Advanced Manual mode
Make the step up to Manual for full control
Using Manual (M) mode, you can set the aperture, shutter speed and ISO to determine the brightness of your exposure as you see fit. You can also use the exposure level indicator on the screen or in the viewfinder to obtain a standard exposure.
Manual mode for studio lighting
“WHEN YOU’RE photographing people using Speedlites or studio lights, you need to shoot in Manual mode so you can boss your exposure to work with the flash,” says Photoplus editor Peter Travers. “By fixing all three exposure elements of aperture, shutter speed and ISO in Manual mode, you can balance your lighting power for perfect exposures for the model. For this portrait, I shot at f/4.5 to blur the wooden decor behind, with a shutter speed of 1/125 sec to sync with the studio flash, and ISO of 250 for the light to project enough to illuminate the model. The studio flash head was set to 2.7, with a softbox attached for more flattering light.”
Control brightness of portraits
“RATHER than shooting in Av mode, which can get tricked into underexposing if you have bright windows in the background, use Manual mode so you can expose for the subject instead,” suggests
Photoplus editor Peter Travers. “Use a fast lens with a wide aperture such as f/2.8 to reduce depth of field to blur foreground and background elements around your subject, then set a shutter speed for the brightness you prefer for your subjects. You can either go moody with a quicker shutter speed (such as 1/160 sec), or go slower (for example, 1/40 sec) so skin tones are brighter. In Manual, learn to dial in around + or – 1-stops of compensation to either brighten or darken images if necessary.”
Super-slow shutter speed action shot
”IN ENDURANCE motorsports racing, I get lots of opportunities to shoot the cars over the course of a long race, so I can sometimes shoot with slow shutter speeds as I don’t need to capture a sharp shot every lap, then I’m more likely to capture an interesting image. Here I used a shutter speed of 1/6 sec to pan with the car. To add to the sense of speed, I positioned myself in a location where other cars were passing between me and my subject vehicle. The slow shutter speed allows the subject car to remain visible while also adding to the sense of speed,” explains motorsports pro Drew Gibson.