19 April 2010

Understanding Exposure

Hurray for new books! I'm very excited about this book, though I'm finding the process of learning the manual controls is still frustrating. Not that I want much; just instant perfection! For some odd reason, my pictures didn't immediately look like the photographer-author's the instant I opened the book! Ah, well. I guess that I'll have to learn it a bit at a time, just like everyone else. (I need some smileys to add a winking one here. Forums have spoiled me, and ;p just isn't as cool as it once was.)

So, here's my picture, the one that's officially the "Setting and Using Your Camera on Manual Exposure (page 15)" picture. Only, I didn't use the aperture he suggested (f5.6) because my camera's meter said it didn't work. I used f3.5, with a shutter of 1/800, ISO 80. One thing I've come to suspect since starting to read this book is that I don't have a lot of aperture options. But that's OK. I'm still going to learn to use them to the best they've got for me!



First thoughts about manual mode: this takes longer than my programmable-auto setting. And it's hard to make it work inside. Hopefully, both of those things are problems that will go away with some practice.

2 comments:

misskate said...

Crap! I gotta get on this.
Trouble with outdoor pictures is that I don't spend much time outside and near my house there aren't any pretty hedges and stuff.. I'll just have to get creative! :)

Ritsumei said...

So, do an indoor picture. I think the point of the exercise is more to get you to DO a manual exposure. For a long time, I didn't realize that there are indicators for getting the exposure right in manual - my camera tells me +2.OEV there to the side of where it tells me what the setting currently are, when things are overexposed, and 0EV when I get it right. Discovering that a few days ago made the whole manual thing soooo much more approachable. Good luck!