Choosing the Appropriate Shooting Mode - Part 3

Manual Shooting Mode

 I took this photo using Manual shooting mode.  

 Other shooting modes could not provide my 

desired exposure.

You have learned that shooting in creative or semi-automatic mode gives you a certain degree of control over the result of your photo.  One of the most popular semi-automatic modes among digital camera owners,  beginners especially, is  the Program (P) mode.  P-mode is similar to AUTO mode but it allows you to override the automatic exposure settings determined by your camera.  For more advanced digital camera users, Shutter Priority and Aperture Priority modes are more often used.

In Shutter Priority (S or Tv) mode,  you manually adjust the shutter speed setting while the camera automatically sets the appropriate aperture value to obtain the "proper exposure".  S-mode is particularly useful when you want to create special effect on a moving subject.  Aperture Priority (A or Av) mode allows you to manually adjust the aperture value while the camera automatically sets the appropriate shutter speed to obtain the "proper exposure".  By changing the aperture, you can control the depth of field (DOF) of your photo.  Read Choosing the Appropriate Shooting Mode - Part 2 to learn more about shutter priority, aperture priority, proper exposure, depth of field and other related photography jargons.


Manual Mode (M)

Ready to level up?  Then GO Fully Manual!

In Manual shooting mode or M-mode, you are in full control of your camera and the outcome of your photo.  Some photographer's even describe this shooting mode as the "holy grail of photography".  Basically, the M-mode allows you to manually select both shutter speed and aperture value, and while or when you take the shot, your camera will not alter these settings.  This mode is very useful if you want to take several pictures using the same combination of the shutter speed and aperture settings.   That means, you can fix the value of both shutter speed and aperture settings in different lighting condition.  


NOTE: Some point and shoot cameras do not have this feature.   Other point and shoot cameras do have M-mode, and can be set via menu options, but its capability may be limited.  So please refer to your user's manual and find out whether full Manual (M) shooting mode is available.


Benefits of Shooting in Manual Mode

M-mode provides more flexibility in fine tuning your desired exposure in case either S-mode or A-mode does not work for you.  Combining with other principles and techniques in photography, this mode will allow you to produce more creative and artistic photos.  This mode is convenient for taking intentionally underexposed (darker) or overexposed (brighter) photos without any intervention from your camera.  In other words, you dictate what you want.  Professional and experienced photographers prefer M-mode over the other shooting modes for the reason that majority of their great and captivating photos are captured in this mode.

If at this point, you are satisfied with your photos using any of the the semi-automatic modes (P, S or Tv, A or Av) then I suggest you keep shooting with that mode until you feel something is lacking in your photo.  As you gain experience in taking photos using your digital camera, you will surely find time to carefully analyze and critique the images you have captured.  And during this analysis you will be able to identify certain deficiencies in your photos which could have been addressed if you switched your shooting mode dial to M and adjust the shutter speed and/or aperture appropriately.

Now, should you wish to explore the M-mode, the best starting point is to use any of the semi-automatic mode as your guide.  Always remember when to use shutter priority or aperture priority modes:

              S or Tv mode for shooting moving subject 
             A or Av mode for controlling depth of field (DOF)  

Shooting in either mode will produce a "proper exposure" from the camera's perspective.  Your camera will always decide and adjust to produce what it thinks is the proper exposure.   Once you have established your own standard of proper exposure, you would want to adjust the exposure yourself and not by your camera.  Your only option  to get this kind of control at this juncture is to use M-mode (other options will be discussed in later blogs).  And since you are new to M-mode, I suggest you follow these simple steps using the same example given in Choosing the Appropriate Shooting Mode - Part 2.

1.  First step is to identify your objective.  Let's say you want to capture your subject in the foreground as sharp as possible while the middle and background are all blurred.

2.  Determine the appropriate shooting mode.  Our example calls for aperture priority mode because you want to control the depth of field.  Therefore the shooting mode dial should be set to A or Av.

3.  Referring to the objective, adjust the aperture value accordingly.  Because you want a sharp foreground subject while leaving the middle and background blurred, set the aperture to its lowest allowable f-number (largest aperture size), e.g. f/4.  This effect is what we call shallow depth of field.

4.  Get closer to the subject to obtain a nice shallow depth of field effect.

5.  Focus on the subject (preferably set your camera to autofocus, and I suggest you read the user's manual's section on "focusing").   Pressing the camera's shutter release button halfway will automatically focus on the subject.

6.  Once focus is set, press the shutter release button fully.   Congratulations, you have successfully captured an image!   More often than not, you will obtain a pretty decent exposure.

Essentially you are done and your objective was satisfied, except that you did not use M-mode.  But what if the resulting photo is too bright for your taste or you simply want to experiment on the different brightness levels without altering the depth of field.  Here's what you can do:

1.  View/playback the captured photo, together with the shooting information (read your camera's manual on how to view your photos and shooting information).  You should be able to see the shutter speed and the aperture value (f-number) used to capture the photo.  Since A-mode was used in our example, you should already know the aperture even without looking at the information display.

2.  Take note of the shutter speed that was automatically selected by your camera.  If sufficient light is available when the shot was taken, shutter speed will be expressed as a fraction of a second, e.g. 1/500.

3.  Set your camera's shooting mode to M.

4.  To capture the same subject at the same depth of field, maintain the same shooting distance and set aperture to the same aperture value used earlier, i.e. lowest allowable f-number.

5.  To darken the image, select a shutter speed faster than the one you noted in step #2.  If, for example, you noted 1/500, you may set the shutter speed to a faster/shorter value, say 1/1000.  Remember that increasing the shutter speed reduces the exposure.  See previous blog about Exposure.

6.  Take the shot, view the photo and adjust the shutter speed if necessary.  Repeat this step until you obtain the desired exposure.

Take as many practice shots as you can, altering some conditions (lighting, depth of field, shooting distance, etc.) using this technique and then analyze each photo and its corresponding shooting information.  Eventually, you will realize that you no longer need the aid of the semi-automatic modes to shoot in Manual mode.

In my succeeding posts, you will learn other camera functions as well as other principles and techniques in photography that can help in improving the way you capture your photos.

Stay tuned and keep on shooting!