As a novice who owns an entry level camera (DSLR, mirrorless or point & shoot), you likely have a range of modes on the dial on top of your camera body. They would typically include A, T (or S), M, P, Auto and possibly more. Most of them allow your camera to do some thinking for you. The one setting that puts everything completely under your control is M for manual.
Starting out, you might ask “Well, I just spent over a thousand dollars on a camera that can do just about everything; why on earth would I turn the automation off?”
I recommend manual mode for amateurs who are getting started in the craft of photography. Why? Because when you do the thinking (rather than letting the camera do it), you learn about the many variables that affect your exposure choices – and, you can then adjust the camera controls based on your creative objectives. You might be surprised how many professional photographers do most of their work in manual – (That is not to say that they don’t capitalize on using auto settings when they need them, especially auto focus (AF). Many bird photographers, for example, predominantly use shutter priority for the obvious reasons.)
If you are prone to making mediocre images, all that automation will do is help you to focus and expose a mediocre image. No camera has yet been built that can tell you where to aim it. Just like human intelligence, automation is an enabler, not a guarantee.
The best thing a new photographer can do, is to mount the camera on a tripod and then set the camera to Manual. Now that you are responsible for setting the shutter, aperture, and ISO (the three sides of the Creative Exposure Triangle), you are going to do more thinking about the images you are creating and exactly how you are going to set the camera controls to achieve everything.
Going manual is just one component of the sequence of slowing down, improving your ability to see, and making decisions that are based on a logical process. You will come to realize why some of the greatest photographs of all time – photographs that were made without anyautomation – were the result of engaged and creative minds working within the limitations of their existing tools.
I purchased a used 1992 copy of Charlie Waite’s ‘The Making of Landscape Photographs’ recently (nice and cheap and in perfect condition). As I read through his book, I focused on the little sidebars he called ‘points to watch’. He included numerous compositions that had imperfections and ‘violations’ of what we know as ‘the rules’. And his clear message throughout is “What it all comes down to has less to do with the tool at hand and more to do with the level of commitment you bring to the task.” And in his 1992 book, it was Manual, all the way!
Committing yourself to manual also forces you to think about how you might handle situations where challenges like the dynamic range (from light to dark) of your composition is beyond the scope of the camera you’re using. Sometimes the shadows have to be sacrificed in favor of detailed highlights, even with a higher ISO. Of course, there are newer solutions in today’s world, but at this early stage in your development, going hands on is a great way to etch the lessons in your mind (learning how to read the histogram is a good idea, too). Making mistakes is highly educational – experiment without fear. A side bonus is learning how to do as much as possible in camera to minimize the time required on the computer afterwards.
Going manual is also a lot of fun. The good news is that the results are instantly available, since the LCD will display exactly what you were pointing at, whether good or bad.
And it never hurts to master the magnification feature for the LCD if your camera offers it – things may look sharp in the field, but the situation often changes when you view your results on the larger computer screen. Turn off the auto focus and see if you can achieve tack-sharp results on your own. If you have it and need it, the diopter near the viewfinder can help with this process, as will a sturdy tripod.
The great thing about manual mode is that once you start using it many processes and ways of seeing things will become automatic. Like the tripod the camera is sitting on, that M on the mode dial is a discipline tool.
And please, don’t erase any images until you have a chance to learn from them.
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