A few weekends ago, I saw a Groupon come across for a Chimpsy Photo Fieldtrip for Kansas City. I’d never heard of it before but it sounded like a great opportunity to learn a bit more about photography. Up until this point I always took photographs in Aperture priority as you only have to set the aperture and the shutter speed would be set for you. I always just set my white balance to auto, ISO to auto, and exposure comp to 0. My fear of Manual mode (especially for shooting an event like a wedding) is that it would take me forever and a day to get the settings set correctly! But this Chimpy photo experience gave me a perfect safe environment to practice Manual mode and get tips from a professional photographer instructor. It was about 100 degrees out so we were only outside for about 20 minutes but we were in a super neat urban area of Kansas City with tons of great color, flowers, architectures and more!
For all your DSLR photographers out there, do you shoot in Manual Mode? Got any tips for adjusting your camera quickly to the best settings?
wow, these look fantastic sandy! i really need to learn to use my camera.. i usually just use automatic mode.
I have just recently started using manual mode and I am still learning. It’s weird when you have no one to guide you. I think I need to take a class like this.
great pictures, sandy! teach meeeeeeeee 😛
cool!!! I like the one with the orchids and the last photo looking up through the fire escapes!!
These pictures are amazing! I especially love the angle you captured in the orchids picture… such a cool perspective! 🙂
Great photos! I’m always learning new things about my dslr, I have the Photo 101 book from Nicole Gerulat and it has taught me so much about Manual – I only wish there was a button I could quickly push to go from my outdoor to my indoor settings, it takes forever to readjust everything!
whoa – these pictures are incredible. i esp. love the one with the buildings!!!
Wow, that photography field trip must of been so helpful! These are so beautiful, Sandy! 🙂
P.S. – I’m slowly readjusting my life back to blogging mode! xD it’s hard! D: </3
I wish I had a DSLR camera… one day. 🙂 These photos are beautiful! What a fun place!
I’m just switching over to Manual mode. I find that it isn’t as confusing as I thought it would be, but it takes me a lot longer to set up for a shot. There is still so much for me to learn, and I’m hoping with practice I will be able to transition from one exposure setting to another more quickly. Good luck! It looks like you’re doing great! I really like that last shot 🙂
Practice! I start from the bottom and work my way up in ISO. Also, you can read the meter in your camera to see how much light is coming in. The funny thing is that I’ve been shooting manual since the beginning and I’m NOW discovering Aperture priority. While on vacation, that’s all I used! I didn’t want to fuss with settings and it was awesome 🙂
Nice! When I am in Scotland I am going to play around a lot with my manual mode. I don’t know if I have the patience though.
i always use auto mode, but i’ve got a photog event {that’s paid, gasp!} coming up, so i need to learn more about my camera. 🙂 and, as always: your pics are stunning.
great photos Sandy. Your learning quick!
I do like to shoot in AV also..but I set my ISO higher if it’s dark or indoor. As for outdoor I normally set it around 200.
I do shoot in manual mode once in awhile. I would just suggest test couple shots and then adjust aperture, fstop, iso if it’s too dark or too light.
Fantastic pics Sandy!
great photos! looks like the class paid off! xoxo jillian:: cornflake dreams
Oh pretty pictures. You really captured the city well!
xo
Alexa
http://www.theshortandthesweetofit.com
i have never thought about going there but it is looking interesting through these pics!
Your photos turned out gorgeous, Sandy! I’m still a point-and-shoot girl, but I hope to upgrade eventually (aka when I have the money).
So cool you got to take a photo class! We are hoping to learn all the basics this weekend at our workshop we’re having 😉 Love how your photos turned out, they look great!!
The pics are amazing. That shop “SPOOL” looks like a lot of fun and inspiration. I’ve only actually been in KC once. I’ve rode through a couple of times. 🙂
your pics came out amazing!!! congrats!!!
practice, practice, practice
the more you practice the faster you’ll get because you’ll become more confident
i promise
Beautiful beautiful pics 🙂 Orchid one my fav 🙂
<3
I love all the photos! I feel like you just took us to Kansas! 🙂
I think you did a great job on these! Love all the color and I really love the mural in the alley!
When outdoors, I always try to shoot at the AP mode. Haven’t practice going Manual yet… but these shots are fabulous, i especially love your shot of the city buildings.
great pics, enjoying reading through the comments, as I’m always trying to get better in manual mode. It’s hard to determine quickly what your settings should be, especially when you have subjects (kiddos) that move quickly.
The photos look great! I especially dig the fire escape urban experience! keep it up