photographyTips for manual mode camera settings

Tips for manual mode camera settings

How to use your digital SLR camera in full manual settings?

Using your DSLR camera in fully manual mode (M on the top dial), isn't as hard as it first seems. Whether you own a Canon, Nikon, or any other SLR camera brand, using manual mode works basically the same.

Advantages of fully manual

• Manual mode allows you to set both your aperture and shutter speed separately, without the camera automatically changing the other to suit. With this in mind, you can be more creative with your shots. For example, you can photograph a beach landscape keeping the aperture high (for example f/22) so everything is in focus, yet at the same time set a slow shutter speed to create dreamy, slow motion waves.
  
  
  
  Example of photograph taken in fully manual settings
  Digital SLR Camera: Canon EOS 400D / Rebel XTi
  DSLR Lens: Canon EF-S17-85mm f/4-5.6 IS USM
  Exposure: 0.2 sec (1/5)
  Aperture: f/22
  Focal Length: 85 mm
  ISO Speed: 100
  Exposure Program: Manual
  Flash: Flash did not fire
  Why this shot worked
  For this beach landscape, I wanted the whole scene from the sand in the foreground, to the island and boat in the background to be fully in focus. I also intended for the ocean waves to have a slow motion dreamy look and feel to them. For this to be achieved, the camera needed to be set on a high aperture f/22, and a relatively slow shutter speed of 1/5th of a second. If I had set the camera to aperture priority, then the shutter speed would have been automatically created for me, or conversely if I'd set shutter priority, the camera would have automatically set the aperture to suit. Therefore, setting the camera on manual mode, allowed me to fully choose both the aperture and the shutter speed.
• Manual mode gives you full control over your exposure. If you are finding a lot of your photographs are either underexposed (too dark) or overexposed (too light) then working in fully manual mode will help you to better understand and correct these exposure problems. Personally, I've found tweaking exposure results in photographs that are much more colorful than those taken in other modes.