I woke up friday morning to a surprise in my inbox; I had won Averie’s giveaway for an e-book copy of Say NO to Auto. This was my first ever giveaway win, and something I could get great use out of, so I was psyched!
I opened up the e-book and was pleased to see it was simple to understand, short, and to the point. I like that in a guide book, because I easily get sidetracked if the content is too in depth or wishy-washy.
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I have been using my manuel mode and manually focusing my camera consistently for a few months, but there is always more to learn.
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Such as: when you adjust the shutter and aperture, the exposure scale on the lcd and in the viewfinder tell you roughly how under or over exposed your image will look. I had no idea! In fact I never even noticed it moving when I would adjust the settings…
Underexposed shot………………….just right…………………….Overexposed shot
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So with just this new tid bit, I stopped looking at my lcd to view my image and started looking through the view finder and reading the scale to estimate how the exposure would come out…
I took this picture first try, only gaging by the exposure scale and adjusting the shutter as necessary. I was really happy with how it came out, and normally it may take me 2-3 tries to be happy with the exposure of a shot!
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The book covers the basics on shutter speed, aperture, and ISO. It also gives a great reference for what circumstances to use which ISO setting. I admit, ISO was something I never understood or adjusted. I figured I could always leave it on auto and adjust the other settings. Well, now that I’m saying NO to auto, I started playing with the ISO and with good results!
{Waffle at the Farmer’s market. I loved it’s simplicity and the tweed linen was a great backdrop for a picture.}
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Saturday morning I moseyed around the farmer’s market before work with my camera. I kept it on manuel, looking through the view finder, and adjusted my settings as needed. I got great results in 1 or 2 shots most times!
You can also look for the small blinking red light in the center of the view finder when the image will be in focus. I love finding new things out about my camera 1.5 years after buying it!
(Out of focus, but I loved this shot of the famous dumpling lady!)
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Overall, the e-book was a great, quick read which I gained some good knowledge from. If your beginning your journey through manuel mode, I highly suggest purchasing this e-book.
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Do you accept products to review and giveaway on your blog? Do you like other blogs that do? I’ve declined one recently because I’m not sure that’s where I’d like to take my blog, but I’m still putting thought into it. I’d love to hear others’ opinions on the topic. Is it something you do on your blog or would like to do? I definitely still enjoy blogs that have reviews and giveaways, but I’m just not sure its for me.
I love that black and white shot!
Thanks! He loved that I was taking pics haha!
woohoo, way to say NO to auto! Congrats on your win!!!
Thank you so much! It was a great read that I’ll definitely be referring back to!
Katie…WOW. This post couldn’t have come at a better time. I got a deal through Living Social (like a Groupon) and am taking a course on Manual mode tonight. I will let you know how it goes.
As always though – your pictures in this post are stunning! Hopefully i will start turning out ones like this too
ALSO. Congrats on your win!! Woohoo!
Can’t wait to hear all about it!! And thank you so much
Glad you enjoyed the book’s format..simple and streamlined but packed with useful tips. Your photography and the Light Bulb Moment that you had…worth it’s weight in gold. Forever.
so happy for you!
And I had this exact same lightbulb moment very recently with Manual. Like a month ago. Prior to that, I was so scared. No one EVER explained the whole viewfinder thing to me until I was at Food & Light and realized..omg this is it?! Something I thought was so hard, really wasnt, and it’s opened so many doors for me in just…a month!
I review products that IIIIII want to review — I do not review something for the sake of just reviewing something. I think I could possibly perhaps be in love with the dumpling lady — and your tomato paste photo — gorgey!!
I like product reviews and giveaway’s up to a point. I don’t like when it happens every other day–it gets to be too much. However, if it is a product the blogger truly loves, I think it is wonderful. I have been thinking about doing a coconut butter giveaway because my adoration is just SO deep and I want to share to love!
When I got my camera a year ago, my boyfriend (who is a photographer) made me promise not to use Auto. I’m slowly learning how it all works. I hadn’t really paid much attention to the exposure scale either so that’s going to be very helpful – thank you!
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