Okay all you amazing photographers out there.....Help!! :D

cindys732003

cindys732003

Sweet Shoppe Designer
I am determined to get out of auto mode on my Rebel this summer. What are some good basic photography sites that you can recommend? My biggest problem is, say I'm outside with the kids in the backyard on a sunny day....I wouldn't even know where a good starting point is with the settings.
There's so much information out there, it's kind of overwhelming...help!
 
I took Candice Stringham's class over at JessicaSprague.com - she was really good at explaining everything and I understood thing a little better than I did before. But to me- using manual mode on my Rebel is as foreign to me as algebra and I have a hard time wrapping my brain around it. So I still struggle with it and I stay on auto most of the time. But I would recommend the class because I did learn a TON!
 
I am a tactile learner so reading did not help me, I had to "do it". So I took a begging class at my community college for $125. It was the BEST money I ever spent. Learning with a professional photographer teaching and there to help me answer my questions as I got lost was a huge help. I have a hard time rereading something that I don't understand. But if someone can explain it to me and SHOW me in real time, I learn much easier. :)
 
Here's my take (what I learned at Clickin Moms - worth a month membership for sure!):

Determine your scene (lots of light, low light etc)
Set your apperture for your needs wants
-(if low light go as low as you can but make sure that the number roughly equals the number of people in the shot - depends on distance to subject as well, closer then make number higher)
-(if high light then set aperture for what you want your background to do. Low # for blurry background, higher number for in focus background. Again set it according to number of subjects in focus.)

Set ISO as low as you can take it for the shot.
-Outdoors in bright light go as low as you can go, in shade you may want to up to 400 or so.
-Indoors with some good light start at ISO 600 (from my experience with my camera), and see what happens from there. If it is night then go high (unless you are using flash).

Shutter speed:
-Moving kids SS=200 or more
-posing kids SS=160 or more
-posing adults SS = 100 or more
-sports action SS = 500 or more
-inanimate objects SS=80 or more (camera shake below 80 unless using a tripod)

Heres the #1 thing for me for shooting Manual:
TURN ON THE COLOR HISTOGRAMS AND BLINKIES ON YOUR CAMERA
not just the one histogram, but the three channels. That way you can see what you are getting. It should go all the way from left to right, but not going up the right side.

So now that you have them on you can see what you are getting. If you are outside and you've set your apperture and ISO for what you need, then you can use the shutter speed to adjust the histogram. Its probably waaaaaay to the right, so go waaaaaay up on shutter speed and see what it does, then adjust some more. Really its all play and learn what your camera does.

There's also using the meter inside the camera viewfinder, but I am not good at that and it involves knowing middle gray in your scene or what your kids expose to etc. I just do better with the histogram.

Know that sometimes in bright light you are going to get overexposure of some things to get other things exposed properly. So if you have a bright background and your kids in front of it, you want to see where the blinkies are and if they are on the background and not the kids, then you are fine, if the blinkies start blinking on them, then up your SS some, or up your aperture some.

I am so not an expert. But that is what I've learned. I'm sure the professionals would probably do things differently, but since a year ago I've been working on this and I've been having less and less to adjust exposure in photoshop, so that is good right?

Oh and Shoot in RAW while you are learning. It just gives you more room for error as you are learning. If you are a RAW hater that is fine, once you get it down, you can go back to jpeg if you like. Just know your images are going to be wacky sometimes as you learn.

Ok done. LOL book finished!
 
I loved the photography sections on thepioneerwoman and on thisisreverb websites. neither are pros, but both take great photos and explained manual to me in a way that made it seem so easy. I've been out of auto for almost 2 years now!
 
I can't believe you shoot auto! Your pics are always to die for! I have the same problem, I'm completely overwhelmed when it comes to manual. :blink: A scrap friend took a course at the local university and she recommended it to me much more than the courses on the web, if that helps.
 
I learned a lot from a book called: Photography for dummies. I don't know if this is a Dutch book by origin or not.
And look for a course in you neighbourhood...than you learn by practice.

I am in between auto and manual....the AV mode. A little automatic but you still have to think about ISO and aperture. But I have to admit...if it gets hard I am back in P mode....
 
A tip I wish someone would have given me, that I actually realized on my own ...
take a photo in auto (or at least get your camera's setting from a photo you want to take), then immediately put your camera into manual and replicate the settings on your own (you can see the settings in your viewfinder or from photo properties). That will give you an idea of how to capture a good photo. The rebel has a feature in the viewfinder that will tell you when you have an optimal combination of speed, ISO and aperture. It goes from -2 to +2 and you want the indicator to be as close to the middle at 0 as possible. Lower ISO will produce better photos, however, you require lots of light to use a low ISO without slowing down the shutter speed (and subsequently causing camera shake, etc). Good luck Cindy! I've always thought your photos were great!
 
Oh this is an awesome thread! I'm glad you posted this Cindy cause I too use auto all the time and am quite intimidated of my camera! I don't want to do something wrong.
 
Kjersti said:
You know....the one "auto" feature I love is "auto ISO". I can't live without it :p
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'

tee hee... same here LOVE LOVE LOVE that feature...

can't think of anything else to add... I LOVE the understanding exposure book... it's what made it all click for me.

I will admit though that sometimes I use aperture priority instead of manual if I'm feeling lazy.
 
i took a community class on basic photography in my city. it was like REALLY basic, i almost fell asleep multiple times. lol. pretty much everything i have learned about my camera, i have learned from playing with it when i am by myself in the backyard or at Disneyland.

i don't get super technical with it. i do shoot in manual.
Inside photos - ISO is at 1600. I personally think 3200 is too grainy.
Outdoor photos - either 200 or 400 depending on if i am in direct sunlight.

Then i just set the exposure:
2692840102_7c4e1d214c_o.jpg

the -2..-1..0..1..+2. On my camera (i have a Sony) there is a little dial right in front of the shutter button. When in manual, you can move this dial and it will change the exposure. The goal is to have the exposure right in the middle. But depending on the situation and the lighting, you might want to go a little above or below. When you move this dial and mess around with the exposure you will see that it also changes the shutter speed (on the photo above it is the spot that says 1/40). I just let the camera do it's thing in this case. I usually don't mess with the shutter speed, unless i am taking photos of fireworks or something.

Once you get the hang of the ISO and Exposure, you are set. For me, those are the two most important things to get great photos.
 
I'm so glad you started this thread Cindy!!...I could use a lot of help on this subject! Even in Auto your pictures are gorgeous!!
 
I can never get my exposure right in manual. I try to play with the settings so that it's closest to 0, but it always ends up in the negative.

Thanks for posting this Cindy - I'm going to have to try some of these suggestions!
 
I think the key is to know your camera... and understand natural lighting

like I know that my camera tends to underexpose at 0, so I usually set mine at +1 instead of 0

but different lighting situations call for different settings too... if your subject is in the shade but you're in the sun... your camera will underexpose your subject because it thinks it's bright out...


it basically needs lots of practice and learning your camera
 
paperboutique said:
I can never get my exposure right in manual. I try to play with the settings so that it's closest to 0, but it always ends up in the negative.

Thanks for posting this Cindy - I'm going to have to try some of these suggestions!
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You actually don't want it 0 unless you are taking a photo of a middle gray. Most Caucasians are waaaaaay lighter than that and so you need to make your settings such that you are one or two or more lines above 0 to get proper exposure. That is why I don't use the meter, I never get it right it seems just using that. I do much better with the histograms and chimping (reading them and adjusting the shot).
 
Oh and be sure to read The Daily Digi's photography posts, there are a few good ones on there that explain parts of the exposure triangle (Shutter speed, ISO and Aperture).

It really is about trial and error!! But so worth it in the end!
 
I read Understanding Exposure, and I also took Rock Your Camera 101 at Clickin' Moms. LOVED that class!

Learn to shoot manual, girls!! You'll be sooooo glad you did. You can do it Cindy!!!
 
What a pity you are not Slovak! We have a fabulous photographer who provides for fantastic various classes both on-line and personally... :)

I have just purchased my first DLSR (Nikon D5100 with 18-105 mm lens and also additional 50 mm 1,8G lens) and as soon I will get it, I will book special DLSR course. It is definitely much more better than self-learning, I guess :)
 
Ugh, it gives me a headache just READING things like ISO and "shutter speed" and words I can't even spell.

Thanks for the 2peas suggestion. I'm going to print off some of their pdf's and work though them while we're in meetings next week so that when we're at Universal the next week, I'll have a better idea of what I'm doing. : )
 
I'm with you, Kellie, i don't have enough patience to learn about ISO and shutter speed and all those words ! I mostly shoot using P mode and i get great shots i have to content myself with, especially when my little model is cooperative... And when he's not, then i use the automatic mode... Perhaps when he gets older, i could ask him to be more patient, more cooperative so that i can practice manual ! I know, i'm dreaming... For now, i have still to improve my photo editting ! ;)
 
Ingridfasquelle said:
I'm with you, Kellie, i don't have enough patience to learn about ISO and shutter speed and all those words ! I mostly shoot using P mode and i get great shots i have to content myself with, especially when my little model is cooperative... And when he's not, then i use the automatic mode... Perhaps when he gets older, i could ask him to be more patient, more cooperative so that i can practice manual ! I know, i'm dreaming... For now, i have still to improve my photo editting ! ;)
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I never use my kiddos when I was learning. They are just not that patient! Dolls and teddy bears were my friend as well as my sleeping dog and such.

Yes it seems like all gobbly gook and I was plenty happy with my auto photos for years (I've been shooting dSLR for 8), but I progressively got annoyed with situations where it did not work (low light especially, or motion blur, or whatever) so that gave me the push. Plus I was in a "rut" scrapbooking wise so I needed something to do other than that. So if you are happy with your photos, that is great, go with it and go on!

But I'm betting Cindy has found some situations where she wished she could have gotten a better shot, and wonders if Manual is a better way for those! Which is why she asks.

I'm actually reading Understanding Exposure now (from library) and it is interesting, just wonder if I could have gotten it without doing it first.
 
DeepGirl said:
What a pity you are not Slovak! We have a fabulous photographer who provides for fantastic various classes both on-line and personally... :)

I have just purchased my first DLSR (Nikon D5100 with 18-105 mm lens and also additional 50 mm 1,8G lens) and as soon I will get it, I will book special DLSR course. It is definitely much more better than self-learning, I guess :)
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I liked self-learning. I think in this I'm kind of like a guy - never read manuals, don't do courses, trying to find things on my own. There's no better or worse in this, both ways work, it's just what's more convenient for the type of person you are.

I can remember I started experimenting with shutter speed first, adding the rest later on. I made loads of pics - ideally in less than ideal conditions - and learned from the results. The fun way, at least for me.

Cindy, good luck with coming out of auto mode. It's definitely a good step if you have a DSLR.
 
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sprauncey1 said:
I never use my kiddos when I was learning. They are just not that patient! Dolls and teddy bears were my friend as well as my sleeping dog and such.
Click to expand...

Buzz Lightyear and Woody have been my friend over the past few months/weeks!!! :thumbup:
 
I need to venture off my auto mode too. I agree that kids are NOT going to be the easiest subject! Maybe this will be the jump start I need to get going! :)
 
Sometimes I think shooting in M is overrated. I agree there are situations where you should, and knowing how the settings work is always good, but for the most part, the auto settings do a decent job. I'm a big fan of AV, personally. I set my ISO and aperture, and let it do the rest of the work. Of course, I know that if my SS is too low I need to change one of the other settings so that I get a decent shot, but I don't need to be in Manual to get it.

So, even if you never want to shoot fully manual, you'd benefit from learning how exposure works. But at the same time, don't get all hung up on it, because a good portion of the time, it wouldn't make a whole ton of difference either way.
 
Angie4b1g said:
Sometimes I think shooting in M is overrated. I agree there are situations where you should, and knowing how the settings work is always good, but for the most part, the auto settings do a decent job. I'm a big fan of AV, personally. I set my ISO and aperture, and let it do the rest of the work. Of course, I know that if my SS is too low I need to change one of the other settings so that I get a decent shot, but I don't need to be in Manual to get it.

So, even if you never want to shoot fully manual, you'd benefit from learning how exposure works. But at the same time, don't get all hung up on it, because a good portion of the time, it wouldn't make a whole ton of difference either way.
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Yes, THIS.

I'm totally all for getting out of auto. If you have a DSLR, you should absolutely learn to use it to your advantage. But I totally agree that shooting in full manual mode all the time is overkill for most scrapbookers.

I prefer to shoot in AV mode too and I adjust my ISO to keep my SS where I want it. I also use Exposure Compensation anytime I want to override what the in camera meter is going to do. There's a great article about how to do this here: Exposure Compensation: Manual Shooting Without Being In Manual. It's like Manual mode without all the work of shooting manually. :D
 
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