Shooting in Manual Mode

First, you need to select the Manual Mode at the camera Mode Dial. You might found your Dial looks different, but I'm sure you can find the M icon ( In red circle) at the Dial :)

So, what does Manual Mode do? Let's begin. These are the setting for my camera, but it will be about the same as yours as well. Do not worry ^^

Aperture = Selectable

Shutter Speed = Selectable

Exposure = Cannot be Set

ISO Speed = Selectable

Picture Style = Selectable

White Balance = Selectable

AF Mode = Selectable

AF Point Selection = Selectable

Drive Mode = Selectable

Metering Mode = Selectable

Built-in Flash = Selectable

Most of the settings are selectable in Manual Mode, it is about the SAME as Program AE Mode.  I would say there is no more honeymoon for user who choose this Mode. There are many things to aware and you need to try different setting in different situation, Manually :)

The Shutter Speed and Aperture are selectable. Therefore, the Exposure will indicate the result according to your Shutter Speed and Aperture setting. Do you remember the chapter "How does Exposure work"? Let's see the steps below. 

1) Set your desire Shutter Speed

- Depends on what you want to shoot and style you want to create in your picture. Blur or Freeze motion. Please refer to chapter "Shooting in Shutter-Priority Mode".

2) Set your desire f-number. Do you still remember the chapter "Controlling the Depth of Field" ? I think I should repeat it again, simple one.

- If you higher the f-number, the Depth of Field will be wider. Therefore, both in front and back of the subject will be focus. 

- If you lower the f-number, the Depth of Field will be narrower. Therefore, only the subject is sharp and clear, most photographers like to create a soft background for portraits.

3) Set your desire ISO Speeds.

-If you found you can't get a satisfy result because of the dark environment, set the ISO speeds higher in order to increase the Shutter Speed to freeze the motion.

4) Pay attention in your Exposure

- As I mentioned above, the Shutter Speed and Aperture are under your control. Therefore, the camera will indicate whether you have a correct Exposure. 

If you are underexposure or overexposure, the Exposure bar will blink (in Green Circle). Therefore, you can create your own style, dark or bright, blur or freeze, it all depends on the user now. 

- You are advised to skip directly to Step 11 because the AF Point, AF Mode, Metering Mode, Drive Mode, White Balance, Picture Style and Built-in Flash are about the Same as Exposure-Priority Mode.

5) Set your desire AF Point.

- You can select your desire AF Point in this Mode. Unlike Auto Mode, Portrait Mode, Landscape Mode and etc, you can now choose the point you want to be focused. The Red Square shows the selected AF Point.

6) Try to focus with Manual Focus.

- I strongly recommend the user who choose Aperture-Priority Mode use Manual Focus. All you need to do is push the button from AF to MF.

Well, although Auto Focus is very convenient in most of the time, you need to try Manual Focus in order to improve your skill. Also, Manual Focus save more battery than Auto Focus. If you do not have a Battery Grip ( I only use it when I attach the External Flash ), you can use Manual Focus so your battery can last for the whole day.

7) Set the AF Mode.

- I'm sorry to tell you that you are not allowed to use AF Mode if you are using Manual Focus. It is because once you selected Manual Focus, all the AF Mode selection will not works. Switch back to Auto Focus to capture moving objects. :)

8) Try different Drive Mode for continuous action.

- There are 5 different Drive Mode for my camera, which are Single, Low-Speed continuous Shutter, High-Speed Continuous Shutter, 2 seconds Timer and 10 seconds Timer.

The first thing you need to aware is light source. If the environment is too dark, you can forget about the Continuous Shutter because you will not get a sharp and clear picture. Please refer back to chapter "How to Freeze Motion?".

9) Set your desire Metering Mode.

- Please refer back to chapter "How does Metering Mode work?"

10) Set your desire Drive Mode

- Please refer back to chapter "How does Drive Mode work?"

11) Manual Mode in dark environment

- Most photographer use Manual Mode in dark environment which difficult to get Exposure. Since Shutter Speed is under your control, you can even shoot starlit sky now. 

Although Shutter-Priority Mode can select your desire Shutter Speed ( or even open with BULK whole night for starlit sky), but you can't control the f-number. Therefore, you might not get the result you want. What you see with your eyes is different with the camera at night. 

You might feel difficult at first because you do not know the Exposure level. But you can look at the Exposure level indicator in the LCD Panel or viewfinder. Once the Exposure reach your desire level, close the shutter immediately before it overexpose. 

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Shooting in Aperture-Priority Mode

First, you need to select the Aperture-Priority Mode at the camera Mode Dial. You might found your Dial looks different, but I'm sure you can find the Av icon ( In red circle) at the Dial :)

So, what does Aperture-Priority Mode do? Let's begin. These are the setting for my camera, but it will be about the same as yours as well. Do not worry ^^

Aperture = Selectable

Shutter Speed = Auto

Exposure = Selectable

ISO Speed = Selectable

Picture Style = Selectable

White Balance = Selectable

AF Mode = Selectable

AF Point Selection = Selectable

Drive Mode = Selectable

Metering Mode = Selectable

Built-in Flash = Selectable

Most of the settings are selectable in Aperture-Priority Mode, it is about the SAME as Exposure-Priority Mode.  I would say there is no more honeymoon for user who choose this Mode. There are many things to aware and you need to try different setting in different situation, Manually :)

The Shutter Speed is in Auto. Therefore, you need to pay attention to the Aperture, Exposure and ISO Speeds for a normal shooting, just ignore the white balance, drive mode and etc at the beginning. If you choose Aperture Mode, I believe you want the subject to stand out more and blur unwanted background in most case. I will show it step by step, in simple way.

1) Set your desire Exposure.

2) Set your desire f-number. Do you still remember the chapter "Controlling the Depth of Field" ? I think I should repeat it again, simple one.

- If you higher the f-number, the Depth of Field will be wider. Therefore, both in front and back of the subject will be focus. 

- If you lower the f-number, the Depth of Field will be narrower. Therefore, only the subject is sharp and clear, most photographers like to create a soft background for portraits.

- I believe it is rare to see the Shutter Speed blinking (In Green Circle ) to show an error because of overexposure or underexposure. If you maximize the f-number and Exposure, the Shutter Speed will be slower, and you probably will get a blur image instead of overexposure ( Unless you shoot to the Sun, It is not recommended to do so without a proper filter ).

- If you minimize the f-number and Exposure, trust me, the Shutter Speed is fast enough for you to play around. :)

3) Set your desire ISO Speeds.

-If you found you can't get a satisfy result because of the dark environment, set the ISO speeds higher in order to increase the Shutter Speed to freeze the motion.

- You are advised to skip directly to Step 10 because the AF Point, AF Mode, Metering Mode, Drive Mode, White Balance, Picture Style and Built-in Flash are about the Same as Exposure-Priority Mode.

4) Set your desire AF Point.
- You can select your desire AF Point in this Mode. Unlike Auto Mode, Portrait Mode, Landscape Mode and etc, you can now choose the point you want to be focused. The Red Square shows the selected AF Point.

5) Try to focus with Manual Focus.
- I strongly recommend the user who choose Aperture-Priority Mode use Manual Focus. All you need to do is push the button from AF to MF.

Well, although Auto Focus is very convenient in most of the time, you need to try Manual Focus in order to improve your skill. Also, Manual Focus save more battery than Auto Focus. If you do not have a Battery Grip ( I only use it when I attach the External Flash ), you can use Manual Focus so your battery can last for the whole day.

6) Set the AF Mode.

- I'm sorry to tell you that you are not allowed to use AF Mode if you are using Manual Focus. It is because once you selected Manual Focus, all the AF Mode selection will not works. Switch back to Auto Focus to capture moving objects. :)

7) Try different Drive Mode for continuous action.

- There are 5 different Drive Mode for my camera, which are Single, Low-Speed continuous Shutter, High-Speed Continuous Shutter, 2 seconds Timer and 10 seconds Timer.

The first thing you need to aware is light source. If the environment is too dark, you can forget about the Continuous Shutter because you will not get a sharp and clear picture. Please refer back to chapter "How to Freeze Motion?".

8) Set your desire Metering Mode.

- Please refer back to chapter "How does Metering Mode work?"

9) Set your desire Drive Mode

- Please refer back to chapter "How does Drive Mode work?"

10) Set your desire White Balance and Picture Style.
- As a photographer, remember one important thing.

"Arrive the Destination EARLIER and Try the Best White Balance and Picture Style Setting."

Well, I believe you will need to understand the environment before the wedding dinner or party get started. The light sources are not going to change (unless at outdoors) and probably you can try on different White Balance and Picture Style, look for the best setting so you will not screw your job. :)

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Shooting in Shutter-Priority Mode

First, you need to select the Shutter-Priority Mode at the camera Mode Dial. You might found your Dial looks different, but I'm sure you can find the Tv icon ( In red circle) at the Dial :)

So, what does Shutter-Priority Mode do? Let's begin. These are the setting for my camera, but it will be about the same as yours as well. Do not worry ^^

Aperture = Auto

Shutter Speed = Selectable

Exposure = Selectable

ISO Speed = Selectable

Picture Style = Selectable

White Balance = Selectable

AF Mode = Selectable

AF Point Selection = Selectable

Drive Mode = Selectable

Metering Mode = Selectable

Built-in Flash = Selectable

Most of the settings are selectable in Shutter-Priority Mode, it is about the SAME as Exposure-Priority Mode.  I would say there is no more honeymoon for user who choose this Mode. There are many things to aware and you need to try different setting in different situation, Manually :)

The Aperture is in Auto. Therefore, you need to pay attention to the Shutter Speed, Exposure and ISO Speeds for a normal shooting, just ignore the white balance, drive mode and etc at the beginning. I believe you want to freeze motion if you choose Shutter-Priority Mode. But all these settings will affect each other all the time. I will show it step by step, in simple way.

1) Set your desire Exposure.

2) Set your desire Shutter Speed. 

- If the environment is not very bright, maybe cloudy or at indoor, you will see the f-number blinking ( In  Green Circle) once you set the Shutter Speed too fast. It is because according to your desire Exposure, you are not allow to use certain Shutter Speed. Therefore, the Aperture reach lowest f-number limit and it blink to show as an error.

- If you select a slower Shutter Speed, notice the f-number gets higher in order to balance the Exposure. Once you Shutter Speed get too slow, the f-number might reach the highest limit and it will blink to show as an error as well. 

3) Set your desire ISO Speeds.

-If you found you can't get a satisfy result because of the dark environment, set the ISO speeds higher in order to increase the Shutter Speed to freeze the motion.

- You are advised to skip directly to Step 11 because the AF Point, AF Mode, Metering Mode, Drive Mode, White Balance, Picture Style and Built-in Flash are about the Same as Program AE Mode.

4) Set your desire AF Point.

- You can select your desire AF Point in this Mode. Unlike Auto Mode, Portrait Mode, Landscape Mode and etc, you can now choose the point you want to be focused. The Red Square shows the selected AF Point.

5) Try to focus with Manual Focus.

- I strongly recommend the user who choose Shutter-Priority Mode use Manual Focus. All you need to do is push the button from AF to MF.

Well, although Auto Focus is very convenient in most of the time, you need to try Manual Focus in order to improve your skill. Also, Manual Focus save more battery than Auto Focus. If you do not have a Battery Grip ( I only use it when I attach the External Flash ), you can use Manual Focus so your battery can last for the whole day.

6) Set the AF Mode.

- I'm sorry to tell you that you are not allowed to use AF Mode if you are using Manual Focus. It is because once you selected Manual Focus, all the AF Mode selection will not works. Switch back to Auto Focus to capture moving objects. :)

7) Try different Drive Mode for continuous action.

- There are 5 different Drive Mode for my camera, which are Single, Low-Speed continuous Shutter, High-Speed Continuous Shutter, 2 seconds Timer and 10 seconds Timer.

The first thing you need to aware is light source. If the environment is too dark, you can forget about the Continuous Shutter because you will not get a sharp and clear picture. Please refer back to chapter "How to Freeze Motion?".

8) Set your desire White Balance and Picture Style.

- Please refer back to chapter "How does White Balance work?" and "How does Picture Style work?"

9) Set your desire Metering Mode.

- Please refer back to chapter "How does Metering Mode work?"

10) Set your desire Drive Mode

- Please refer back to chapter "How does Drive Mode work?"

11) There are some different between Aperture-Priority Mode and Shutter-Priority Mode. The first thing, of course, it is to control the Shutter Speed in this Mode. And most of the time, user who choose Shutter-Priority Mode shoot with a faster Shutter Speed instead of a slower Shutter Speed.

Do you ever notice, the faster Shutter Speed will lose some details at the background? You don't, am I right? Your goal might only to freeze the motion of the focused object, you do not care about the background? Let's discuss in next chapter. :)

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How does Metering Mode work?

Metering Mode is a setting to measure the brightness entered the camera in order to get the correct Exposure. Most camera setting Metering Mode in Evaluative metering by default. Therefore, you will see the symbol like an eye, which shown in the green circle. 

There are four Metering Mode, each of them has different area in detecting the brightness. Most photography lesson demonstrate back light shooting in this topic, but I got something different for today's lesson. :)

1) Evaluative Metering

- This is a standard mode which suitable to most scenes. It is an all-around metering mode, the camera will sets the exposure automatically to suit most scenes such as portrait and backlit subject.

2) Centerweighted Average Metering

- The Metering is concentrated at the center and averaged with the rest of the scene. It will gain more details at the background but the front subject will get darker in back light shooting. Centerweighted Average metering got darker picture compare with Evaluative metering.

3) Partial Metering

- This mode is more suitable for scenes where there are very bright and very dark scenes. The metering is in a small target which cover about 9% of the center of the viewfinder. It is more suitable for back lighting subject. Brightness of both subject and background will be balanced in this Metering Mode, the details of background are lesser compare with Evaluative Mode.

4) Spot Metering

- Spot Metering is available in Mid level and Professional level cameras. It has a smaller metering area compare with Partial Metering, which is about 3.8% of the center of the viewfinder. It looks like Prime's head  to me ^^.

In these cloud photos, you can see Spot Metering got the most details of the cloud and darkest of all. It is because your camera do not exposure instantly, therefore, more details will be captured. You might think, why don't you just decrease the Exposure to get a darker picture if darker one can get the more details? Well, it worth a shot but you probably will not get what you want. :)

Please be aware that Exposure and Metering are different setting, but these setting will affect each other. If you decrease the Exposure, you will get a darker version ONLY, you do not gain details for that. But Metering Mode is the Area you want your camera to concentrate.

Do you remember the chapter "How does Exposure work"? Exposure obtained when the Shutter open. If you shoot the backlit subject or sky, your camera will capture the "bright" thing first. The Exposure is still CORRECT because you do not specify the light area you want your camera to concentrate. Do not get me wrong, Area to concentrate does not same as Focus. Therefore, if the background is too bright, your camera will capture the background instead of the subject. 

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How to Use Night Portrait Mode?

First, you need to select the Night Portrait Mode at the camera Mode Dial. You might found your Dial looks different, but I'm sure you can find the night icon ( In red circle) at the Dial :)

So, what does Night Portrait Mode do? Let's begin. These are the setting for my camera, but it will be about the same as yours as well. Do not worry ^^

Aperture = Auto

Shutter Speed = Auto

Exposure = Not Available

ISO Speed = Auto

Picture Style = Standard

White Balance = Auto

AF Mode = One Shot

AF Point Selection = Auto

Drive Mode = Single

Metering Mode = Evaluative

Built-in Flash = Auto

Do you remember the chapter "How to Use Portrait Mode"? There are 2 settings different between Night Portrait Mode and Portrait Mode. But there are some reason you are suggested to use Night Portrait Mode.

First, the Picture Style is Standard instead of Portrait. You need to capture a healthier and softer skin tone, don't you? As you can see, it is in the Night, the environment is assume in dark scene. Portrait Mode will make the picture lighter and softer, you will have a weird skin tone if you capture in a dark environment. 

Second, the Drive Mode is Single instead of Slow-Speed Continuous. Do you remember the chapter "How does Shutter Work"? This has something to do with the Exposure as well. When you shooting in the dark environment, it is difficult to get enough Exposure. The Shutter Speed probably will slow down in order to get more Exposure. Therefore, you cannot shoot continuous photos because you will capture blur images. 

Third, the Built-in Flash is in Auto. The Flash will fire automatically if the environment is too dark. This also why Slow-Speed Continuous Shutter Speed is not allowed. Flash needs time to charge before firing. There is no way a flash can charge in Continuous Shooting Mode... ...Unless you are in a Studio with more professional equipments.

Fourth, Night Portrait Mode instead of Auto Mode. If you want to capture the subject standing out more from the background, Night Portrait Mode is always the better choice while Auto Mode will only make the the background becomes black.  

However, just leave it to the camera to make a difficult night portrait. If you found the picture still blur, try to use a tripod or find something to steady your camera. 

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Understanding the Mood of Pictures

Do you ever feel the atmosphere when you see the picture? Can you feel the Mood of the picture when it is captured? Well, I'm not a psychic, I can't really tell what was happening at that moment by looking at the photos :)

Mood, it is something you can't be taught, you need to feel by yourselves. But, there are theories, scientific prove, some colours have their Mood. I'm not going to show you all the theories in here, I will only show you photos.

This photo was shot in a dark room. The light was shooting from the top of the castle. I might not doing the lighting well, but I hope the castle looks "silence", "mystery", "cool" or "it looks like Tron". Also, you need to clear all the unwanted things at the background so it won't spoil the Mood.

While this photo was shooting with the Built-in Flash of my camera. As you can see, the shadow of the castle was captured, the flash fired from the front of the castle, and the castle just ... ...well, normal, nothing special, it just a 3D puzzle, it sucks ... :(

Background Shadow, it is something you do not want in the photo most of the time. But as long as you use a flash, you will capture shadow as well. So you need to find an angle to avoid the shadow being captured, at least you need to minimize it. 

Therefore, if you want to get a picture with Mood, you need to have imagination. Think and not just simply shoot with a flash because of underexposure.

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How does Exposure work?

What is Exposure? Come on, do not tell me that it is a device again, not funny at all, ok ?

Well, I am not going to say Exposure is a device because it really NOT a device! Exposure is NOT a device :) So, what is Exposure?

Exposure = Aperture + Shutter Speed

Do not get me wrong, it is not a mathematics equation. It is the relationship between Exposure, Aperture and Shutter.

The size of Aperture and the speed of Shutter determine the Exposure. Do you still remember the theory of Aperture and Shutter? The larger Aperture and slower Shutter speed, the more light goes in the camera, which mean the film or Sensor get more expose, and the picture get brighter. The smaller Aperture and faster Shutter speed, the less light goes in the camera, which mean the film or Sensor get less expose, and the picture get darker.

This is a normal exposure picture

If the picture got too much expose, we called it "overexposure"

And the picture too dark, we called it "underexposure"

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