Photography // Stepping out of auto

Hello. I’ve got a different kind of post for you today. A photography post!! I am so so excited, as I love photography so much! For my 2014 new years resolution, I wanted to improve my photography as well as some other personal things. But for this to happen, I had to understand and figure out how to use my camera in manual mode since I always use auto, since getting my camera in August last year. I’ve done my research and put together a little tutorial for you with a free printable sheet to carry around with you in your camera bag. Also just so you know, I've said this is for beginners, because this is what I'm teaching myself right now - I am a beginner myself so don't be put off.

The first step is to step out of auto mode. I’m not saying that auto mode is bad. There are times when you need to get your camera out real quick and a auto mode would definitely save the day. But in low light - by that, I mean anything that isn’t bright outside, my DSLR isn’t very good at taking bright photos in auto. Especially when I am inside taking product and tutorial photos for the blog. On your camera, you might have many manual modes, each one allows you to change different things. This is great for practicing with the different settings, before moving on to full manual because you get to play around with things one at a time and the camera will do the rest in auto to your commands (your setting change). But in full manual you have to adjust each different thing to match the other thing in the right light conditions etc.

So what are all these ‘things’. There a three parts that make up your photo and the light. Remember science class - light makes up the photo and the world. These three things are aperture, ISO and shutter speed. Adjusting them each as necessary creates the perfect photo - don’t worry, I’m a long way from that

Shutter Speed //

Shutter Speed is to convey subject motion.

A faster speed causes moving subjects to freeze while a slower speed will create motion blur. Something that photographers sometimes want

For Example: 30” is a slow shutter speed will 1/4000 is a very fast shutter speed

ISO //

ISO is the level of sensitivity of your camera to the available light.
The lower the Iso number, less sensitive to light
The part in your camera that can change the sensitivity called the "image sensor"
It is responsible for gathering light and transforming it into a photo (did I mention it's the most expensive part)
With more sensitivity, your camera can take photos in low light areas without the flash.
But the con of higher sensitivity is that is adds a grain or noise to the pictures

A tip for using ISO is to use a lower ISO if possible to retain the quality of the image, but lighter images that might be dark with a lower ISO, is sometimes the preference

Aperture //

The aperture is adjusted to control the area of focus.

This is done, by controlling how much light is hitting the camera’s sensor

Depth of field is the distance between the nearest and the furthest objects giving a focused image

The smaller the aperture gives a blurred background and with the subject standing out. 

A larger aperture gives a larger depth of field, more of the image in focus

Aperture is controlled by f-stop numbers

The lower the f-stop number, the wider or bigger the aperture

Look at the image above to get the idea of letting more light into the camera’s sensor

Getting your head around these things are very hard. I know that I’m a far way off from having my photos perfect. But I do think they are improving.

One of the hardest bits is aperture. It relies on you having the correct shutter speed and ISO as well. A quick tip I found to allow aperture to work the best is to increase the shutter speed by the same increment to maintain the even exposure. To start playing around with aperture I suggest using a mode where you only change the aperture. Let the camera do the rest for you.

If you are a bit scared of taking on all these numbers and words then I suggest ‘creative auto’ mode for you. It is the easy mode for adjusting brightness, background blurring, flash and other settings

But the only way you will actually learn how to use your camera is 'stepping out of auto' mode and experimenting with different situations. I started taking photos in my garden (lots of light) but when we went to Kelly Tarlton’s (an underground aquarium) it was very dark and I was able to play around with higher ISO numbers and lower f-stop numbers because there wasn’t much light (higher ISO) so I needed to allow more light into the camera sensor (lower f-stop number). Just to give you an example of using these settings in a darker environment

Wow! That is a lot of writing. Just one more thing. At the beginning of the year, I created this sheet to carry in my camera bag to remind me of the things. Click here to download my notes page and a few little crazy diagrams. It’s in PDF format so you will be able to just print and go. If you have any more questions, have a look around online (type up your question with ‘for kids’ on the end - sometimes it’s the most simplest) or leave me a comment - I might make a post out of some of your questions

Hope you have fun experimenting with your camera

x Harri

I provide free printables + downloads to my readers as my token of thanks. These printables or downloads are for personal use only and are not to be shared without direct link to this blog post first. Thank you x