Compaq
Been spending a lot of time on here!
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And what I'm saying is that there is no need to "step out of auto mode" to "understand the 'why'". Manual mode offers no more help in understanding exposure than A, S, or P.
By writing this, you've forced me out of the couch, where I was lying extremely comfortably and reading this thread on my phone.
Saying that M has no advantage in understanding exposure over A is, imo, stupid. Of course, I, nor you, can speak for all people and how they learn. Let me try to explain how I would start all over again - and how I urge people to start.
The first thing I would suggest, would be to read about shutter speed, aperture and ISO. Having a lens where one could actually see the diaphragms move, having an old film SLR without lens to actually see through the body and see how the shutter speed works. As for understanding ISO, film would, imo, be a very, very good way to start. Film sens and sensor sens are two different things, yet the same. I think it's easier for a beginner to understand that chemical reactions happen at a quicker rate when bla bla bla.
If this is done properly, then exposure would be pretty straight forward. Certain surfaces reflect more light than others, and thus require less light to be rendered "as the eye see it". In a scene with direct sunlight and open shade, you might expose for the sunlight. If the mentioned principles are understood, it does not take a lot of brainpower to understand that in order to expose for the shadows, you'd need "more light", because the shadow is darker.
Once you're able to analyse your surroundings like that, you will be able to, with some experience, to see where you should meter from to correctly expose for your subject, whether your subject is the sky, person in open shade, the stars, the moon, the space right next to the setting sun in order to not get a sun with really dark space around. This is all ambient light exposures, flash is an element that takes more practice.
Exposure isn't a hard thing to understand, but it's easy to "let the camera do the work" and not even think about what's really going on in the scene. By shooting in manual mode and using spot meter mode, it's easy to expose for different parts of the image, each requiring different amounts of light. You may take a reading off of a tree in shade, adjust settings and look at them. Then, take a reading off of a person's face in direct sunlight. Before doing anything, you should try to estimate the new exposure. See if you were going in the right direction. Auto would do the same, but I, personally, would prefer to actually turn the dials to change the exposure. Even better, get an old SLR or an old rangefinder with an aperture ringson the lens. Shooting film in full manual mode, with a pretty simple meter (compared to today's), would be the ultimate learning experience with regard to exposure (as well as composition, for that matter), imo.
Taking a class or having formal education is not necessary to understand exposure. Exposure is the EASY part of photography. It's how to compose shots, using exposure and elements of visual design to convey your message that's the hard part. It's never been easier to get properly exposed shots, what, with today's cameras doing it for you. With film, there is more to the process than just clicking. Actually developing the film and printing the negative each require experience to bring the most out of your initial exposure. But understanding the principles is easier with film, IMO. In some extent, I've started learning exposure all over again when started using a film camera.
(not checked for typos)
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