Learning is tough

[lance70]

Been practicting a Little with my new equip when I have time. Man it is tough! I really have a new appreciation for photographers now.
I like my new camera and lenses but getting the exposure right is tough. They’re either over exposed or under.
I’ve been very adamant about doing the settings myself which is why. I don’t want to use automatic.
If anyone has any tips feel free to let me know.
Just feeling like a failure

You can try shooting in aperture priority mode and see how that works for you......with single point focus. Then of course there is a difference in entry level glass and professional glass...

 

[SquarePeg]

Pick up a copy of Understanding Exposure by Bryan Peterson. Best book out there to start out and learn how to get the right exposure settings.

Aperture priority is very popular but for me, shutter speed is just as important. For most photos, I like to set shutter at 1/500 as my minimum so I can be sure to get a sharp photo and then I choose my aperture based on my desired dof/look for the photo and use auto ISO. For really bright or really dark locations, I tweak the shutter as needed.

having a camera with an EVF makes getting the exposure correct too easy.

 

[nmoody]

Pick up a copy of Understanding Exposure by Bryan Peterson. Best book out there to start out and learn how to get the right exposure settings.

Aperture priority is very popular but for me, shutter speed is just as important. For most photos, I like to set shutter at 1/500 as my minimum so I can be sure to get a sharp photo and then I choose my aperture based on my desired dof/look for the photo and use auto ISO. For really bright or really dark locations, I tweak the shutter as needed.

having a camera with an EVF makes getting the exposure correct too easy.

Yes Understanding Exposure helped me a lot and I cant recommend it enough, as well as forcing myself to shoot in manual till I felt comfortable albeit slow at getting everything right. Its important to have a good understanding first before taking shortcuts.

Once I felt comfortable I then moved to Aperture priority since I mostly do landscapes and its the constant that doesn't change as much. I make sure shutter is above 60 as anything below I have a chance of blurring and fiddle the ISO till a correct exposure is achieved. Depending on how stable you are at holding your camera you may need to have more or less shutter speed, some people on here im sure can shoot consistently with a 30 shutter speed but I cant keep myself stable enough to do that reliably. At least with the 24-70mm I cant, the 50mm I could. I assume as I get older I will have to adjust that 60 to something higher like 100. Or maybe tech will get better and I wont, only time will tell. This is what works for me though, this may not be the correct solution for you.

I guess what im saying is you need to understand not just how exposure works and how to use your camera but also yourself and your environment and which setting best suits the needs.

 

[Fujidave]

Some great advice has been given, but the best thing to do is Go out and practice practice and practice. Write down what settings you used and then try different ones, yes it is great to read but the person behind the camera makes the image Not the book.

 

[dLSK]

Yes, lots of good advice. Lots to read.

You need to teach yourself how to judge exposure. Here's how I was taught. And this is for general exposures ( no studio lights or flashes ).

Use the aperture for what you're shooting, use the shutter for light.

So, if you're shooting a single object, you know you want shallow depth of field so F2 / F4. Put your aperture at F4 and starting shooting, adjusting the shutter between shots , faster or slower to get the exposure. If the shutter is too slow that you're blurring, this is where you UP the ISO. Start at 200. You'll hit a point, you take a shot, and you'll KNOW right away what to do to fix it.

An easy practice for this is set up something on a table / desk in good light. Shoot for depth of field. F4 and take what you think is the proper shutter. Go from there, it'll come to you quick

If you're shooting a landscape, you want it all in focus so F8 and higher. Same ISO or lower unless you're doing astrophotography.

Higher ISO's, yes will boost the exposure, but it will show noise in the underexposed sections of the image, and spots of high contrast. Low ISO's only if you're doing landscapes

Good luck, and have fun and don't spend more time reading than shooting, takes the fun out of the learning part