Need help with creative modes

[notsue]

I've been trying to use the aperture priority mode on my camera, but obviously I'm forgetting to do something. Indoors or outdoors, high or low aperture, shutter seems slow and subject is blurry. If I go to shutter priority then I have a super dark picture until I find the right speed, but I dont really know what I'm doing when I pick a speed. I read the manual but I forget everything right away, I'm getting frustrated.
When does one want to use which mode, and what are the round about settings for that situation?
I think I need things explained in a different way than the manual in order for me to remember and actually learn... Wish I could just find a class around here, but I'm in the sticks.

 

[Overread]

Understanding Exposure by Bryan Peterson

A great book and one which comes highly recomended by many on the site. Its a very good introduction to getting you thinking about and using aperture, shutter speed and ISO together to get a proper exposure for your shots. It also includes some suggestions on creative ideas that you can use as well.

 

[duffman1278]

I stick to Manual mode for the most part since it allows me to manually control the aperture and shutter speed individually. It's really all a matter of getting used to it and practicing.

For example, if I'm indoors and there's not too much light and I don't have my tripod, then I usually try to open up my aperture to it's max opening(f/1.4 ftw) and then I set the shutter speed accordingly.

You can also increase your ISO so that the camera lets in more light, but remember that when you do this you're sacrificing noise in the image.

Also realize that with a lower aperture f/1.4 as a pose to f/15, will give you a much more blurry image where as the f/15 will make the entire image almost all non blurry.

Practice is going to be the key though, take your camera with you whenever possibel and just practice manual mode. Read guides online as well so that you understand what it is your doing with the settings. I just tried to put it all in a nutshell.

 

[KmH]

I've been trying to use the aperture priority mode on my camera, but obviously I'm forgetting to do something. Indoors or outdoors, high or low aperture, shutter seems slow and subject is blurry. If I go to shutter priority then I have a super dark picture until I find the right speed, but I dont really know what I'm doing when I pick a speed. I read the manual but I forget everything right away, I'm getting frustrated.
When does one want to use which mode, and what are the round about settings for that situation?
I think I need things explained in a different way than the manual in order for me to remember and actually learn... Wish I could just find a class around here, but I'm in the sticks.

Not to be harsh, just honest, you don't understand, at a basic level, how your camera works. That's why it makes doesn't make sense and you don't retain what you read in your camera manual.

There is a link to my blog Digital SLR Basics you can look at. It may help, it may not. Because it's a blog, it's backwards, so you'll have to go to the beginning to start.

 

[wrcRS]

Im in the same boat you're in. What I did was I set up my cheap tri-pod and just tried many of the different settings my camera has. I would take 20-30 pictures of the same thing and tried something different each time. After doing that a few times you start getting used to what each setting will do to the picture.

 

[asila]

for me, i always goes with manual mode for screeny picture . for macro ,close up i would use AV and TV

 

[Tiberius47]

Have a read of the tutorials in my signature. Specifically, the "Aperture, Shutter speed and ISO" tutorial and the "Using P, A, S and M modes."