Photographing in Manual Mode

Take full creative control of your photography by learning how to use Manual Mode (M) on your Canon camera. This guide will walk you through each step, from understanding your settings to capturing the perfect shot.

1. A Canon Canon with manual mode capabilities
2. A lens
3. A subject anything from a still subject to everyday landscaping

1. Turn on your camera
2. Rotate the manual dial to the M symbol (Manual Mode)

1. Shutter Speed: Time the sensor is exposed. Affects motion blur and speed.
2. Aperture (F/stop): Size of lens opening. Affects Background blur
3. ISO: Controls the sensors sensitivity. Affects brightness and potential noise in photo.

For this scenario we will adjust the settings to photograph a person outdoors during daylight hours.

Shutter Speed:

1. Always start with 1/250 if your subject is still.
2. Up the shutter speed if the person is in motion.
3. Lower the shutter speed if you are in low lighting. However, do this cautiously as tiny movements make the camera shake.

Aperture (F/Stop):

1. Always start at 100 ISO as it produces less noise
2. Increase if the lighting is too dark. Be careful doing so because the result of a higher F/Stop is more grain.

1. Press the shutter button half way down to allow the camera to focus on your subject.
2. Press the shutter button down fully to capture the image.

Your image should appear on your camera screen, Now is a great time to review it.

1. If your image is too dark try increasing your ISO or lowering the shutter speed (lower the shutter as a last resort).
2. If your image is too bright lower your ISO or use a lower F/Stop.

Now that you have the fundamentals down it's time to try to capture and adapt your settings to different scenarios. Here are a few to try.

1. Indoor photos
2. Motion Photography
3. Landscape photography

While knowing how to properly photograph in manual mode is great extra tips have never hurt. Here are a few to help you master your manual mode.

1. Always shoot in RAW it allows for a quicker and high quality result for editing.
2. Try using a tripod. This is especially great for low light settings.
3. Experiment and get Creative