Understanding Exposer of Digital Camera

It is now time to move onto manual exposure. Before I begin, I would like to give a brief explanation of the Aperture priority and Shutter priority modes on your digital camera.

Aperture Priority

In aperture priority mode, the camera automatically selects the shutter speed while you select the f-number,(the lower the f number i.e. f5.6 the larger the aperture, the higher the f number, i.e. f32 the smaller the aperture). And the smaller the aperture, the greater the depth of field.

Shutter Priority

In shutter priority mode, it is opposite of aperture priority.The shutter priority mode automatically selects the f number to suit the shutter speed you’ve chosen.A fast shutter speed will freeze motion where a slowshutter speed is useful for giving the effect of motionin a subject.

Manual mode is one of the most versatile control functions on your camera system, it allows you to have control over the exposure time as well as the aperture values (i.e. f-numbers). Once you make the move to manual mode, you will find something that is not easily achieved in fully automatic mode. In this article,we are going to bid farewell to that little green square on your camera and say hello to stronger and more creative images using manual mode.

Manual mode is usually identified by an ‘M’ symbol on the dial of your camera. Once you have your camera on this setting, you will be able to choose your shutterspeed (i.e. the length of the exposure, up to 30 secondsin most cameras) along with the f number (which controls the amount of light that enters the lens, andthe depth of field) independently.The big advantage to manual mode is that it allows you to greatly expand your creativity, such as capturingthe effect of motion, freezing motion, long exposures, or using the available light to your advantage - Such as adjusting the aperture and shutter speed to create dramatic shadows or highlights by under or overexposing certain aspects of a subject.

A great advantage of manual mode is being able to freeze motion or create a blurring effect, particularly useful when photographing sporting activities. One of the techniques you can use is tofollow the subject with the camera as it passes; Once you are focused on the subject, it will be in focus butthe background will be blurred out of focus, capturing the illusion of motion in your photo. Another methodis to use a fast shutter speed like 1/500th sec. once you click the shutter at the right time it should freezethe image without blurring and depending on the depth of field you will be able to see a little or a lot of background detail, something which may or may nothelp the aesthetics of an image.You can freeze your moving subject while blurring the background, freeze the subject while keeping the background sharp, or bluryour subject in motion while keeping the background sharp also. Let’s have a look!

When you use flash for shooting in manual mode,whether it be for motion or still life, the flash to workcorrectly, must be in sync with the shutter speed. This is known as sync speed. Sync speed is the point where the flash fires at the same time as the shutter is fully open, depending onthe camera the sync speed can vary between 1/90thsec and 1/250th or faster. For example, if the sync speedof your camera is 1/90th sec. it means that if you areusing flash you will not be able to adjust your shutterspeed to anything faster than 1/90th sec (i.e. 1/125th)without getting only some of the image.

Once you are able to view your images on screen or in print, you can check your notes and learn what technique works best with any given situation.So now that we’ve taken a look at f-stops and now exposure settings, go out there and set your camera on manual mode. Make note of what settingswork, and what don’t, given the environment you are shooting in. Most of all, have fun experimenting!

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