How to Shoot Manual in 10 Minutes - Beginner Photography Tutorial

Hyun Ralph Jeong
4 Aug 201912:15
EducationalLearning
32 Likes 10 Comments

TLDRThe video explains key concepts about manual photography mode. It introduces aperture, shutter speed, and ISO - the 3 things to adjust while shooting manual. It explains how each setting impacts brightness and has unique side-effects to understand. The presenter demonstrates these by taking photos at different settings. Finally, it contrasts auto mode, where the camera makes decisions, to manual mode where the photographer has full creative control to achieve their desired effect based on understanding the exposure triangle of aperture, shutter speed, and ISO.

Takeaways
  • 😀 Understanding aperture, shutter speed and ISO is key to shooting in manual mode
  • 👓 Aperture controls depth of field and brightness
  • ⌛ Shutter speed controls motion blur and brightness
  • 🎚 ISO controls brightness and image noise
  • 🔧 Shooting in manual mode gives you full control over your camera settings
  • 🤔 The camera doesn't know what creative choices you want to make
  • 🙋‍♂️ Manual mode allows you to achieve your desired photographic vision
  • ☑️ Use aperture to control depth of field in portraits
  • ⏱ Use shutter speed to freeze or portray motion
  • 🔆 Adjust ISO only when necessary to compensate exposure
Q & A

  • What are the 3 main settings you need to control when shooting in manual mode?

    -The 3 main settings are: aperture, shutter speed, and ISO.

  • How does changing the aperture affect your photos?

    -Changing the aperture controls how much light enters the lens. A wider aperture (lower f-stop number) lets in more light, making images brighter. A narrower aperture (higher f-stop number) lets in less light, making images darker.

  • How does shutter speed affect your photos?

    -The shutter speed controls how long the camera sensor is exposed to light. A faster shutter speed results in less light, making images darker. A slower shutter speed allows more light in, making images brighter.

  • What happens when you increase the ISO?

    -Increasing ISO makes the camera sensor more sensitive to light. This results in brighter images, but often introduces unwanted noise and grain at very high ISO levels.

  • How can you get a blurry background in a portrait photo?

    -Use a wide aperture (low f-stop number) to decrease depth of field. This will throw the background out of focus while keeping your subject sharp.

  • What settings would you use to photograph moving subjects without blur?

    -Use a fast shutter speed, usually 1/250th sec or faster, to freeze action without motion blur.

  • What is one disadvantage of shooting in full auto mode?

    -The camera makes decisions without knowing your creative intentions, instead of you controlling the settings.

  • Why is lower ISO generally preferable, if possible?

    -Lower ISO settings produce cleaner images with less noise. You should use the lowest ISO that allows you to correctly expose the image.

  • When would you use a slow shutter speed intentionally?

    -Slow shutter speeds allow creative effects like light trails or conveying motion blur. Use with tripods to keep cameras steady.

  • What happens if your shutter speed is too slow when photographing people?

    -If the shutter speed is too low, subtle movements while holding cameras may cause blur from camera shake. Increase shutter speed to freeze motion better.

Outlines
00:00
📷 Understanding aperture, shutter speed and ISO when shooting in manual mode

The first paragraph explains the 3 main settings to understand when shooting in manual mode - aperture, shutter speed and ISO. It provides examples of how adjusting each setting impacts the exposure and look of the photo, like aperture adjusting depth of field, shutter speed adjusting motion blur, and ISO adjusting image noise.

05:02
🤯 How aperture, shutter speed and ISO settings have different creative effects

The second paragraph further demonstrates the creative effects of each manual setting - like using wider aperture for blurred backgrounds in portraits or slower shutter speeds to portray motion. It emphasizes considering all 3 settings holistically to balance exposure, depth of field, motion blur and image noise.

10:04
🚦 Why shooting manual gives you full creative control

The third paragraph contrasts auto mode vs. manual mode. It explains that while auto mode chooses settings automatically, it can't read your creative intentions. Shooting manual gives full control to balance settings for your desired creative effects vs. just correct exposure.

Mindmap
Keywords
💡aperture
Aperture refers to the opening in the lens that controls how much light enters the camera. A wider aperture (lower f-stop number) lets in more light, making images brighter, while a smaller aperture (higher f-stop number) lets in less light, making images darker. Understanding aperture is key because it also controls depth of field - images shot with a wider aperture will have a shallower depth of field, keeping only the focused subject sharp, while smaller apertures will keep more of the image in focus.
💡shutter speed
Shutter speed refers to how long the camera sensor is exposed to light. Faster shutter speeds (e.g. 1/500s) expose the sensor for less time, resulting in darker images, while slower shutter speeds (e.g. 1/30s) expose for longer, resulting in brighter images. Shutter speed is important because it controls motion blur - faster speeds can freeze action, while slower speeds will blur motion.
💡ISO
ISO refers to the sensitivity of the camera sensor to light. Higher ISO settings (e.g. ISO 6400) make the sensor more sensitive to light for brighter images in low-light conditions. However, higher ISOs also introduce more noise, color distortion, and grain. Understanding ISO allows balancing exposure needs with image quality.
💡manual exposure
Manual exposure means controlling aperture, shutter speed, and ISO settings yourself rather than letting the camera choose them automatically. This gives the photographer creative control to achieve their desired results, whether shallow depth of field, motion blur, low light capabilities, or image quality.
💡reciprocity
Reciprocity refers to the interdependent relationship between aperture, shutter speed, and ISO. Adjusting one setting requires compensating exposure with the others. They balance the quantity of light and desired visual effects like depth of field or motion blur.
💡depth of field
Depth of field refers to the area in front of and behind the focused subject that appears sharp. Wider apertures produce a shallow depth of field, blurring the background. Smaller apertures produce deeper depth of field with more of the image appearing sharp from front to back.
💡motion blur
Motion blur is the effect where moving subjects appear blurred in the photo. It is controlled by shutter speed - slower shutter speeds will cause moving subjects to blur while faster speeds can freeze the motion.
💡noise
Image noise refers to graininess, distortion, splotches of color, or speckling that can occur in photos, especially those shot at high ISO levels or in low light. Lower ISO settings produce cleaner images.
💡exposure triangle
The exposure triangle refers to the interrelated concepts of aperture, shutter speed, and ISO - making adjustments to one requires compensating with the others to achieve the desired exposure. Balancing these three foundations is key for manual control.
💡stops
Stops / EV stops refer to increments of exposure change, like one stop brighter or two stops darker. Understanding stops allows the photographer to make relative adjustments to aperture, shutter speed, and ISO to correctly expose an image.
Highlights

There's a big difference between not shooting manual because you don't know how and why and not shooting manual because it may not affect your photography.

By watching this video and some practice you should be able to shoot in full manual in no time.

The f-stop number and the size of the aperture are backwards - the smaller the f-stop number, the bigger the aperture.

Bigger aperture means more light, smaller aperture means less light.

Faster shutter speed means your sensor gets exposed for a shorter time, slower shutter speed means longer exposure.

Increasing ISO makes your camera more sensitive to light, decreasing ISO makes it less sensitive.

Aperture, shutter speed and ISO all affect image brightness, but have different side effects.

Bigger aperture gives shallower depth of field, smaller aperture gives deeper depth of field.

Slow shutter speed shows motion blur, fast shutter speed freezes action.

High ISO causes noise, grain and smudginess in photos.

Start with aperture and shutter speed, only increase ISO when you need to.

Shooting manual gives you full control so you can take photos exactly how you intend.

Keep shutter speed reasonably high when photographing people or moving subjects.

Slower shutter speeds are useful for intentional motion blur effects.

Your camera makes auto decisions based on defaults, manual mode lets you decide based on your creative goals.

Transcripts

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