Learning to use your camera’s manual settings

Posted on February 1, 2011
Filed Under Lexia Frank, Photos, Tips and Tricks | 16 Comments

Photographer’s note: Give yourself some time with this tutorial, and try out the examples while reading the material. You are SO AWESOME for attempting this, for challenging yourself to be smarter than your camera. Because you ARE smarter, and you CAN take better pictures than your camera can when it’s on an automatic setting.

When you take photographs with your camera in manual mode, what you are essentially doing is balancing three settings on your camera to achieve proper exposure. That’s it! That’s all you need to know, three settings! When we talk about exposure, it is the total amount of light that is allowed to fall on the photographic medium like a negative, a digital sensor, or that old photo paper that we used to dip into chemicals in a dark room. If there is too much light allowed to fall on that medium, your picture will turn out bright white – we call this overexposed. If there is not enough light, it will turn out too dark – underexposed. Making sure your image is properly exposed is the VERY first thing you do before taking a picture, and to make sure it’s exposed properly, you have to balance three different settings that give different effects. Lets talk about each one separately first, and then we’ll put them all together to see how they work with each other in different ways.

Here is a little visual that you can refer back to later:

Aperture:

The Aperture or f/stop (the two terms are used interchangeably to some degree) is located in your lens, and functions like the iris of your eye. Just as your eye’s iris contracts as you enter a brightly lit space to let in less light, so does your camera’s aperture. When it’s wide open, it’s letting in lots of light (good for when you’re in dark places) and when it’s closed down, it lets in very little light (good for when you’re in bright places, respectively). We measure aperture in f/stops. A wide open aperture corresponds with a small f/stop number, like f/2.2.  A closed down aperture corresponds with a higher f/stop number, like f/16.   So, it is the OPPOSITE of what you might think.

A large aperture = small number.

A small aperture = large number.

Got it?

Easy enough to grasp. But, there is something quite tricky about what happens to the image when you open up or close down the aperture. When you’re aperture is wide open it creates a shallow depth of field. Depth of field describes how much of the picture is in focus. Bokeh is the result of a shallow depth of field- meaning only a little tiny bit of your picture is in focus, and that part of the picture that is in focus is called the focal plane.

This image is taken with a large aperture (corresponding small f/stop number, in this case f/1.4) so it has a lot of bokeh, and a small depth of field.

But now, look at this photo:

You can see a huge difference in this picture with a small aperture (corresponding large f/stop number, in this case f/16). It has a very large depth of field- almost everything is in the focal plane.

Alright, I realize I just threw out a ton of vocabulary there, so let me summarize in lay-man’s terms:
Big open iris (aperture) = lots of light being let in = good for shooting in low light = only a tiny bit of your picture will be in focus (your focal plane) no matter where you are focusing, creating what we call ‘bokeh’ (bow-ka) = a small focal plane.

Alternatively, if you close down the aperture you will have a large depth of field, meaning lots of things will be in focus, from here until infinity just like that picture above. So, if you want to take a picture of your friend standing with the mountains in the background, you’re going to want to close down the aperture to make sure everything is in focus. However, I hesitate to use that word ‘focus’ because that implies that you don’t have to focus the lens on your subject, but you do. If you’re focusing automatically, you are probably pushing the shutter release button (you know, THE button, that button that you push to take the picture) halfway down, and your lens/camera makes a “zip” or “beep” sound while it focuses, and then you push it all the way down and take the picture. If you’re doing manual focus, you’ll be turning the lens back and forth to get your subject in focus. Just know that where you focus is a VERY big deal if you have a wide open aperture (equaling shallow depth of field and lots of bokeh) because only that very specific point you’re focusing on will actually be in focus. It’s not as much a big deal if you’ve closed down your aperture, resulting in a wide depth of field, because even if you focus on the mountains in the background, your friend will probably be in focus too, since almost everything is in the focal plane.

Cheat sheet:

Higher f/stop number = smaller aperture (closed down) = lots of things in focus, good for landscapes, or scenes where you want everything in focus

Lower f/stop number = bigger aperture (opened up) = only tiny bit in focus resulting in bokeh, good for portraits, or when you want to draw attention to one bit of detail while eliminating distracting backgrounds.

ISO:

I will not pretend to know everything about the inner workings of digital cameras. As a matter of fact (shhhh….) I never picked up a digital camera until two and a half years ago. Oh my, I can’t even believe I just said that, but it’s totally true. I’m hard core film, and that’s what I studied, and film is way easier to understand and explain, so I’m going to have you pretend that you’ve got a film camera to understand this concept. ISO is a way of describing how sensitive your film (or your sensor on a digital camera) is to light. Film is made up of tiny silver halide crystals and they change when exposed to light. The bigger the crystal, the more sensitive it is. The more sensitive it is, the less time it needs to be exposed to light, OR the less light it needs to expose it. Essentially, you can shoot in lower light with a more sensitive film. But, the more sensitive it is, the bigger it is, and bigger grain = a grainier image, and that’s a serious trade off.

Imagine that your skin is film, and you’re hanging out at the beach lying out in the sun. If you’ve got some seriously pale skin, and are part vampire, and never see the light of day YOU are ISO 800. It takes you about two seconds from the time you go outside to the time you lay down on the sand to have a SERIOUS third-degree burn. Your skin is so sensitive to light! But, if you’re rockin’ the dark complexion (or you’re the 65 year old woman poolside with the silver reflector on her face with wrinkles three inches deep with the suntan oil) you are most definitely ISO 100. It would take you HOURS and HOURS to get a tan, cause, well… you’re just not that sensitive. You are so insensitive, Jerk!

Here’s the kicker: If you’ve got ULTRA light sensitive film (a higher ISO, like 800 and above) it’s made up of bigger crystals, resulting in a grainier picture. So, although it may be tempting to crank up the ISO because it’s so much more sensitive to any light at all (read: you can shoot in lower amounts of light, because it just needs less of it) you may want to hold back on that instinct because you may not want your picture so grainy. Grainy pictures can be beautiful, but most of the time they just look yucky. So, the obvious choice is to keep your ISO low (like at ISO 100, 200, 400) to get a beautiful clear picture, but you’ve got to have lots and lots of light for that.

QUIZ:

Which picture is shot with a high ISO and which was shot with a low ISO?

Picture A:

Picture B:

Answer:

Picture A was shot with a low ISO of 100.
Picture B was shot with a high ISO of like 5000.

My camera happens to have a REALLY high ISO, but yours might only go to 1600 or so. You can definitely see how grainy a high ISO can make an image.

QUIZ :

If you were in low light would you need a high ISO or a low ISO? What would be the result of a high ISO?

Answer: If you were in low light, you would want to set a higher ISO, because it’s more sensitive to light. But, you have to be aware that it will be a bit grainier.

Cheatsheat:

Low ISO (think dark complexion)= can only shoot in ample light = clear crisp picture
High ISO (think fair complexion)= can shoot in extremely low light = super grainy picture

Some serious trade offs that you have to weigh depending on your light situation.

Shutter speed:

So you’ve still got your film camera (for sake of simplicity) and inside there is light-sensitive film (in a digital camera, it’s the sensor that acts as the film). The light-sensitive film has to stay hidden in the dark until you’re ready to take a picture. When you’re ready, you click the shutter release button (THE button) and it opens up a curtain called the shutter. When the curtain is open it lets in light and your film records the image. So, if you were to open the curtain (the shutter) for a longer amount of time, the film is getting lots of time with light (obviously, right?) The shorter the amount of time the curtain is open, the less time the film is being exposed to light. This is called ‘exposure time’ and it’s a totally obvious concept.

Here is where you need to visualize: If you leave the shutter (the curtain) open for a long amount of time, the film is going to record the MOVEMENT of the scene. So, if you leave the shutter open, and someone runs by, that person is going to be recorded as a blur. BUT, if you were to open the shutter up for a TEEY TINY bit of time (say, 1/1000th of a second) and someone was running by, that person would be photographed as if they were frozen in action.

Two more examples: You’re photographing a fountain and you want the water to look like silk, to look like fog, to be all soft and flowy and dreamy. You shoot it at a low shutter speed (maybe 1/2 of a second) and the water becomes so blurred that it turns into what looks like white silk flowing over the rocks. This is because, in that ½ of a second, the water droplets traveled across the picture frame, and are recorded as a blur. But mind you, only the water turns into silk, because the fountain itself isn’t moving. It’s stayed in the same place for the entirety of that 1/2 of a second. Now, lets say, you want to take a picture of the waterfall with each droplet frozen in action. You shoot with a fast shutter speed, maybe 1/2000th of a second. Now you can see each water droplet individually.

Side note: If you want to shoot at really low shutter speeds (less than 1/60th of a second) to get the blurred look, you need to use a tripod, but we’ll get to that in a minute.

Quiz: What was this night-time scene of cars on a street shot with? A slow or fast shutter speed?

If you answered a low shutter speed, you’re right. During the time my shutter was open, the car had enough time to travel from one side of my negative (digital sensor, really) to the other side, and it recorded the car as a blur. But note, that the other buildings stayed stationary ONLY because I used a tripod. If I would have been holding my camera during this picture even the movement of my hands, my breathing, or my heartbeat would have jiggled the camera enough to make it blurry- something called camera shake. A good rule of thumb (although it depends on environmental factors, like if you are on a bumpy road or bus, or if you have a bigger and heavier lens or camera) is that you should not HAND HOLD A CAMERA WITH SHUTTER SPEED LESS THAN 1/60th OF A SECOND. Again, see that 60? Don’t shoot lower than that if you’re not going to use a tripod, or your picture will be blurry. 60 is the golden number here, and on some cameras the number 60 is even in a different color to help you remember. Of course, if you’re SUPER STEADY, and don’t breathe, you can shoot a little bit lower than that, but just to be safe, I generally try to stay at 100, cause I’ve got weak shaky arms (puny, really) and my camera is the size of my torso and heavier than my 2 year old.

Cheat Sheet:

-If you shoot with a shutter speed less than 60 you’ll need a tripod to avoid blurry camera shake
-Shooting above shutter speed of 60 is alright for holding your camera in your hands
-Shooting with lower shutter speeds creates blur
-Shooting with higher shutter speeds freezes action
-Shutter speeds are measured in fractions of a second, so when I refer to a shutter speed of 60, what I really mean is 1/60th of a second.

Some cameras will allow you to have shutter speeds of FULL seconds, which is a very slow shutter speed and can create a lot of blur. Some cameras will also allow your shutter to stay open indefinitely until you push the shutter release button again. You might want this if you are taking a picture of the nighttime sky and want to photograph the stars as they trail across the sky for a half hour or more.

Putting it all together

You should now have a better understanding of the three items you need to balance in order to take a properly exposed picture: ISO, Shutter Speed, and Aperture. Now, we’re going to put them to use. So how do you know if you have a properly exposed picture or not? When you look through your viewfinder (where you hold the camera up to your eye) you should see what looks like a barcode on the bottom portion of the screen. It will probably look a little something like this:

If it is lighting up toward the right hand side (toward the plus) then your camera is telling you there is too much light coming in, and your photo is going to be overexposed (too bright). Conversely, if it is lighting up toward the left hand side (toward the minus sign) it is telling you there is not enough light, and your photo is going to be underexposed (too dark). When there is a proper exposure, it will be balanced directly in the middle of the barcode, at the “0”. The aim of every single photograph you take is to make that exposure meter read “0,” and you do that by balancing the three settings we talked about before: ISO, Shutter Speed, and Aperture (f/stop) to create a proper exposure. If I’ve got a wide open aperture (lower f/stop number, letting in lots of light) I’m going to want to balance it with a fast shutter speed (reducing the amount of time light is exposing the negative/sensor) See? It kind of evens out. And vice versa: With a slow shutter speed you will probably need a smaller aperture (higher f/stop number to reduce the amount of light coming in). If I adjust only one setting (either my ISO, Shutter Speed, or Aperture) my exposure light meter will read either too bright, or too dark. I need to balance the other settings to even it out.

I’m going to start with some common situations. I’ll start with my ISO. If I’m indoors, I know there is going to be less available light, and I crank my ISO up a little bit. Maybe to 400 or 640 or so. I know it’s going to be a little bit grainy, but it will allow me to shoot in lower amounts of light. Next, I think about my shutter speed. If I slow my shutter speed down, it will allow the negative (or digital sensor) more time with light (and in low light situations, we need all the time we can get for the light to expose the negative/sensor). Remember however, the slower the shutter speed is, the more chance that your subjects will be blurry. I’m going to lower it to 60 (aka, 1/60th of a second) the lowest I can go while hand holding my camera so things aren’t blurry. So now I’ve set two out of the three settings – ISO and Shutter speed. I’ve set them at settings that will allow the most light in, while not creating a grainy picture, or a blurry picture. I check my exposure meter (light meter) and let’s say it is reading that there is STILL not enough light being let into my camera. It’s lighting up toward the minus sign. The only thing I have left to adjust is my aperture. I know I’m going to need to open up my aperture wider to let in more light, so I keep clicking the aperture settings lower and lower:  f/4.5, f/2.2, or f/1.4. With each click lower I should see the lights on the exposure meter getting closer and closer to the middle ‘0’, and once it hits the ‘0’ then you have a properly exposed picture. BAM!

That is generally the order in which I do my settings, although sometimes I start with aperture, and adjust my shutter speed accordingly. And although it sounds like a difficult practice, you’ll find that you mostly just deal with shutter speed and aperture. You set the ISO at a general setting for the environment you’re in, and you can pretty much leave it there. A good place to leave it is 400, because it works pretty well in average light, without being too grainy. Then you just have to balance your shutter speed and aperture.

So, lets say your exposure meter is telling you that you need more light in your picture (aka, the meter is lighting up toward the left hand side, toward the minus side, telling you it’s going to be underexposed – too dark). Either open up your aperture (choose a lower f/stop number), or slow your shutter speed (choose a lower shutter speed number). Conversely, if your exposure meter is telling you that you need less light in your picture (aka, the meter is lighting up towards the right hand side, toward the plus sign, telling you it’s going to be overexposed- too bright) you’re going to want to either close down your aperture (choose a higher f/stop number) or raise your shutter speed (choose a higher shutter speed number). Read this paragraph again, and really try to explain to yourself why doing those things would make logical sense. If there is too much light, you need to figure out a way to make less of it. And you’ve got to do that by either letting in less light with your aperture, or decreasing the amount of time the negative/sensor is exposed to light, or choosing less sensitive negative/sensor.

But, there are consequences. Theoretically, there can be a WHOLE RANGE of different combinations of shutter speed, aperture, and ISO settings to create a properly exposed picture. All of the images below are properly exposed, meaning that light meter was reading a ‘0’.

If I open up my aperture by one stop (choose a lower f/stop number), then I need to make my shutter speed faster by one increment as well. So since there are so many different combinations of the same image all properly exposed, I need to imagine what I want my picture to look like. Do I want the water to be blurred, or sharp? Do I want a large depth of field or shallow? Do I want my photograph grainy or not? Which combinations am I allowed to have together?

Notice how as the shutter speed decreases the water is more blurred. Also notice that as the aperture closes down to balance out the decreased shutter speed, the depth of field becomes greater (more is in focus). This is not the BEST example of depth of field becoming greater because those buildings are so far away in the background that it’s going to take a HUGE depth of field to get them in focus. But, use your imagination and know that if I kept shrinking my aperture, those buildings would be as in focus as the water fountain.

Now, there are times when the picture you are imagining in your head is just impossible to get. So, is it possible to have that blurred water in the fountain and ALSO a shallow depth of field? Combining both of these images?

Well, that’s going to let in a lot of light. My aperture would be WIDE open to create the shallow depth of field (all that bokeh) and my shutter speed would be slow, allowing more time for light to hit the sensor/negative. The only thing we can adjust now is ISO. We’re going to have to make that sensor as insensitive to light as possible, meaning a low ISO. On your camera, that is probably an ISO of 100. Even with that, it may not be possible to get nice blurred water and a very shallow depth of field without being overexposed. You may have to turn down the lights of your fountain!

Here’s another tough example:

Lets say we’re in a jazz club at night. It’s super dark in the club, and there is a little jazz band playing in the corner. You want to take a picture of the singer, because she is really putting on a great performance moving around and singing. We are not allowed to use flash photography in this club, so I’m going to have to rely solely on my knowledge of manual camera settings.

Here is my thought process:

I know I’m in low light, so I’m going to need a higher ISO… buuuut I don’t want it to be TOO grainy. I’m going to try ISO 640 for right now. It’s pretty high, but not TOO grainy. The singer is moving around, and I don’t want her to be totally blurry in my picture, so I know I’m going to need a higher shutter speed (’cause that freezes action)  so I try out 1/200th of a second. The last thing is aperture, and I open it up ALL the way, to f/2.2, creating a shallow depth of field.

But CRAP. My singer is still blurry, and I just realized with the aperture setting of f/2.2 it has created TOO much shallow depth of field and I can’t see my bassist behind her. AND my light meter is still reading that it’s STILL too dark in the room to have a properly exposed picture.

So I start from the beginning again. I raise my ISO up to 1000. I know it’s going to be grainy, but that’s the only thing I can do. Remember, I can’t open up my aperture anymore than it already is to let in more light, and if I lower my shutter speed it will only make my singer even MORE blurry. So, I know I’ve got to sacrifice and make my image a bit grainier.

Now I check my shutter speed, and I raise it a little bit, to 1/250th of a second, so she’s not blurry, and I can freeze the action. And, even though I’m kind of disappointed that the bassist wont be in focus because of my super shallow depth of field (because, remember, I’ve got my aperture wide open, letting in all the light it can) I realize that maybe it’s best that only my singer is in the focal plane, therefore drawing all the attention to her, while everything else is out of focus.

Now, my light meter reads that the image is properly exposed, and I take my picture. There is a lot of thinking that goes into each image before I click the shutter release button, but with each picture you take you’re going to get faster and faster with it. If you can balance those three settings on your camera, and remember what each of them affects, you’re going to be able to make MUCH smarter decisions than your camera can make for you on automatic.

You see, your camera on automatic just makes sure that the exposure is good, but it can’t ask you if you want there to be a shallow depth of field, or if you want to blur some action (like the cars driving by, or the water of a waterfall). And usually, it makes the wrong choice. You are smarter than your camera, and you have the power to tell it what to do, if you just take the time to get to know it a little better.

Finally, try making an exposure sequence like I did with the water fountain, and see what your photo looks like. Notice the depth of field changing, and the way motion is blurred or not. Experiment with the exposure sequence if you change the ISO up or down. Check out other photographer’s work and see if you can guess what the settings were. High ISO or low? Fast shutter speed or slow? Large or small aperture?

I hope this has given you all a lot of material to chew on, to refer back to, and to experiment with! I’d be happy to hear any comments, suggestions, or questions that you have. Feel free to comment here, or to email me at lexia@sugarleafphotography.com!

______________________________________________________________________

Lexia Frank is owner of SugarLeaf Photography, and blogs at Kissing Tree.org.

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