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Health & Fitness

Homebody Photo Tip: Try Manual Labor

      The quickest way to become an expert photographer just might be to always shoot in manual mode.  That’s the take-away I got from a recent article I read about a new photographer who did it the hard way by only shooting in manual mode.  In an incredibly short time he went from newbie to expert.  And he had the posted photos to prove it.

     There’s no doubt that shooting in manual mode spooks many beginning photographers.   I certainly was spooked.  However, it’s really not as hard as it sounds.

     I first saw manual mode demonstrated in a video tutorial by photographer Bryan Peterson.  Bryan selected an aperture (f/stop) he wanted and then adjusted his shutter speed until the light meter in the viewfinder indicated a proper exposure.  Snap.  That was it.

     I remember thinking, “That’s pretty easy.”  However, it was years before I started using manual mode with any great frequency.  I guess the thought of it was too intimidating.

     The newbie-to-expert photographer mentioned above (should have grabbed the name-sorry!) did everything manually.  He set the f/stop, shutter speed, ISO, and even the focus manually for most of his individual shots.  He had to think about each shot and what he wanted to accomplish.  The instant feedback of digital photography quickly let him know if he was on the right track or not.  By paying attention, he quickly learned all the aspects of proper exposure.  He learned the rules of exposure and how to play with them for creative effect.

     I find myself shooting more and more in manual mode, especially with my advanced point and shoot.  The LCD screen allows me to see the light meter and also the effect each setting will have on the photo.  What you see is what you get.

     The accompanying photo, “Fog,” was made using manual mode on my advanced point and shoot.  It was on that awesome foggy day we had a few weeks ago.  I set the aperture (f/stop) to f/3.5; and then the ISO to 800, in order to achieve a shutter speed within the range of this camera.  The maximum shutter speed for this camera is 15 seconds long.  DSLRs do not have such limitations, you can leave the shutter open for as long as you want.

     I then took several shots at slightly different (faster or slower) shutter speeds by turning the dial that controls shutter speed in manual mode.  This made the resulting pictures lighter or darker.  I could see the effects of the shutter speed changes on the LCD screen as I took the photos.

     This photo was the best of the bunch.  The final settings were f/3.5, ISO 800, shutter speed 2.5 seconds.  The RAW image file was then post-processed in Adobe Camera Raw, Topaz Noise Reduction, and Photoshop CS-6.
  
     I just re-read the above and it sounds kind of complicated.  I can assure you it’s not.  Perhaps I should post a short video of the technique to show you how easy it is.  I’ll have to first learn how to post a video on Patch though.  That sounds scarier than learning manual mode!

     Kings Park Photo Club:  Meets the third Thursday of every month at the Kings Park Library at 7 PM (next meeting is on February 20, 2014).  Check out our members’ work on display at the People’s Bank, on Indian Head Road.

     Thanks for reading, if you have any suggestions for topics please post them in the comments.

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