Master the art of Manual!
James Paterson explains why you should move away from the semi-auto modes and use your Nikon completely manually
Cameras are more intelligent than ever these days, but despite all the advancements of recent times one thing still holds true – to get the most out of them, you need to take full control. By eschewing auto metering and tech, we can become better photographers. We can get to the heart of concepts like exposure, depth of field, focusing, lighting and processing. Of course, auto modes have their place. The results can be just as good
when you let the camera take charge, and at times the speed and flexibility you get with auto features is essential. But if you can break away from them, you can form a deeper understanding of photography and light. It forces you to think on your feet, take charge of the look of your images and sets you apart from the point-and-shooters.
But it’s not just about learning. There are some situations where manual control is essential, like studio photography, or for bulb exposures. Then there are times when auto can be a hindrance, like when you need a consistent exposure, or if the metering goes awry, or when shooting after dark. If you have the confidence to switch off auto, then you have a better chance of nailing the shot.
So we’re going to show you how to abstain from auto and take full control of your photography. We’ll begin with manual exposure, but this is not the only form of manual control. We’ll also look at other factors – from mastering manual flash, to the benefits of manual focusing.
Manual exposure
Mastering manual exposure is one of the biggest steps you can take as a photographer. In Manual mode you have complete control over the three factors that make up an exposure: the aperture, shutter speed and ISO. These three are often described as the exposure triangle, because altering one side means the others have to shift to compensate. The aperture control enables you to control depth of field, so you can either set a low f-number for shallow focus, or a high f-number for greater sharpness across the scene. The shutter speed control lets you adapt your exposure length to suit the subject – perhaps by using a very fast speed to freeze action, or a very slow setting for creative blur effects like the main image above. And the ISO lets you determine the sensitivity of the sensor to light, with lower settings yielding better quality.
Slowly but surely
If you’re new to the idea of manual exposures, then jumping in at the deep end might not be the best idea. It may be more useful to start off in ‘almost Manual mode’ by going manual, but using Auto ISO. This means you set the shutter speed and aperture – the two more creative factors of the exposure triangle – then the camera chooses the ISO for you. But when all is said and done, nothing will teach you more about photography than spending an afternoon with your camera in full manual exposure.
Look to the viewfinder
After switching to Manual exposure mode you’ll see a dial appear in your Nikon’s viewfinder (it replaces the exposure compensation dial). This little slider can help you settle on the right exposure. Begin by setting any combination of aperture, shutter speed and ISO you like – let’s say 1/100 sec, f/8, at ISO400. Then look at the dial and you’ll see whether these settings will result in an over-, under- or correctly exposed photo. If the dial shows overexposure, you can up the shutter speed, narrow the aperture or lower the ISO. If it shows underexposure you need to allow for more light by lowering the shutter speed, opening up the aperture, or increasing the ISO. Of course, the dial is only a guide – you’re in control, and in some cases over- or underexposure might be what you want. Experimentation is key.
Try exposure simulation
Any exposure is ultimately about controlling the flow of light into your camera, so that it captures just the right amount for the look that you want. This can be a difficult to visualize, but here’s an exercise that can help. Switch to Manual mode, turn on Live View and make sure Exposure Preview is enabled (press the ‘i’ button to turn it on – on some bodies hit the OK button). Now you’ll see a preview of the
The dial is only a guide – you’re in control, and in some cases over- or underexposure might be what you want. Experimentation is key
image based on the current exposure settings, and the screen will adapt in real time as you alter the aperture, shutter speed or ISO. You’ll even see the depth of field alter as you shift your aperture. This handy visual aid shows exactly how your settings affect the flow of light.
Manual filters
Your manual exposure isn’t the only way to control the amount of light that hits your camera’s sensor. We can also manipulate it with lens-mounted filters. There are several reasons you might want to do so. First, it allows you to lengthen your shutter speed, which in turn opens the door to longer exposures and creative motion blur effects over moving water, clouds or other objects in your scene.
Using ND filters
To achieve this, you need to use a tripod and a neutral density filter – a six-stop and 10-stop filter set is ideal for most daylight conditions, as it gives you the option to drop your shutter speed to several seconds. A less opaque three-stop ND can also be useful if you want a wide aperture when using flash outdoors in bright conditions. This is because your shutter speed will often be limited to the max sync speed (usually about 1/200 sec), so it might be a struggle to open your aperture without a filter.
Graduated filters for skies
A graduated filter also lets you control the flow of light, but rather than an ND filter, these are partially opaque to restrict it in one portion of the frame. As such, they’re useful for landscapes as the sky is almost always brighter than the land, so a graduated filter helps you balance things out. Of course, this kind of balancing act can be achieved in similar ways with exposure blending or post-processing
tweaks, but there’s something special about doing it manually in-camera. It’s more tactile, considered, and often yields more natural-looking results.
Manual White Balance
As well as considering the quantity of the light entering your camera, you also need to think about its colour. Different light sources will result in warm or cool-coloured light. A sunset is warm in colour, while twilight can be very cool, and artificial lights can have different casts to them. We measure the colour of the light as a temperature, and we can adapt to it with our white balance settings. This ensures that, under different-coloured light, a white object will always look white. So it’s good practice to manually set your white balance to match the conditions before taking the shot – either using one of the presets on your camera that range from Sunny, Cloudy, Shade, Tungsten, or by inputting a Kelvin number (which is a more accurate scale of temperature), or with a Custom white balance.
Altering Auto WB
However, unlike all of the other auto camera features mentioned in this article, Auto White Balance won’t necessarily cede control, because – as long as you shoot in Raw – it can be reversed
There’s something special about doing it manually in-camera. It’s more tactile, considered, and often yields more natural-looking results
after the fact. So although it’s usually best practice to think about white balance before taking the shot, there’s nothing wrong with simply using Auto White Balance, then adjusting the colour temperature later on. In fact, even when you use one of the white balance presets you might want to tweak it afterwards. Raw gives you the flexibility to do this, with exactly the same results as if you’d set the white balance before hitting the shutter button.
Manual Focusing
Autofocus is a wonderful thing. But sometimes there are benefits to focusing manually. Autofocus works by detecting contrast, so it might slip up when contrast isn’t detectable, which could happen in low light, or when the subject has low edge contrast. It may also lock on to the wrong thing when your subject intermingles with the backdrop, like when shooting through a spiderweb or long grass. Then there are times when manual focus adjustments are essential, like certain manual focus-only lenses; or shooting for a focus stack; or pulling focus in a video; or finding the hyperfocal distance. At times like this, focusing by hand will give you a crucial advantage.
Manual focusing tricks
To focus manually, we simply switch to MF on the lens (or sometimes on the camera), then rotate the focus ring until our intended subject is sharp. In practice, it can be a tricky skill to master, but there are techniques that can help. With close-up subjects and macro photography it can be easier to move the entire camera backwards and forwards to find the point of focus. When both the subject and camera are static it might be convenient to engage AF to find the point of focus, then switch to manual focus to lock it in place. Also, when using a tripod, it can be effective to engage Live View and hit the plus button to zoom in to the subject on-screen (some cameras will zoom in automatically when the focus ring is touched). Then you can fine-tune the focus to ensure perfect sharpness in exactly the right spot.
Live View focusing
The ‘zoomed in Live View’ method of manual focusing can be handy for landscapes, or if shooting in low-light situations. It also may be slightly more accurate than viewfinder focusing, as the on-screen image is exactly as the sensor sees it (rather than with the lens wide open, which is what we usually see through the viewfinder). Mirrorless Nikons and some DSLRS may also have focus peaking, which overlays highlights that detect in-focus details in the image. This is a good indicator not only of the point of focus, but also the depth of field. If your camera doesn’t have focus peaking, here’s a simple trick: try temporarily switching to the ‘Sketch effect’ in the Effect Mode options, which works in a similar way by seeking out edge contrast in the scene.
Pre-focusing on a spot
There are times when the thing we want to focus on isn’t actually in the frame when we’re setting up the shot. Perhaps we’re waiting for a speeding car or bike to zoom around a corner, or for a water drop to fall into a bowl. At moments like this it might not be possible to focus on the subject after they enter the frame because things will happen too quickly for us to do so. Instead we can pre-empt things by pre-focusing on a spot where we know the subject is likely to be. Often in these circumstances it’s a good idea to engage a high drive rate too, so that you can rapid-fire the shutter when the action begins.
Manual Flash
‘Manual’ can be a daunting word for fledgling
Autofocus works by detecting contrast, so it might slip up when contrast isn’t detectable, which could happen in low light