Week 5 - Manual Mode

I knew it was coming...shooting in full manual. This makes me a little nervous, but I learned a lot and am much less timid about being a manual shooter.

Here is the assignment for this week:
In full manual mode, you control all of the settings on your camera – shutter speed, aperture, ISO, white balance, etc. Most professional photographers shoot in full manual mode because they have more control over their settings and they can achieve exactly what you are after creatively. To amateur photographers shooting in manual mode can seem complicated and overwhelming, but with practice, shooting in manual mode gets easier.

When I am shooting in manual mode, I try to remember the acrostic LISA White:
L – Lens
I – ISO
S – Shutter speed
A – Aperture
White – White balance

This helps me to remember everything I need to set before shooting in manual mode.

When deciding how to set aperture and shutter speed, first think about what kind of photo you are taking. If you are taking an action shot and you wanted to freeze the action, you would want to choose your shutter speed first then set the proper aperture for a proper exposure. If you want a shallow depth of field, choose a small f-number first and then set the proper shutter speed for a proper exposure.

The way to tell when you have a proper exposure is to look at the exposure line which can be seen when looking through the viewfinder. It looks like a line scale with a center mark or a zero in the center. When the marker is on the center or at zero, you have a properly exposed shot. When the marker is to the left of center, your shot is underexposed. When the marker is to the right of center, your shot is overexposed. A properly exposed shot means that it is neither overexposed nor underexposed.

Challenge:

1. Take an action shot setting your shutter speed to a fast setting and then set the aperture for a proper exposure by following the exposure line and adjusting the marker to zero. Remember to set the proper ISO and white balance.

2. Put your hand behind your back and pat yourself on the back because you just shot in full manual mode!

3. Take the same shot underexposed by 1 (the marker on the exposure line will be to the left of center.)

4. Take the same shot overexposed by 1 (the marker on the exposure line will be to the right of center.)

5. Take a portrait with a shallow depth of field setting your aperture to the smallest f-number and then set the shutter for a proper exposure by following the exposure line. Remember to set the proper ISO and white balance.

6. Take the same shot underexposed by 1 (the marker on the exposure line will be to the left of center.)

7. Take the same shot overexposed by 1 (the marker on the exposure line will be to the right of center.)

So, here are my shots. I shot three different subjects and played with the f/stops and shutter speeds. All shots were taken with a Canon 20D, 18-55mm lens (which I am started to strongly dislike after this challenge!), no flash. I set the White Balance depending on the situation and lighting available.

Set 1:

Correctly Exposed
f/7.1
1/200
ISO 100
55mm
AWB - Shade



Under Exposed
f/10
1/200
ISO 100
55mm
AWB - Shade



Over Exposed
f/5.6
1/200
ISO 100
55mm
AWB - Shade



This was the easiest set for me. Manatees don't move much so I had plenty of time to play with the settings. Might be why "little intimidated me" decided to shoot this first.

Set 2:

Correctly Exposed
f/9
1/100
ISO 100
55mm
AWB - Shade










Under Exposed
f/9
1/160
ISO 100
55mm
AWB - Shade










Over Exposed
f/9
1/60
ISO 100
55mm
AWB - Shade











This one was pretty easy as far as the adjustment went...but I think I like the over exposed shot the best. I started with lens disappointment with this shoot because I could not make my lens open up any further than f/9...I wanted the blurred background to be more dramatic. That 50mm lens is in my immediate future!

Set 3:

Correctly Exposed
f/5.6
1/4000
ISO 800
54mm
AWB - Sunny










Over Exposed
f/5.6
1/2000
54mm
AWB - Sunny












Under Exposed
f/5.6
1/6400
ISO 800
54mm
AWB - Sunny










This is the one that confused me. I left the f/stops constant and played with the shutter speed...but I did the same thing for the portraits. I also had a lot of difficulty with the lighting. While it appears to be sunny on the court, I was sitting in almost complete and dark shade. The lighting was forever changing and I could not get a decent shot without flash so I increased the ISO. Trying to do this same thing at the park was virtually impossible...I had to use flash in order to get a shot where you could actually see the faces....the shadows were just too much...so I scrapped the park in favor of these nice people who allowed me to take pictures while they finished their game.

Another note: I had a hard time keeping the exposure line in the right place. Every time I would get it centered, I would go to take the shot and the exposure line would move left of right...the light just had a life of its own at this location.

At least the tennis ball is completely stopped!

Remember that you can click on the images to see them larger and then click the back button to get back to the blog. Leave me a comment and let me know what you think, and as always, constructive criticism is always welcome!

52/365 - Week 3: Aperture Priority Mode

This week was all about choosing the aperture size manually...in other words, what effect does changing the f/stop have on the image. It has been a challenge for me to get these photos because I really wanted to do this with a portrait, but my 17-month-old subject doesn't stay still long enough to get the desired image. So, my second attempt was with toys...they stay very still and let you take as many pictures as you need. I am going to make another attempt at outdoor portrait this weekend, but here are a few image that demonstrate the point pretty well.

All shots were taken with a Canon 20D, Lens 18-55, No Flash, and a Focal Length of 50mm.


#1 -
f/5.6
1/30
ISO 400
AWB - Fluorescent






#2 -
f/10
1/10
ISO 400
AWB - Fluorescent






#3 -
f/14
1/6
ISO 400
AWB - Fluorescent






#4 -
f/25
1/5
ISO 1600
AWB - Fluorescent





Notice that the first image has the lower f/stop and the background is blurred. This makes the subject of the picture stand out. As the f/stop was increased, the background became more focused. In other words, the higher the f/stop, the greater the depth of field. Pretty cool huh?

Also notice that the more I stopped down the f/stop (increased it), the slower the shutter speed. In the final image, I had to also change the ISO setting so that I could get a focused image without using flash. The higher ISO allows more light onto the image sensor, but creates a grainier (noisier) image. If you click on the image, you will get a larger version and will be able to see the grain.