Why Shoot in Manual Mode?

by | Oct 23, 2023

Today’s Post by Joe Farace

The number one question I get from photographers during PhotoWalks and workshops is about how they can obtain the “proper exposure.” I’ve written several posts on that topic here as well as on my car photography blog. To continue with that theme, I want to tackle the subject of manual mode.

I like to think that shooting in manual mode is for the photographer who prefers to drive a car with a stick shift than one with an automatic transmission. While some purists and YouTube pundits claim that manual exposure mode is the only one you should ever use, I find that I mostly use Manual in the studio when shooting with electronic flash or when working under extremely low or challenging lighting conditions. That’s because many lighting situations will confuse even the most sophisticated camera’s automatic exposure system. Anyway, here’s my two cents:

THE BASICS: Obtaining the best exposure is simply a matter of correctly choosing and using the appropriate combination of lens aperture, shutter speed and ISO setting. You can set the exposure manually or let the camera do it using the many modes that modern DSLRs and mirrorless cameras offer.

For 90% of the photographs you’ll make, these automatic modes do a fantastic job in producing correct exposure but its those last 10% that’ll kill you, so sometimes you have to shift into manual mode.

Manual exposure can also be helpful with high contrast situations or those having a strong backlight but also can help when trying to achieve a specific mood.

How I made this photograph: I stopped by a local grocery store and bought the cheapest bundle of flowers they had and placed them on my kitchen table next to patio doors which provided the available light. I mounted my Olympus E-M5 Mark I and M. Zuiko 60mm F2.8 Macro lens onto an old but sturdy Manfrotto tripod to produce the image you see at right. The Manual mode exposure was 1/2 sec at f/16 and ISO 1600.

You can set manual exposure by using information provided by a hand-held light meter or, more conveniently, the metering system that’s built into the camera. As I mentioned when talking about IR capture in a previous post, here’s how I typically use my camera’s in-camera meter like a handheld one: I look through the viewfinder in Program mode to see the suggested exposure settings, switch to use Manual mode to set the shutter speed and aperture based on my interpretation of how I want the image to look. For some outdoor and infrared photography I’ll bracket while checking the histogram from time to time.

BULB MODE

Most cameras also offer a Bulb mode, a variation on manual mode where the shutter stays open as long as the release is pressed. This setting lets you to make really long exposures for holiday lights, fireworks or special effects such as images of carnivals and amusement parks.  For long exposures like this it’s also a good idea to use a really sturdy tripod and further reduce the risk of camera shake by tripping the shutter with a cable or remote release


PS: Many of these suggestions relate to exposures that are made using  available and natural light. Working in a studio under tightly controlled conditions is another story and makes manual mode shooting go simpler and faster.