Why shoot in Manual mode?
You should shoot in manual mode because it gives you full control on how your images would look like. If you are doing portraits, it can give you the ability to have the most shallow depth of field (bokeh) or if you are shooting fast moving subjects like in sports or wildlife, it can give you the most crisp shots even if they are moving.
Aside from the control that you can have, it also helps editing easier because your photos will look the same unlike when you are using auto mode where the settings are always shifting all over the place in between every photo.
There are 3 things that you should learn in shooting in Manual mode.
ISO
This is the camera sensor's sensitivity to light. The higher the ISO, the more it get sensitive to light and makes the image brighter.
One thing that you should be mindful of is that using higher ISO makes the image more noisy or grainy so use it wisely. (credits to Digital Trends for this photo)
Aperture
- This is the measurement of how open or close the iris of the lens. It allows more or less light to come through. One of the important things that aperture does is it controls your depth of field (bokeh). Aperture is measured in f stops. The lower the number, the more open the lens is which allows more light, and you also get more shallow depth of field (blurry background).
- This is the measurement of how open or close the iris of the lens. It allows more or less light to come through. One of the important things that aperture does is it controls your depth of field (bokeh). Aperture is measured in f stops. The lower the number, the more open the lens is which allows more light, and you also get more shallow depth of field (blurry background).
Shutter Speed
This determines how long the shutter remains open as the image is taken. The slower the shutter speed, the longer the exposure time (which captures more motion blur) and also allows more light in your sensor. Shutter speed is measured in fraction of a second. For example 1/4, 1/50/, 1/250 etc.
As you can see from the example photo above, slower shutter speed introduces more motion blur while a faster shutter speed can be used to freeze a motion. This can be used for fast moving subjects like animals as well as sports.
On my next post, I will be doing a more in depth tutorial on each of these 3 elements where you can also learn which should you set first in your camera so follow me so you can be one of the first to see when I post it.