The best way to learn - manual mode (Page 6): Ok all y'all camera smarties....I truly do want to learn manual shooting. And I understand that when a setting is changed that it will...

OneShotOne18

Ok all y'all camera smarties....I truly do want to learn manual shooting. And I understand that when a setting is changed that it will affect another setting somehow. Sorry to say this but like the dumb blond joke " I just don't get it". I have watched countless videos and have tried "on my own " to learn it but in frustration I just wanted to throw my camera BUT of course I won't do that. I guess my question is this - Is there a chart ( like to a color wheel ) that will show that if I make a change in one setting that it will show what else it affects and how to correct what needs to corrected? From lower than novice and slower than slow, I thank you!

SharpShooter Loc: NorCal

OneShotOne18 wrote:

Ok all y'all camera smarties....I truly do want to... (show quote)

One, welcome to the Hog!
Unfortunately for most the exposure triangle is not intuitive. Because it’s set up in ancient terms like inches, feet and miles, vs the metric system.
First you need to study what an f-stop is.
THEN understand what is an f-stop in each of the aperture, Shutter Speed and ISO values.
Then look at the triangle and pretend each corner has a value of say 10.
The 3 tens equals 30.
The Triangle ALWAYS has to equal 30.
Take 1 from any corner and it has to be added to another corner so it stays at 30.
If you take 8 from any corner you need to add the 8 to anothe corner, etc!
But the values you take and add are f-stops usually in values of Whole Stops(1) or Third stop(1/3). But that value can be changed to 1/2 stops in most digital cameras!
There, are you more consumed now?!?! LoL
Good luck
SS

OneShotOne18

SS you are one funny dude! Yes' I am consumed as in ate up with it! hahhha Thx 4 the reply, I will work on it!

srt101fan

OneShotOne18 wrote:

Ok all y'all camera smarties....I truly do want to... (show quote)

Methinks you might be overcomplicating your life behind the camera.

First of all, don't fall for the "manual" hype; fiddling with all-manual settings is not necessarily going to enhance your photography. Ask yourself why you want to learn to shoot manually; is it really necessary? Professionals and other advanced shooters will have very good reasons to go with Manual at least some of the time; are those reasons applicable to you in the context of your type of photography and subject matters?

As has been pointed out many times before, the three crucial settings you must understand are lens aperture, shutter speed and ISO. I suggest you study each one individually in terms of their effect on an image and THEN, when you understand them, move on and study how they come together to give you a picture exposed the way you like it.

Good luck and remember to have fun while learning and shooting!

tdekany Loc: Oregon

BebuLamar wrote:

Music is also a hobby and an art like photography. So if you start to learn the piano you would put the disc in the Diskclavier and having it plays Listz Nocturne? Or rather you learn to play the scale which sounds boring but you would learn.

Not a good analogy. Someone with a creative mind can take an award winning photo the very first time on full auto. A photo that is superior to anything you or most of the manual only crowd. Show me one photo that won an award because it was technically correct. Using your camera on full manual doesn’t make you a good photographer.

Subject matter, content, composition and most importantly light what does.

BebuLamar

tdekany wrote:

Not a good analogy. Someone with a creative mind can take an award winning photo the very first time on full auto. A photo that is superior to anything you or most of the manual only crowd. Show me one photo that won an award because it was technically correct. Using your camera on full manual doesn’t make you a good photographer.

Subject matter, content, composition and most importantly light what does.

There were prodigy in music and started playing the music without any learning. But if you go to school for either they teach you the manual way first either it's photography or music. You said we have bad education system huh? That I might agree.
In fact I don't say manual is best but I said it's the easiest so if you are among the dummies like me you should start with manual as the auto things would be way over your head.

OneShotOne18

TY srt and tde. You're right! I do over complicate matters. I enjoy shooting in auto. Mostly because I don't want to take the time to change stuff before my subject decides to move on. Landscape and sunsets are a diff matter as they are slow movers. Thanks again!

graybeard

burkphoto wrote:

When most people say this sort of thing, and you quiz them on their real meaning, the conversation gets to a point that they REALLY mean you should learn the physics of photography:

How does the meter work? How do you use it? What do the various metering patterns do?
What is exposure?
What is ISO? How does it relate to exposure?
What is the purpose of Aperture control? How does it relate to exposure? How does it affect depth of field and diffraction?
What is the purpose of Shutter Speed control? How does it relate to exposure? How does it relate to camera shake, motion blur, and action stopping ability?
What is depth of field?
What is focal length? How does it affect depth perspective?
What is format size? How does it relate to focal length, and by extension, depth of field and angle of view? How does it affect low light performance?
What is focus? How does YOUR particular camera adjust focus (Manually, single point, multi-point, face or eye tracking, regular tracking...)
What is diffraction limiting of sharpness? How do I avoid it?
What is the Inverse/Square Law? (1/D^2, or "All radiation (light, in photography, and sound, in video) dissipates with the inverse of the square of the distance from the source") Why should I care?

I could go on and on, but the point is that an understanding of the variables you can manipulate and how you can manipulate them is what enables you to get FULL potential from the various automatic modes on your camera or flash. It is not enough to, "Set 'er on 'A' and pray!" Murphy's Law says that will let you down when you least want to fail. Knowing how to manipulate the right variables to your advantage in any situation requires a deeper look at HOW it all works. That can occur through a LOT of reading, practice, classroom discussion, and other means. Practice in manual mode is but one of them.

It's not about the medium of film or digital. It's about applied physics.

The ART of photography is an entirely different matter. Needless to say, an artists' ability to control the tools greatly affects the finished work.

When most people say this sort of thing, and you q... (show quote)

Screw the science. Look thru the eyepiece and take the damn picture.

tdekany Loc: Oregon

BebuLamar wrote:

There were prodigy in music and started playing the music without any learning. But if you go to school for either they teach you the manual way first either it's photography or music. You said we have bad education system huh? That I might agree.
In fact I don't say manual is best but I said it's the easiest so if you are among the dummies like me you should start with manual as the auto things would be way over your head.

I realize that you are quoting my post, but I didn’t say anything about any schooling.

Schooling is very good. But I don’t care whether I’m thought manual or not initially. I use a mirrorless camera so it’s irrelevant. I see what the exposer is going to be. Not an issue for us mirrorless users.

Aperture or shutter priority is way easier to use, unless you have time to set up.

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

graybeard wrote:

Screw the science. Look thru the eyepiece and take the damn picture.

Some of us are perfectionists who like to MAKE rather than take.

Linda From Maine Loc: Yakima, Washington

graybeard wrote:

Screw the science. Look thru the eyepiece and take the damn picture.

burkphoto wrote:

Some of us are perfectionists who like to MAKE rather than take.

I am an imperfect artiste who makes, not takes

thrash50

I keep a journal, just got used to doing this many, many, years ago, in a community college course. I don't log every image these days, modern digital cameras store the data, in info. A journal does help me, when returning to locations, remembering time of day, and lighting conditions, the use of hoods, and filters. To me, the biggest advantages of a journal these days, is that I do slow down to think about why I want to set my camera a certain way, and I can look over a set of images, and gauge my overall success at making the image I want. I also go out with my 35mm SLR some days, and it does not take as long to get back up to speed, with some notes in hand.
To a lot of people manual mode can seem overwhelming, but if you take your time, and try to learn one setting at a time, you could have the basics down in a matter of days, and spend the rest of your life perfecting your techniques.
There are color charts, and setting charts all over the internet, and every manufacturer has these charts available for download, I've never had much success understanding them, but I do carry one in my camera bag.
Thrash50

User ID

`

There is no way to learn a mode.

You can't learn manual mode.

Just learn photography. learning
photography is NOT the same as
learning your camera.

Photography is a practice and a
trade ... but not an art. Art is art
regardless of the medium. Forget
art, forget your camera. Learn a
practice.

`

srt101fan

User ID wrote:

`

There is no way to learn a mode.

You can't learn manual mode.

Just learn photography. learning
photography is NOT the same as
learning your camera.

Photography is a practice and a
trade ... but not an art. Art is art
regardless of the medium. Forget
art, forget your camera. Learn a
practice.

`

???

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

Linda From Maine wrote:

I am an imperfect artiste who makes, not takes