This is probably the least glamorous part of teaching someone to shoot in manual. Nobody wants to be told that they have to practice this over and over again to master it. We want it all RIGHT NOW. We want to learn about it and then be perfect in it the next day.
You will have to practice it over and over again for some time before you can get it right.
You will need to practice more until you are able to do it in a short time during a session. You will need to practice until you can move your fingers across the camera buttons automatically.
This is the truth, plain and simple!
There are some tips that I can give you to improve your manual practice.
Where to start with camera settings
The most difficult part of shooting in manual is knowing where to begin with your camera settings.
Before I choose my camera settings, i ask myself “What are the most important settings for the picture I want to capture?” The answer will vary depending on what I am trying to achieve and the subject matter of the photograph.
Here are some examples and tips on how to select the best camera settings for your photos:
1. THE OUTDOOR PORTRAIT PHOTO
The ISO and aperture are essential when taking portraits outdoors. My aperture is wide open to get a nice blurred backdrop. I want to keep the ISO low in order to reduce noise (if necessary, noise may be reduced by Lightroom after post-processing). After you have set the ISO and aperture, you can adjust the shutter to compensate for these two settings.
For the photograph below, I selected an ISO 100 and an aperture of f/1.8. To get the best exposure, I increased my shutter speed from 1/320 to 1/220. I shot this using my 50mm f/1.4
Even if you are shooting outdoors in the same light, it is possible that you will want to use a different setting.
As an example, let’s say that you want to take pictures of small children. You should set the aperture and shutter (shutter speed not lower than 1/250), and then adjust ISO to compensate. If your ISO is 100 but you still get too much light, increase your shutter speed.
2. THE LANDSCAPE PHOTO
The ISO and aperture are the two most important settings for a Landscape Photo. You will first want to select an aperture which will allow you to get EVERYTHING in the scene in focus. You will get the best field depth by using smaller apertures. Set your ISO to the lowest setting possible to reduce noise.
In order to take the photo of the landscape below, I set both my ISO and aperture at 500. The shutter speed I used was 1/500th second. The photo was taken as the sun was setting on a windy night while I was holding the camera. It was a good image, but I could have closed the aperture more and lowered the ISO.