First, read the manual of your camera. This sounds really boring and silly, but seriously it tells you so much information. Next, go to half price books and pick up some photography books. I recommend Understanding Exposure by Bryan Peterson. Next, play with your camera. Please do not feel upset or let down. This is all new, no one has ever picked up a camera {in manual} for the first time and shot a perfectly exposed image. I won't even DARE post my first images I took in manual, they are that bad. However, as you see now, you would have no idea my images were horrible in the beginning.
Avoid the on board flash, it's crap I really don't even know why cameras' come with them because no great or even so-so photographer will use it. It's too bright, and glares right at the subject making their forehead look shiny. That's not cute.
What if your images are dark? There are three ways to increase the allowance of light into your lens.Widen your aperture by making the numbers smaller. For example, 1.8 is wide which will let a lot of light in, while 5.6 is narrow which doesn't allow a lot of light to enter your lens. I love 1.8 or lower when focusing on one subject because it gives great bokeh and awesome focus. What is bokeh? Bokeh is the blurry part of the image.
Next question, how do you change where the focus is in the image? I always use SPOT metering. Spot metering should be changed in your settings bar. Their is spot metering, center weight metering, and another. Spot metering your able to change one spot {or dot} to the exact point of focus you desire.
With this being said, if you use a 1.8 aperture your focus will be very very tight and you will gain LOTS of bokeh, such as the picture above. This was probably done at 1.8-2.5. You cannot use a 1.8 for large groups. I use a 1.8-2.8 for portraits involving only one person, a 3.5-5.6 for a small group, and I use a 5.6+ or so for a large group or landscape. Remember, the shallower {the larger the number} the aperture the less light, so big groups you need lots of light.
Another way to increase the light in your lens is the shutter speed of your camera. My SS {shutter speed} stays between 1/60th of a second to 1/120th of a second depending on lighting. If my location is really bright such as outside at 1pm, I have to make it faster to a 1/1250th+. The slower your SS the more light will come in, this has it's pros and cons. The pro is allowing the light to come in, but the con is it's slow. You have to have ninja skills with your camera and settings if your using slow SS with a toddler or a pet. If your photographing such, increase your SS and use the two other ways to increase light allowance.
One last way to increase the light in your lens is ISO. The abbreviation and meaning is lengthy to explain so I'll skip to the chase. ISO {pronounced EYE-so} is directly correlated with light, the higher your ISO the more light. Easy peazy lemon squeezy. But! There is a draw back. The higher the ISO the noisier {grainy} your image will be. Noise is not pretty, noise is ugly and should be avoided. So play with your SS and aperture as much as possible to keep your ISO low.
If you haven't noticed, LIGHT is the most important factor in photography. Understanding your aperture, shutter speed and ISO is a must. If your camera stays on automatic, you will have no more control over your camera than a NASCAR driver driving in automatic.
I hope this has inspired and given some confidence to readers that manual is your friend, not your enemy.
Until next time,
Katie
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