sportyman140 Loc: Juliette, GA

Hi good morning, with any photo we always have to figure what DOf (Depth of Field) we want, so with that said start with your Aperture (F-stop) and set it to DOF you want, then sen set you ISO usually ISO 100 and then meter EC (exposure compensation) meter to set you SS (shutter speed). It just depend if the photo you are making looks good under-exposed or over-exposed. All this done in M manual setting.

mborn Loc: Massachusetts

Know the expose triangle and use it as a starting point adjust your settings to give you the effect you want

sportyman140 Loc: Juliette, GA

I like that diagram you have shown there, where can I find that?

mborn Loc: Massachusetts

OldBobD Loc: Ohio

Why beat yourself up over manual settings? Practically every consumer camera made in the last 40 years has a built-in meter and most have a variety of automatic exposure options. The camera manufacturers have spent a great deal of money to make things easy for us, but now you are worrying about overriding the technical advances and making things harder for yourself. Using manual settings does not make you a better photographer!

sportyman140 Loc: Juliette, GA

YES I agree why beat yourself up? you are right. It is right to want to improve ones quality and skill too in photography as it is with anything. For one to not try at least or want to improve their quality or skills dumbfounds me. hmmmmmmmmm ?

ole sarg Loc: south florida

start by working the simulation at camerasim.com and move on from there.

Country's Mama Loc: Michigan

Boy I wish I had had this when I was learning this stuff.

Papa Joe Loc: Midwest U.S.

Hi Brenda,
The easiest way I can suggest is to check the lighting situation where you plan to photograph and notice what settings your camera meter chooses when it's in AUTO mode. Then, you can vary one way or the other to suit your needs, but the camera can give you your 'starting' point to work from. Happy shooting.

big-guy Loc: Peterborough Ontario Canada

The magical starting point your looking for simply does not exist. The starting point you need to find is right behind your eye balls. Let me explain:

1. I'm out shooting my grand kids playing soccer (football for you folks across the pond) so my starting point or priority is a somewhat fast shutter speed say 1/250 sec and move the aperture to correspond.

2. I'm out shooting a professional hockey game so my priority is really fast shutter speed of say 1/500 sec min. As lighting is restrictive my aperture is set wide open and I still can't get a proper exposure so I need to bump the ISO to achieve the proper exposure to keep the fast shutter speed.

3. I'm out shooting a mountain landscape so my priority is a large DOF (depth of field) so I set my aperture to f16 and move the shutter to correspond. (tripod as required)

4. I'm out shooting my really hot girlfriends (yes, I'm a guy) portrait while we visit the Eiffel Tower or some other popular iconic destination and my priority is a real shallow DOF. I set my aperture wide open to achieve the shallow DOF and set the shutter to correspond. The tower may not be in focus but that's OK as long as my subject (remember the hot girlfriend) is sharp, the tower is still recognizable but is soft and blurry so my RHGF is the focal point in the photo.

5. Same as #4 but I'm at the Grand Canyon and want both GF and canyon as sharp as possible. My priority is large DOF so I choose f16 and focus sharply on the GF or hyper focal distance. (run a search above for "hyper focal distance"; also applies to #3 above) With the large DOF both GF and canyon are in "acceptable" focus.

Please note that my ISO is almost always set to 100 as this gives me the best quality and the only time to increase it is when the aperture and shutter speed are at their limits such as in #2 above.

Also note that I have chosen an aperture of f16 and not f22 or higher as f16 or f11 will give me a better quality of photo overall. (run a search above for "sweet spot")

So to recap, you are the only one that can see the scene in front of you and know the result you are expecting so you need to exercise the grey matter to determine your priority or starting point for any given situation.

I hope this helps. :)

big-guy Loc: Peterborough Ontario Canada

Caution: your ignorance is showing.

Papa Joe Loc: Midwest U.S.

Hi OldBob,
I respectfully disagree with you in that the auto feature is great for many situations, but as in this case, when one is trying to comprehend a bit deeper how one of the three factors affects the other, it's important to know, first HOW to make the changes manually, and more importantly, what effect said changes will have. Auto is great, but not in many situations one finds himself in where you need to know how and when to manually change the settings. No sin in trying to learn more about the process. Some like to delve a bit deeper than others, eh? That's what makes this hobby/profession so interesting, IMHO.

mborn Loc: Massachusetts

A double ditto !!!

anotherview Loc: California

This Web site offers a simulation of camera and lens settings:

http://camerasim.com/camera-simulator/

You can experiment to learn the relation of Aperture, Shutter Speed, and ISO for a good exposure.

Door and Stairs, Spain

tim57064

:thumbup: :thumbup: