4, 5.6, 8, 11, 16, 22.
The difference between each f-number is twice the amount of light. So, aperture setting f/16 lets in twice as much light as f/22.
The aperture size determines the depth of field, or zone of sharp focus, that surounds your subject: whereas small apertures (high f-numbers) produce a long depth of field, large apertures (small f-numbers) produce a short depth of field. Therefore, if you're taking a picture of a landscape, and you want both foreground and background to be in focus, use a small aperture such as f/16. On the other hand, if you're taking a picture of a friend or family member, and you want to place more emphasis on them by blurring the background, use a large aperture such as f/4.
Shutter Speed.
Release the shutter, you will see the aperture momentarily open for the length of time set by the shutter speed.
The shutter speed determines how long your film/digital sensor is exposed to light passing through the aperture: the slower the shutter speed, the longer the shutter remains open, the more light reaches your film/digital sensor. So, both aperture size and shutter speed determine the final exposure of your picture.
Like f-numbers, shutter speeds are expressed as a fraction, such as 1/60 second. However, to save space, shutter speeds are often denoted by just their denominator, such as 60. The larger the shutter speed number, the shorter the amount of time your film/digital sensor is exposed to light.
On manual cameras, the shutter speed is usually adjusted by a circular control knob on top of the camera. A typical sequence of shutter speeds on a camera run, from slowest to fastest: 1, 2, 4, 8, 15, 30, 60, 125, 250, 500, 1000.
The shutter speed determines the amount of motion blur a moving object will have in your final picture. Use a fast shutter speed (such as 1/500 sec) to freeze fast moving objects in their trajectory, or use a slow shutter speed (such as 1/2 sec) to illustrate movement by creating motion blur.
Like f-numbers, the difference between each shutter speed setting is twice the amount of light. For example, shutter speed 1/60 sec lets in twice as much light as 1/125 sec.
Due to the doubling/halving nature of both aperture and shutter settings, closing the aperture one stop (halving the light) while simultaneously decreasing the shutter speed by one setting (doubling the light) produces no effective change in the amount of light reaching your film/digital sensor. The same is true for closing the aperture two stops while decreasing the shutter speed by two settings. This means there are several aperture and shutter settings which produce the same overall exposure of your final picture. For example, the combination f/4 and 1/60 sec produces the same overall exposure as f/2.8 and 1/125 sec, or f/5.6 and 1/30 sec. This is not to say these settings will produce the same final picture since the combination you choose will determine the depth of field surrounding your subject (aperture size) and the amount of motion blur of moving objects (shutter speed).
Exposure Meter.
Most camera light meters estimate the exposure of your final snapshot by a "center-weighted" averaging algorithm, more sophisticated DSLR cameras can also meter ‘Spot" or very small parts of the subject, and ‘Evaluative' which can cope with backlit subjects.
One condition that often "fools" the light meter is when a subject is backlit or the sun is shining behind your subject. You can tell if the meter has been fooled if your subject is underexposed.
For the same reason, a dark or black object occupying the center of the viewfinder will also "fool" the light meter. You can tell here if the meter has been fooled if your subject is overexposed.
Objects of average light intensity are grey stone, weathered wood, foliage or dark skin.
How to fix over or underexposure.
There are a number of techniques you can use to fix over or under exposure. There are two I use most often.
1. If you have your camera set to Av (aperture priority) or Tv (speed or time priority) you can take control yourself quickly by telling your camera to overexpose or underexpose by moving the exposure slider on your LCD panel to plus or minus. Normally one or two stops will fix your image. If your camera is set to Av you will adjust the shutter speed, if it is set to Tv you will adjust the aperture.
2. Set your camera to manual. Now you have control over both aperture and shutter speed. The camera's light meter will still tell you what it thinks the ideal exposure should be, and as you adjust both the speed and the aperture the camera will tell you whether you are over or underexposing. When you first try this out it's a good idea to put your camera on a tripod as there are so many things to think about, and if the camera is not moving around you'll see how your adjustments are affecting your image.
Practice makes perfect and as usual my advice is to take lots and lots of pictures, be adventurous, and don't worry if you find it confusing to begin with.
More here: http://www.weddingphotographerslondon.uk.com/
You don't always need to set your camera to ‘full manual setting' to make changes to the camera auto settings, I'll talk about this at the end of this piece but first I need to get the tech stuff out of they way.
Aperture Size.
The size of the aperture determines how much light passes through your lens, large apertures let more light pass through, small apertures let less light pass through.
Aperture settings are referred to as f-stops, or f-numbers, expressed as a fraction, such as f/22. However, to save space, f-numbers are often denoted by just their denominator, such as 22. Note, the larger the f-number, the smaller the relative aperture.
On a manual camera, f-numbers are usually adjusted with a ring outside your lens barrel. A typical sequence of f-numbers on a camera run, from largest to smallest aperture: 1.8, 2.8, 4, 5.6, 8, 11, 16, 22.
The difference between each f-number is twice the amount of light. So, aperture setting f/16 lets in twice as much light as f/22.
The aperture size determines the depth of field, or zone of sharp focus, that surounds your subject: whereas small apertures (high f-numbers) produce a long depth of field, large apertures (small f-numbers) produce a short depth of field. Therefore, if you're taking a picture of a landscape, and you want both foreground and background to be in focus, use a small aperture such as f/16. On the other hand, if you're taking a picture of a friend or family member, and you want to place more emphasis on them by blurring the background, use a large aperture such as f/4.
Shutter Speed.
Release the shutter, you will see the aperture momentarily open for the length of time set by the shutter speed.
The shutter speed determines how long your film/digital sensor is exposed to light passing through the aperture: the slower the shutter speed, the longer the shutter remains open, the more light reaches your film/digital sensor. So, both aperture size and shutter speed determine the final exposure of your picture.
Like f-numbers, shutter speeds are expressed as a fraction, such as 1/60 second. However, to save space, shutter speeds are often denoted by just their denominator, such as 60. The larger the shutter speed number, the shorter the amount of time your film/digital sensor is exposed to light.
On manual cameras, the shutter speed is usually adjusted by a circular control knob on top of the camera. A typical sequence of shutter speeds on a camera run, from slowest to fastest: 1, 2, 4, 8, 15, 30, 60, 125, 250, 500, 1000.
The shutter speed determines the amount of motion blur a moving object will have in your final picture. Use a fast shutter speed (such as 1/500 sec) to freeze fast moving objects in their trajectory, or use a slow shutter speed (such as 1/2 sec) to illustrate movement by creating motion blur.
Like f-numbers, the difference between each shutter speed setting is twice the amount of light. For example, shutter speed 1/60 sec lets in twice as much light as 1/125 sec.
Due to the doubling/halving nature of both aperture and shutter settings, closing the aperture one stop (halving the light) while simultaneously decreasing the shutter speed by one setting (doubling the light) produces no effective change in the amount of light reaching your film/digital sensor. The same is true for closing the aperture two stops while decreasing the shutter speed by two settings. This means there are several aperture and shutter settings which produce the same overall exposure of your final picture. For example, the combination f/4 and 1/60 sec produces the same overall exposure as f/2.8 and 1/125 sec, or f/5.6 and 1/30 sec. This is not to say these settings will produce the same final picture since the combination you choose will determine the depth of field surrounding your subject (aperture size) and the amount of motion blur of moving objects (shutter speed).
Exposure Meter.
Most camera light meters estimate the exposure of your final snapshot by a "center-weighted" averaging algorithm, more sophisticated DSLR cameras can also meter ‘Spot" or very small parts of the subject, and ‘Evaluative' which can cope with backlit subjects.
One condition that often "fools" the light meter is when a subject is backlit or the sun is shining behind your subject. You can tell if the meter has been fooled if your subject is underexposed.
For the same reason, a dark or black object occupying the center of the viewfinder will also "fool" the light meter. You can tell here if the meter has been fooled if your subject is overexposed.
Objects of average light intensity are grey stone, weathered wood, foliage or dark skin.
How to fix over or underexposure.
There are a number of techniques you can use to fix over or under exposure. There are two I use most often.
1. If you have your camera set to Av (aperture priority) or Tv (speed or time priority) you can take control yourself quickly by telling your camera to overexpose or underexpose by moving the exposure slider on your LCD panel to plus or minus. Normally one or two stops will fix your image. If your camera is set to Av you will adjust the shutter speed, if it is set to Tv you will adjust the aperture.
2. Set your camera to manual. Now you have control over both aperture and shutter speed. The camera's light meter will still tell you what it thinks the ideal exposure should be, and as you adjust both the speed and the aperture the camera will tell you whether you are over or underexposing. When you first try this out it's a good idea to put your camera on a tripod as there are so many things to think about, and if the camera is not moving around you'll see how your adjustments are affecting your image.
Practice makes perfect and as usual my advice is to take lots and lots of pictures, be adventurous, and don't worry if you find it confusing to begin with.
More here: http://www.weddingphotographerslondon.uk.com/
