A Better Way To Shoot Manual
When we first start photography we usually just leave the camera in full auto and just enjoy the act of taking photos. However after a while we become curious as to what the M dial actually means and what would happen if we do switch the camera into full manual. Couple that with many pros telling you that you must know how to shoot in manual and sooner or later you decide to give it ago.
Initially you have no idea what’s going on and why your photos are too dark or have motion blur. But after a while you start to make sense of it all and start developing your own little system of shooting in manual. However from time to time it can still get frustrating and leave you wondering what you’re missing or what’s even the point when you can put it all in auto and forget about it. Well in this blog I will share with you what I believe to be a very efficient and simple approach to manual photography.
What I’m about to share with you are settings that work for me. When it comes to camera settings there is no right or wrong, sure there might be some best practices but ultimately if it works for you and gives you the results you want, that’s all that matters. With that in mind, please don’t take what I say as gospel but instead try it for yourself, keep what you like and disregard what you don’t.
Why Manual?
Before getting into the details we need to clear the air a little because there is a lot crap out there and it can feel overwhelming. There is this myth that you are somehow a better photographer if you know how to shoot in manual. That is not entirely true. Being able to shoot in manual does not automatically make you see amazing compositions, or work out what is good lighting or even take a photo that is interesting to look at. There are many photographers who use their iPhone in full auto and take way more interesting pictures compared to someone who knows every setting inside out on their 6 grand mirrorless. However being proficient in manual when you do have a vision for composition, light or subject means that you can select the best settings to bring that vision to life. For example if you want an out of focus foreground with some motion blur, you know exactly what settings to use to achieve that. Also being proficient in manual means that you have an understanding in how your camera works and exposes. So if you do use a semi auto mode like aperture priority or even full auto, you can keep an eye on the settings your camera selects and over ride them if you feel those settings are not suitable for the photo you’re trying to take. Finally being proficient in manual means that you can take over from the camera in challenging conditions such as snow, fog or at night time. Another way to put this is that knowing how to drive a manual car will not make you a better driver. It will not make you feel when the back end is about to slide out, it will not make you feel when the front tyres are on their limit and you’re about to start under steering into a ditch. However once you know the basics of how a car behaves, being able to select the best gear for your given situation will elevate your overall skill.
When To Shoot / Not Shoot Manual?
Photography is not a black and white rules based craft. There are many grey areas and most decisions you make will be situation dependant. There are some scenarios where manual will be better and some scenarios where it will actually hold you back.
I would recommend using manual in the following scenarios:
When you are faced with very challenging light - snow, fog, night.
When you are shooting in constant and consistent light - dessert, park, open area, overcast, night.
When you are shooting for a specific type of photo - motion blur, freezing extreme motion.
When you really want to slow down and be methodical with your photography - when the process is more important than the end result.
When you really must have full control over every setting for a specific purpose - exposing for highlights and waiting for the right subject to walk through the frame.
I would not recommend using manual in the following scenarios:
When you are faced with constantly changing light - partly cloudy day, walking in a city with many skyscrapers on a sunny day, walking in and out of markets on a sunny day.
When you are in a very fast paced environment and getting the shot is more important than focusing on the process - shooting out of a car window driving through a city.
When your attention is split between photography and something else - exploring the town with your family.
ISO, Aperture & Shutter Speed
In this section we will quickly cover the settings of each parameter and after bring it all together to explain the methodology.
ISO is usually the first thing I would set and typically have it as follows:
For bright sunny days where the light is constant - base ISO (160).
For overcast days where the light is constant - 320 ISO.
For situations where the light is constantly changing (walking through a city on a sunny day) - 320 to 500 ISO.
I don’t shoot much in low light or at night however if i am in that situation, then i tend to max it at 3200 or 6400 if i am really pushed for it.
Secondly I will set the aperture as follows:
Default is f4.
If i want more background blur, need to let more light in or would like an overall softer image then I would open the lens to f2 or even f1.4 if it goes that low.
If i want the opposite of that, then f8 will cut a lot of light, reduce what’s out of focus and produce the sharpest image out of that lens.
Now and then I will use f11 but anything higher is a no go due to risk of diffraction.
Last but not least is the shutter speed which will be set as follows:
My ideal target shutter speed is 1/500.
This is the shutter speed at which I’m 100% confident that most things within reason will not have any motion blur.
Of course this applies to run and gun style of photography where you might not even have time to stop.
If you are the type to stop, hold your breath, take your time then you can go a little lower and have your minimum at around 1/200.
My max shutter speed is 1 below the maximum that the camera can do. So the XT4 shoots at 1/8000 therefore my max will be 1/4000. This is simply to make sure i never run out of shutter speed so to say.
Methodology
Having done countless workshops and spoken to so many people just starting out, one of the most common frustrations that I hear is photos being blurry. Although in some cases it is to do with focusing, I found that most of the time it is all to do with shutter speeds being way too low. When I ask why the shutter speed is that low, the most common answer is “in order to keep the ISO at base and have no noise in the image”. This I can completely understand, from the moment we start seeing advice on manual photography, we are always bombarded with this “keep your ISO low” message which we often take as gospel. I’m not gonna go deep into this bit but honestly the noise difference between base ISO and anything under 1000 on a modern camera is negligible, but I digress. If you are on a tripod or are being extremely still and slow with taking a photo, then low shutter speed is not an issue. However for a lot of run and gun photography that I do, this does not always work.
The second issue I come across in is that people try to adjust all 3 settings all at once. The moment lighting conditions change, they are scrambling to fine tune the aperture, shutter speed and ISO at the same time. Again, not an issue if you have all the time in the world to get the shot, but the minute you need to act quickly, things will get pear shaped, you will either miss the shot or just end up with a mess.
So as you can see we have 2 issues to address. First is to ensure a consistent high shutter speed even in changing light. Secondly it is to minimise how many settings we have to adjust to get a good exposure quickly.
This is where having a slightly raised base ISO comes into play. It basically means that should you enter a darker environment, you can easily drop your shutter speed but still keep it high enough to not introduce motion blur. For example if you’re walking down the street and it’s sunny, then with aperture at f4 and ISO at 500 your shutter speed is around 1/2000. The moment you walk somewhere darker, you can drop your shutter speed to 1/500 and all is good. If that is still not enough, you can always open up the lens to f2 or even bump the ISO to 1000. Ive had days where i would walk around all day and not touch the ISO or the aperture at all. Just tweaking the shutter speed between 1/250 and 1/4000 depending on the lighting. For those days where that wasn’t enough, i could always make small quick adjustments either way on the aperture and the ISO.
Summary
To summarise not only am I maintaining a consistently high shutter speed but also can do 80% of exposure changes using the shutter speed dial and if I am faced with an even bigger exposure change, I have room to move either way on both the aperture and the ISO quickly. Is it possible to lock the shutter speed and apply the same methodology to another setting, yes of course it is. However from personal experience I just found this way to work the best for me. As I’ve said before though, your mileage may vary so do experiment. The final closing bit of advice is to try and remember to make exposure adjustment whenever the conditions change and ideally before you need to take a photo. So if you walk off the sunny street and into a darker market area, make those adjustments right away…. Not as you’re about to take a photo.