What helped it all "click" for you?

[calemjess]

I have had an interest in photography for several years, but haven't delved too deeply in learning how to take photos in manual mode. I read this stuff about aperature, shutter speed etc and it seems to make sense but then I try some things out and end up being dissapointed with my pictures more times than not.

What helped it all "click" and come together for you? I just started Scott Kelby's book "The Digital Photography Book" and so far I like the simple format. I wish I had someone like the author to go on a shoot with me and say.........here, do this. But for now, the book is the closest I have to that.

[Niresangwa]

Originally Posted by calemjess

I have had an interest in photography for several years, but haven't delved too deeply in learning how to take photos in manual mode. I read this stuff about aperature, shutter speed etc and it seems to make sense but then I try some things out and end up being dissapointed with my pictures more times than not.

What helped it all "click" and come together for you? I just started Scott Kelby's book "The Digital Photography Book" and so far I like the simple format. I wish I had someone like the author to go on a shoot with me and say.........here, do this. But for now, the book is the closest I have to that.

It's laborious but transferring the learned and understood theory from a book or site really comes down to more studying in an applied manner, absent a mentor.

Look at your own shots in manual and figure out based upon what you know, why it came out the way it did. Look at shots taken in semi-auto modes and figure out why the camera selected the settings it did...

... you can also look at sites like Flickr, and study the Exif data on images you like (if the photographer didnt strip the data). As I said its laborious, but after a while you'll notice you can guess trends, which makes it easier to apply next time.

Use your Exif and start seeing in those terms.

The same is true of learning lighting... find images you like, figure out how it was done, replicate, assimilate and apply it on your own.

This however is the exciting part... doing the applied learning, rather than just theoretical.

[SwissJon]

Quite simple really, I was reading a photography magazine in an airport, I had my camera next to me, it said "Give it a go" and I had nothing else to do, so I gave it a go. Sitting fiddling with the camera for an hour while waiting for a plan, simply to make the time go faster, I realised it wasn't all that scary after all, and now I use Manual mode about 70% of the time.. I only use A or S mode (Rarely S) when I don't have time to sort the settings out.

Give it a try, it really isn't so hard.

[Jim Bryant]

For the past 40 years, I've tried to take pictures at least three to four times a week. That's the way to learn by trial and error.

[dlambert]

I'd be hard-pressed to remember a moment when it "clicked". Maybe a couple of dull "thuds", but that's about it. Instead, I think it's been a cycle of learning a little bit, then practicing / reinforcing, and so on. Learning aV and tV before tackling M helped for me, I think.

[zona5101]

It clicked for me when i had to explain it to someone else...
Sometimes I don't have an audience to explain it to so i run through the drill in my head as if I am teaching, I even play the role of student and ask myself questions and see if I can answer it in context and flow of my "presentation".
Mental drills.

[Indigo November]

Got the camera.
Read the manual.
Fiddled with setting for a couple hours.
Started shooting.

In the beginning I used mainly AV, now I use mainly Manual.

[MeAgain]

Who say's it clicked? I'm one step above a loser with an iPhone camera app. Perhaps one day it will click.

What helped me suck less? Taking photos. Lots and lots and lots of photos. With a little help from Scott Kelby

[NgaiHill]

For years I only had cheap P & S film cameras until one clapped out in the middle of a family trip. Bought a Pentax Film SLR online and realised there was more to photography that just snapshots. Wanted to learn more about all the different settings on the camera and how to make my photos better.. Spent a lot of money there for a while getting those films developed until splashing out on my Dslr and it was really only then, when it was free/cheaper to experiment that it all came together.

[ravncat]

It clicked shortly after I made my first hologram