This might seem really basic, but the one thing that helped me to switch to Manual mode was understanding my Camera’s built in light meter. I had often seen references to the “light meter” but I thought this was a separate hand-held device! You can use the camera’s own light meter to change either aperture or shutter speed to get the perfect balance for your exposure.
To use the camera’s built in light meter:-
Set your camera to manual mode
In the viewfinder, or on the display screen, you will see a series of dots in line with a plus(+) sign at one end and a minus (-) sign at the other. I’ll call this the “light line” (see picture)
On DSLR cameras there is usually a thumbwheel with which you can change aperture and shutter speed. (Check the manual for your own camera on how use this.)
Use the thumbwheel to move the line of bars underneath the “light line” – when they disappear into the centre, this should give you correct exposure.
If the bars are towards the right (the minus (-) sign end) your photo will be under exposed, and too dark.
If the bars are towards the left (the plus (+) sign end) your photo will be over exposed, and too bright.
Not sure yet how to post a link to my Flickr page, but my Flickr username is: travel-junkie
