apdawn Loc: New Orleans, LA

I'm pretty new today photography, but I've been reading lots on composition, lighting, exposure, etc... I seem to struggle most with getting the correct exposure when setting to manual mode. I try to capture my toddler indoors or on cloudy days, but can't seem to get the right shutter speed and aperture. I have a kit 18-55mm f3.5 lense and a 70-200mm f3.5 lense and just purchased (not yet received) a 50 mm f1.8. Any advice on how to improve?

d-cart24 Loc: Oregon

Buy Bryan Peterson Understanding Exposure book it will help alot

Lighting

If your toddler is constantly moving then you need a short duration shutter speed in order to prevent motion blur. Yet a short duration shutter speed can produce darker images which can be corrected to a degree with a 'faster' lens, such as the f1.8 that you ordered. Also a flash can correct the darker image problem.
Perhaps if you posted a unsatisfactory image in this thread , I could give you more specific advice.
Have a blessed 2015 :thumbup:

A10 Loc: Southern Indiana

Reading books on exposure can certainly help. Inside shooting especially with moving children is difficult. You might try setting your ISO to 800 or 1000 and your white balance to cloudy if you are using indirect sunlight. If your area is lit primarily by incandescent lamps set your white balance to incandescent or the symbol of a light bulb. The increase in ISO should allow you to increase your shutter speed to achieve sharper images.

agilmore Loc: Baltimore

Yes, get Bryon Peterson's book.

Also, google ETTR (or search this forum). I use this whenever I can, which is probably 99% of the time.

Blessings,

Alan

pebbles Loc: New England

We can all appreciate that it takes time and practice to master exposure on manual. For every situation there are 6 combinations of shutter and aperture settings that would make a correct exposure for a selected asa but one of those combinations usually produces better results than the others. Generally I use my camera in aperture mode. I would suggest you practice using one lens and a stationary subject. This will reduce the amount of variables and make it less complicated as you learn. Instead of using the zoom as a tool to get close to or further away from your subject while you are standing still, try selecting one focal plane and move yourself closer and further. See what differents it makes to the background. An example:
If you want a portrait of your child, may I suggest using the 70-200. Set the lens to 100mm and leave it there. Stand back approximately 10 feet or so and set your aperture to 5.6, then using the spot meter selection on the camera, take a reading of the persons face. You want to focus on a person's eyes always when taking a portrait.
See how that comes out.
Have fun. God bless