Working with Manual

[mediadiva]

I've just started using manual for the past few weeks, trying to nail the lighting/exposure.

I've never touched white balance on my camera before (Nikon D80) so today I set it to "overcast" as I was inside the house by a large window with a sheer curtain, and it is a bit overcast out but a bright overcast. I am thinking this one is not over-exposed but white balance is off and ISO should be lower.



Exposure: 0.02 sec (1/50)
Aperture: f/2.5
Focal Length: 50 mm
ISO Speed: 250
Exposure Bias: 0 EV
Flash: No Flash

I am thinking that I should have made a faster shutter speed so it would be a bit more sharp, it's not when it's blown up. If she got too close to the window it was way over-exposed, and I thought highlight was on, on the camera but it wasn't so it looked great on the display but was over exposed when I got it onto my computer, for most of the shots.

Second Photo same session: http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4022/...f2213a8324.jpg
I am thinking it's 1 or 2 stops over-exposed, and the white balance still isn't right.

Thoughts?

[mediadiva]

I am just trying to become a better photographer, and right now focusing on getting the right exposure, so looking for feedback in that regard, right exposure and having the best photo I can using the manual settings and natural light.

[zona5101]

the color and exposure look fine. The depth of focus is a little shallow but the closer eye looks sharp.

[mediadiva]

That's probably because my f-stop was so low right? I could probably have sped up the shutter speed and then gone up an f-stop to fix that maybe?

[candleman]

Originally Posted by mediadiva

That's probably because my f-stop was so low right? I could probably have sped up the shutter speed and then gone up an f-stop to fix that maybe?

1/50th is already a touch too slow.. its ok if you have steady hands though.

if you wanted to broadedn the DOF to include both eyes being crisp, drop down to say f/4
then up the ISO until you get a shuterspeeed above 1/50th

so i'd say ISO400, 1/50th f/4 is a pretty good starting point

dont be afraid of the ISO, noise isnt as bad as most people make out.
just dont go past ISO800 on the D80.. you may as well just delete everything after that.
the D80 is also a strange animal in that it produces roughly the same amount of noise (if not less) at iso800 than at iso400. (see DPReview for proof)


to throw another spanner in the "manual" works
which metering mode did you choose?

[mediadiva]

Would you laugh if I said I don't know how to use the meter? I've never used it. I just take about 6 pics until I figure it out on the viewfinder. Maybe not the best way but it's what I've been doing. I usually go upload them immediately to see how what I shot compares from what I thought I was getting.

[JessicaO]

hey mediadiva,

To my eye the color looks a bit red (magenta/yellow), I think b/c of the overcast light setting. Overcast is more for cloudy days which are more blue and cold looking, and it makes the pics much warmer/redder to compensate for that. Inside you would be concerned with the indoor lighting which can be too warm/yellow, so that you might want to select the indoor "light bulb" setting. Or you can stick with AWB for everything.

If you're interested in learning about using the light meter, I have a tutorial about manual mode and using a light meter on my blog which you might find helpful. Feel free to check it out: Become a Manual Camera Master in 5 Steps

hope this helps, and good luck! You have a good eye for composition, and your baby is super cute!!

[inkista]

Originally Posted by mediadiva

Would you laugh if I said I don't know how to use the meter? I've never used it. I just take about 6 pics until I figure it out on the viewfinder. Maybe not the best way but it's what I've been doing. ...

Well, it might teach you more quickly than relying on the meter.

Two things to know:

1. When you're in full Manual mode, what used to be your exposure compensation scale is no longer your exposure compensation scale. It's now your light meter. As you change your settings, you should look at it, because the "needle" will move to tell you if you're increasing/decreasing the exposure. Setting the "needle" to 0 is just doing what the auto-exposure system would do. When you're in A or S mode, the AE system just sets everything to get to that 0, which is why the meter acts like a compensation scale. 0 is often in the ballpark of good exposure, but because the AE system can sometimes be wrong, it's good to be able to tweak it wherever you want in Manual mode.

The dots (numbers?) on the meter, btw, indicate full stops. A stop is a doubling of the light. So if you're at -1EV, you're a stop underexposed. You can fix this by doubling your iso, halving your shutter speed, or opening up the aperture another stop.

2. The histogram is your other tool for judging exposure after you've taken the shot. It, too, is marked off in stops. Highly recommend taking the time to learn what it's telling you and how to use it.