My Switch to Manual
I did it. I made the move. I started shooting in full manual last week. Whew! I have to say that I am a bit proud of myself.
How did I know it was time?
Moving over to full manual is a bit of a personal preference. Just because “professional” photographers go on and on about it without respite, it may not be for you. I knew it was time for two reasons:
One, I was frustrated with many of my images, especially their softness. After much research, it seemed that moving to manual might fix this.
Two, I have been studying the different elements of manual shooting (aperture, shutter speed, ISO, light meters, and histograms) for quite some time. Technically, I started about ten years ago in high school, even though that has been far from consistent study. I was fairly confident that I could manipulate the different aspects of manual without too much frustration.
Trust me, if you don’t feel super confident that you understand how aperture, shutter speed, and ISO work and affect pictures, don’t switch to manual! You will cause yourself much undo stress. I have seen so many people weep and lament over manual mode in different photography forums. It was one of the reasons I avoided trying it. You will know when it is time. Please don’t do it because you think that’s what “real” photographers do!
After some practice and a full photo shoot using manual, I have discovered some benefits:
Creates sharper images.
This mostly comes down to shutter speed. I would typically shoot in Aperture Priority mode, letting my camera automatically choose the shutter speed. I found myself with way too many blurry pictures. Most of them were just soft enough to cause irritation. But… when I shot in manual, I made a conscious decision to keep my shutter speed above the threshold where it would be affected by camera shake.
* TIP: How do you know how slow your shutter speed can be and still get sharp images? A tip that seems to be working for me says that your slowest shutter speed should be 1/the length of your lens. Shooting with a 50mm? Keep your shutter speed 1/50 or higher. 85mm? Keep the speed at 1/85 or higher.
Get that gorgeous exposure.
Shooting in Aperture Priority, Shutter Priority, or Automatic will let the camera adjust your settings using the camera’s light meter, and it will want the light meter to read zero. This often creates images that are a bit underexposed. Yes, you can use the exposure adjustment slider with your camera settings, but I found better luck and better exposures when I went into manual.
Use your in-camera light meter, and expose the image so that it is a couple of ticks above zero. Then, double check it in the viewfinder or with the in-camera histogram. (If this light meter and histogram stuff is just gibberish, take some time and research it. Hopefully, I will have another post up in the near future explaining these functions, but it is definitely needed info if you want to shoot in manual.)
Causes you to slow down and perfect your shots.
You will limit the number of “reject” images because you are concentrating on each aspect of your image. I get wound up and shoot too much and too randomly during a photo shoot. Switching to manual helped me breathe and think as I was shooting. I did not shoot nearly as many images, but the images I shot were much, much stronger.
Would I shoot in manual if I was chasing after a gaggle of crazy toddlers? Probably not. It may slow me down too much. Adjust your shooting style based on your needs. Manual works really well for general portrait sessions, but it may not be right for active kids. I would switch to Aperture Priority mode until I got so good at manual that I could adjust everything fast enough.
My Manual Method
Here is my process for shootin in manual mode:
1. I start with an ISO default of 100. If I can get the other settings to work with this, it will create the sharpest and cleanest images.
2. Then I move to aperture. Aperture is usually where my creative vision comes from. I love a wide aperture with a short depth-of-field. Blurred backgrounds are like crack to me.
3. Next, use the light meter, and play with that shutter speed. Move the shutter speed faster or slower until the light meter reads 1/3 or ½ above 0.
4. Let’s say that I adjusted the shutter speed perfectly, and it says that my shutter speed should be 1/25 of a second. Well, I’m shooting with a 50mm lens, so this will not do. I have to get the shutter speed up to 1/50 or faster, or I will have a super blurry photo.
Set the shutter speed to 1/50, and then go back to ISO. Increase the ISO until the light meter is in the correct range again.
Research your camera to know how high you can go with the ISO. I have a Canon Rebel, so I don’t like to go above 400 (even though I could probably go up to 800 if needed). Some cameras can go to 3200 without batting an eye. Know you camera.
Then, all you have to do is snap the picture! (Easy breezy, right? 
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New light conditions or different artistic requirements will cause you to repeat the process.
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Whew, sorry for the lengthy post! Hope this helps with your manual mode aspirations. I will post images from that first manual photo shoot soon. (It was a very exciting day!)
Please feel free to ask questions; I am happy to help!
Great post! Good luck continuing with manual!
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Many thanks for your posting – I found it really inspirational. When it’s light out here I’m going manual, using your tips.
I’m so glad it was helpful! Let me know how it goes, Liz!!!
This is a great post! Thanks for this information. I’m new to this and usually shoot in Aperture Priority mode. I would love to try full manual – and one day I will.
great tips! it’s actually very interesting what the ease of digital photography and other advancements made in camera have done to my laziness! before i got my dslr, i ALWAYS shot in manual. sounds like i have about 10 years on you age wise, so manual with film is what i learned on….oh way back in the mid 80′s.
i remember learning the entire dark room process and i can still remember that smell. i’ve played around the manual functions on my camera and i think it does now truly come down to laziness! i need to unlazy myself. 
I picked up photography right at the end of the darkroom era (late 90′s). I used to live in my high school and college dark room! And, yes, the smell! It makes me smile just thinking about it
this is fantastic!!! thanksomuch…im inspired to give it a “shot” obviously no pun intended
thanks! can’t wait to see pics…bookmarking this post.
Fantastic post in plain english! I found it very helpful, have been playing in manual for a few months not really ever knowing if I was going about it correctly as I haven’t had anyone to show me. Seems that I have been doing ok now I’ve read your post. Except I do shoot fast moving children and have been perservering in Manual with this even though it’s incredibly difficult to be quick and can miss some awesome moments ‘cos I’m fiddling. Plus changing focal points each time ( I’m pretty fast at that tho). Good to know it’s ok to go into AV mode for this except don’t think I can go back after seeing the result manual can give =)
I totally understand! Getting a focused shot of a child can be so difficult at time
Here is one more tip that might help you with those squirrelly children: Try switching your focus mode to AI Servo instead of One-Shot AF. When the camera is set to AI Servo it will actually track movement and refocus accordingly. It can be so helpful when you are working with kids, and you can use it in either AV mode or manual.
Good luck!
you might just be my photography saviour. i think i love you. you speak in a way that i understand. thank you soooooooooooooooooooooooo much.
Ha! Now that is a compliment! I am so glad that it is helpful to you. Trying to learn manual is NOT an easy task!
Especially when one has memory problems!