First key is to NOT throw flash in when you are learning manual. Flash changes a lot of rules and you can set nearly anything in that is underexposed and it will make your settings work for you. I know you will need to use flash to get images, this is just for when you are practicing learning how to set your manual settings.
You now need to learn to prioritize your needs and limitations.
If you are using a variable aperture lens when you are learning manual you can have a few headaches. That doesn't mean you can't do it! You absolutely can!!!
When you are using those lenses they change from f/3.5 (when you are using no zoom) to f/5.6 (when you are fully zoomed.) If you are going to be using a variable aperture zoom I usually tell people to set the camera at f/5.6 or whatever your maximum aperture is when you are fully zoomed. If you set your aperture according to the zoom the camera won't change things on you thereby messing with your settings causing the instant panic and confusion or vastly over/underexposed images. That can be tough in the winter or indoors. It's best if you can get outside in good light to really practice. You will get to the point that you can use the lower aperture on your lens and be aware of what you need, but when starting out it's best to take things that can throw you out of the mix.
First you have to have a few guidelines and know where to go with your settings.
Here a few guidelines that I follow and give to students.
Shutter-
Hand held (STILL LIFE) no lower than 1/80 on any lens less than 50mm. For any other lens equal to or greater than the the reciprocal length of the lens. Some teach that it should be TWICE the length and that's a good guide to start with-Especially if you aren't really steady holding the camera. So, a lens of 200mm you would shoot at a minimum of 1/400 shutter speed.
If the subject breathes 1/125
If it breathes and MOVES 1/250
If it breathes and runs like the wind 1/500 (I use this for football)
Aperture-
Should be equal to or greater than the number of people in the scene. If you are closer than 6-8 feet away add one more f/. (this is not a REAL scientific anything, it just kind of works by accident for depth of field) If I am shooting a couple of subjects I might push my aperture up a little bit to be safe.
ISO/ASA-Is the speed of film from back in the day. The slower the speed of the film the less you will be prone to getting noise issues in your images. The higher the ISO=more noise. That doesn't mean you can't use high ISO's, you can, but there are tricks to learn when you get really up there in the #'s. That's another tutorial.
Simply use the lowest ISO you can use and STILL GET PROPER EXPOSURE. NEVER underexpose to use a lower ISO. You'll make the noise worse by trying to bring it up in post processing.
OK... Back to exposure and the thought process I go through in setting it:
So first we have to remember middle gray... that's what the camera is trying to make
Let's go through a hypothetical shoot inside the average house. We'll be in a room with middle of the road beige carpeting and light colored walls. Not much outdoor light coming through, just the average room lights. We'll be taking pictures of the kids playing. They're not running laps around us, but they're doing SOMETHING. A DSLR camera with ISO capability up to 12800 and a prime lens of f/1.8.
To start set your camera at ISO 100 (your baseline)
What do you NEED to take this picture?
With kids shutter speed is the
first thing we need to address. We have to stop them in their tracks to keep them from being one big blur. They are kids and they are moving, but not running so we need a decent shutter but not overly fast. 1/125 would probably do it, but 1/160 would be better if we can use it!!! So set your shutter @ 1/160.
Now Aperture. You could try using f/1.8. Your Depth of Field may be so shallow that you discover that the focus you thought you had nailed? Is off. You PROBABLY will need f/2.8 just to make focusing a little easier, so that is what I am going to go with. If the kids aren't close together in that wall of DOF you may need to go even higher-remember depth of field or depth of focus is controlled by aperture!
Ok, we now have 1/160ss and f/2.8. What does the meter say? Vastly underexposed? Probably not registering on the meter! LOL!
Your image is so underexposed that it's not registering on the meter, right?
You have eliminated your F/ and your SS that leaves you to start raising your ISO. You're probably going to be up around 2000+ in ISO. (I am skipping the HIGH ISO tutorial, so we'll just assume you are ok at high ISO's for now)
For this example I am going to use my Harley because I don't have little children.
Notice that I have middle beige walls and tub in my bathroom. What do you think they'd look like in grayscale? Probably lighter than middle gray, right?
Using what I know about the brightness of the room and what the camera is trying to see I would expose this so that the meter reads overexposed a bit. Or brighter than middle gray. 0 on my meter = middle gray. My scene is brighter than middle gray, so I expose brighter than that on my meter. That comparison of Harley to 18% gray is what I want your mind's eye to see in your scene every time you shoot.
Did you see how I decided what I needed from the 3? That is the process you need to think through for every INITIAL shot in a shoot.
1. What is MOST important? Here it is stopping motion.
2. What is the second most important? F/ was second because we have to get the kids in focus!
3. Your last resort!
Just starting out it might be slow to set the first setting, but after that it is pretty easy.
Here is where people get their fingers tangled in changing their settings: You don't have to change CONSTANTLY!!! Only when your LIGHT changes! AND! You don't have to always use full manual to control whatever it is you need to control. Aperture and Shutter priority are great tools if you can easily keep an eye on what the other setting is doing and make sure it remains in that safe zone.
Let's change that scene a little. We'll try to produce a more dramatic light photo where everything is dark but the light on the child's face. Tricky tricky!!!
Where to meter? If you metered the whole scene here this is the average you'd get:
Way too dark. So now what? I'd probably meter the skin, but
(KEY) I have to remember what PROPER exposure is in this instance. It probably doesn't mean metering to 0! I would want the skin to be brighter than 0 or middle gray on my meter maybe a full stop! His shirt is probably a good middle gray.
*****Most of the time metering isn't making 0, it's making proper exposure for the situation.*****
These are tutorials I have posted elsewhere so some of you have seen them before. I have tweaked them, but the basics are all the same!
I have had people ask me how I got that gray average of everything so I wanted to add that... Convert the image to grayscale and in photoshop use Filters>blur>average.
The first question always is: What happens when I can't go any more in my ISO, f/ or shutter speed and be safe? That's when you NEED flash. That is a whole new ball of wax to open and that situation isn't one you should be concentrating on for your learning the basics steps. If you find yourself in that situation and need to make exposure set your settings just like we did here. When the meter says you are underexposed turn on your flash and go. Just remember that those settings are a little different because you didn't make exposure, you let the flash and camera take over when you hit the limit.
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