20 Things I Wish I Knew About Photographing in Manual Mode

1. ISO is an important setting. It controls how sensitive your camera’s image sensor is to the light. In bright light use a low ISO, in low light you can use a higher ISO.

2. WB or White Balance is a setting used to ensure you have even white and grey tones in your photos. Different kind of lights can make the whites in a photo appear to have a color to them. Fluorescent lights can make white sheets appear bluish. Tungsten lights (like a lamp) can make things appear yellow. Cameras have many settings for White Balance, but learning to use custom white balance is a great tool. Check out my blog about white balance to learn more about how to use the custom setting.

3. Aperture controls how much light is allowed through your lens by setting the f-stop. A lower f-stop (like 1.4) will let in a lot of light and a higher f-stop (like 16) will let in less light.

4. Shutter speed controls how long the image sensor is exposed to light. A lower shutter speed will let in more light, but may give your subjects motion blur if they are moving in the photo.

5. You don’t need to use manual focus to photograph in manual mode. Manual mode means you’ll have more control over how your camera reads the light, but manual focus will entail a few extra seconds to use the focusing ring in order to capture a sharp image. Many photographers auto focus so they can photograph and capture moments quicker and ensure they are tack sharp.

6. A great camera does not make a great photographer, but a great photographer can make any camera (even that iPhone) great! By learning how to photograph in manual you can become an expert on what your camera is capable of.

7. Every camera has a ‘sweet spot.’ Even when you’re photographing in manual and you’re looking through the viewfinder and the line is right in the very center of your light meter it may still be too bright or too dark in your camera. My camera’s sweet spot is just one line over toward underexposed from that center spot on my light meter.

8. When photographing in manual there are no ‘go to’ settings for shutter speed, aperture, or anything else. You photograph and set your camera up for what’s best in that light or for whatever it is you want to achieve.

9. The higher your ISO is the more ‘noisy’ or grainy your photos will be. Know that there’s nothing wrong with that, it’s a style choice. I love grainy black and white images from wedding receptions, but it’s not everyone’s style. If you have to push your ISO up higher you’re not doing anything wrong.

10. Shooting in RAW mode instead of JPEG will help Manual photographers in case they get the exposure or white balance a bit off. A RAW photo holds all of your camera information in the file and can be easily fixed later in Photoshop without ruining the photo.

11. Practice! Photographing in manual is hard, but it will force you to learn your camera inside and out and you’ll be a better photographer for it. It takes practice so don’t expect everything to come naturally the first time out.

12. Don’t believe the myth that all professional photographers photograph in aperture priority or some other mode. Believing that is an excuse to not learn your camera’s capabilities. All pro photographers have a favorite mode they photograph in, but you can guarantee all of them also know how to photograph in manual and that learning experience helped them decide their choices later.

13. If you’re not getting tack sharp images it’s unlikely to be your camera’s fault (although it could be because your shutter speed is low). It’s most likely the lack of a sharp lens. Tomorrow I’ll be blogging a lens tutorial to discuss the differences between lenses and how they can affect your photos.

14. Many portrait and wedding photographers photograph with their aperture wide open, meaning on the lowest f-stop their lens will allow so they get portraits with background bokeh (blur) and sharp subjects in the foreground. To achieve that look try to keep your f-stop at 2.8 or lower.

15. Steps to setting up in manual: First set white balance, second set ISO, then set aperture, and finally your shutter speed.

16. Scott Kelby’s digital photography books are great for showing you photos and the settings recipe. His recipes may not be right for everyone’s styles, but I learned a lot by looking through his books and trying some of the shots for myself.

17.  It’s okay to ask for help. If you need help shooting manual start a thread in our free forum and our community would be glad to help you!

18. Do some test shots. Your camera records its settings in the image file so you don’t have to write them down separately. You can test your camera, test settings, and see the difference in how manual feels and looks by going back later and looking through your images and seeing what the settings are that helped you achieve a certain look.

19. You won’t get things right every shot. There will be lots of over exposed and underexposed shots when you photograph manual and you’re learning your settings.

20. Once you’ve mastered your manual settings in your DSLR camera, you can purchase an external flash and start learning about setting your flash manually to perfect your settings with that. Using a flash will affect how your settings look completely differently so if you’re into flash photography you’ll want to learn what settings mean with and without your flash.

These tips are not by any means rules to follow. These are tips that made learning photography easier for me, and there are more tips out there I’m sure. There is no wrong or right way to learn to photograph in manual mode and everyone has their own style and ways of doing things that work best for them. If you have a question, feel free to ask me a question or ask a question in our free forum. If you need further help with photography check out my posing guides in the shop.

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Carrie Swails Photography