Watch YouTube’s most informed sock puppet teach you how to shoot with manual exposure
May 8, 2020
John Aldred
John Aldred is a photographer with over 25 years of experience in the portrait and commercial worlds. He is based in Scotland and has been an early adopter – and occasional beta tester – of almost every digital imaging technology in that time. As well as his creative visual work, John uses 3D printing, electronics and programming to create his own photography and filmmaking tools and consults for a number of brands across the industry.
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For those who’ve never seen TheCrafsMan SteadyCraftin on YouTube, you’re in for a treat – even if you already understand everything contained within this 25-minute video. For those who have, you know exactly what to expect. I’ve been following this rather unconventional channel for a while now. It covers a lot of handy DIY and crafting topics as well as the occasional random tangent.
Today’s random tangent is the topic of exposure as it relates to photography. Although our host is a sock puppet, the principles are explained very well, in a manner that most people will be able to grasp quite easily – and probably find quite entertaining, too. So, if you’ve struggled to make that switch to “M”, this video may just help you out.
This video really is a complete beginner’s guide, assuming you know pretty much nothing about exposure or how a camera forms a well-exposed shot. But it takes you through the exposure triangle, the consequences of changing your ISO, aperture and shutter speed settings and how they all balance out to get a good exposure, as well as a few other topics.
If you’ve got young children interested in photography, this might be a good one to help them, too.
[via Reddit]
John Aldred
John Aldred is a photographer with over 25 years of experience in the portrait and commercial worlds. He is based in Scotland and has been an early adopter – and occasional beta tester – of almost every digital imaging technology in that time. As well as his creative visual work, John uses 3D printing, electronics and programming to create his own photography and filmmaking tools and consults for a number of brands across the industry.
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6 responses to “Watch YouTube’s most informed sock puppet teach you how to shoot with manual exposure”
Everyone always likes to yell and scream at new photographers telling them to “Got out of Program mode and learn how to use Manual!” That’s actually really bad advice. What we SHOULD be telling them is STAY in Program Mode until you actually have mastered the art of framing and composition – THEN worry about the other modes on your camera. And don’t even jump into Manual mode then, either. First, learn and master what Shutter priority mode is and learn how to shoot well with that – and when to use it. Then learn and master Aperture priority mode and understand how to use and shoot properly with that. THEN once you have mastered those skills and are completely comfortable shooting with them, then you can combine all of what you have learned and experiment with Manual mode. That’s the order that new photographers should be learning in. They should be taught to eat the proverbial elephant of photography the right way – one bite at a time.
Michael Beckerman I use mostly AP, them SP. I have a new lens that will require full manual. I have used it for sky scenes but any tips are helpful. I first learned on 8×10 sheet film cameras in the late 1960’s in university, so no auto settings there.
Funny, it’s normally the ones telling people to learn other stuff before manual exposure that I see yelling and screaming. :)
Michael Beckerman very true, and Great advice.
Michael Beckerman program mode? Are you sure?
Isn’t “exposure” the currency creatives get paid in? ?