exposure, angles and determination

If you asked me if I knew what I was doing the first time I picked up a camera, I would have smiled, fibbed (ok, outright lied) and said yes. Because the truth is, I had NO idea what I was doing when I bought my first DSLR, a Canon Rebel. The manual was too wordy for my engineering brain. (Funny that I write this statement now since words, writing and reading are all a pieces of who I am today.) Seriously, the manual that came with the camera did not give me the information I wanted. If I had been patient and read through it like everyone advised, I would have learned a LOT more in the beginning. So, how did I learn how to use that lovely camera...I practiced, read books and practiced some more. And a LOT of determination. A lot. I wrote a post not too long ago about photographers who are starting from square one. I believe the focus of this blog post is step number eight: practice in manual. Now, I understand I do not know everything because really, I do not know everything there is about photography. But, I now understand my purpose in life (helping others in any way possible), so I intend on sharing my knowledge about this very subject to those who are learning either as photographers or hobbyists to use their camera. My approach may be wrong, but it is the way I learned. And, I am slowly learning much like anything in life, there is not a right or wrong way.

When I first picked up my Canon Rebel back in the summer of 2009, the first question I had was what everything on the dial represented. The abbreviations might be different from the different brands of cameras out there, but for the Canon these four modes were the ones I paid attention to and practiced in order from when I started into photography:

*P (portrait mode): the camera automatically selects the aperture and shutter speed
*A or Av (aperture priority): you select the aperture and the camera selects the ISO, white balance and shutter speed
*S or Tv (shutter speed priority): you select the shutter speed and the camera selects the aperture, ISO and white balance
*M (manual mode): you are in full control of the ISO, aperture and shutter speed

I had no idea what ISO, shutter speed and aperture to set in manual to make the photo come out, so I spent the first year only photographing in portrait mode. Yes, there were times where my photos were either under or overexposed, and I would spend hours editing my photographs adjusting all the settings losing sense of why I was photographing with such a nice camera. During the summer of 2010, I decided to start playing with the other modes and then finally turning the dial to manual. I had many days of frustration trying to learn how to photograph in manual mode. Then came that hot, VERY HOT summer day where I had a family of five (three of which were little ones under the age of five) to photograph. That same day is when Bryan asked me to turn the dial from portrait to manual mode. I'm pretty sure the heat was getting to him because surely he was out of his mind. But, my husband is my biggest cheerleader, coach and everything in between, so when he says in his "serious" tone a request as crazy as that, I respond with ok. Well, Bryan's request is how my style begun to be defined. Meaning, I was not spending hours in front of the computer in Photoshop fixing all my photos. Instead, I spent less than one minute on each photo to enhance the colors, make them pop, give them a little warmth and then turn the photo in black and white. Shooting in manual and never looking back has been the best decision I (Bryan too!) ever made!

I suggest playing with the other modes first when starting out because it will help you understand the settings more when you get to manual. Some tips when photographing in manual mode:

1. ISO: This is the speed of light that travels into your camera. It also controls how much noise (grain) you allow into your photos. Some photographers love grain while others do not care for the grain. Personally, depending on the emotions or mood you capture, the noise adds a little something to the photograph. As a rule of thumb when setting ISO, if I am outside on a sunny day, I keep my ISO at 100. If it is an overcast day, maybe turn it to 125 or 160. If I am inside (depending on the light source), I start my ISO at 1200+ until the photographs look how I want them to. Most of the time, depending on if I am inside or outside, my ISO is fixed.

2. Aperture: This is how the camera collects light into the lens and how depth of field is carried out in your photos. It depends if you want the background to be blurred out or in focus. If you want it blurred, keep the aperture at two to three f-stops from where you aperture begins. For instance, I photograph mostly with my 50 mm f/1.2. If I want my background blurred and my subject to pop from the background, I would set the aperture at 1.6 or 1.8. If you want the background to be in focus, set the aperture at 2.8+. For large groups, I would suggest 5.0+ so people in your photographs do not end up blurry (great for family photos during weddings!).

3. Shutter speed: This is how much time the shutter will remain open to let light travel from the camera lens to the sensor in your camera. For example, on a sunny day, I usually have the shutter speed ranging from 1/500 to 1/1600. For an overcast day, I would use a shutter speed of 1/300 to 1/600. My starting point with a shutter speed is usually 1/500. From there I can either increase or decrease. Keep in mind that your light will change from different spots or angles you use to create photographs, so your settings will constantly be changing. As another rule of thumb, I normally do not photograph lower than 1/125.

These three things are the ONLY things I manipulate when I photograph in manual. As I mentioned, my ISO is fixed, so the only two things I am adjusting are my aperture and shutter speed. Every time my camera makes its debut, I start with an aperture or f-stop at 2.0 and 1/500. From there I increase or decrease the shutter speed if the photograph is too light or dark. If I want more of the background to come in focus, then I increase the aperture or f-stop and adjust the shutter speed to its respective setting. It may be difficult to grasp in the beginning, but overtime it gets much easier with a LOT of practice!

Below, I have demonstrated what an underexposed to overexposed photo looks like. To keep it simple, I only increased or decreased the shutter speed. I wrote the settings I used for each photo. Please pay no attention to the fact that I used "Big L" (the teddy bear Bryan gave me as one of my Christmas gifts when we first started dating) or the ukulele or the picnic basket. Bryan was not around me to be my model, so I turned to these three things. We REALLY need to get a pup!!!

One angle:



It seems the photo with the best light and exposure was 1/3200.

A different angle:



In this angle, my favorite photo was 1/2000.

As for the other aspect when picking up your new camera is to get creative. Dig deep into that right side of your brain and start photographing objects and people from a new perspective. I always thought I was not allowed to cut off people's body parts or their faces, but then I discovered when I did that I created something far better with more emotion or mystery. My style became more and more refined when I started looking at people in a different light. Different angles. There is no right way to create an unique photograph. So, why not take a chance and let your creativity run wild. I challenge each of you with a new camera whether practicing to become a photographer or just learning for fun to take ten photographs of the same person or object in ten different yet creative ways. Trust your eye and let that right side of the brain run wild for a bit. You will be surprised with what you may come up with in the end!

Here are just a few examples of getting creative and/or photographing at a different angle:











Well, would you look at that. Another very long post, but my hope again is that at least one person walks away feeling inspired to tackle manual mode or ready to approach photographing in a new angle! Again, I am not saying that this is the right approach or that you have to do all of this to succeed. No, not at all. But, I have been asked numerous times these questions and could not think of a better place to help others understanding a very important piece of photographing and using those ever so beautiful DSLRs!

Here is to capturing beautiful memories and never losing determination to learn! Cheers and Happy Friday!