What you’ll learn:

• How to mea­sure light using your cam­er­a’s meter­ing modes (matrix/evaluative, aver­age, and spot)
• How to main­tain expo­sure across sev­er­al photos
• How to take pic­tures in tricky light­ing con­di­tions, such as back­lit subjects
• Choos­ing the prop­er aut­o­fo­cus mode (sin­gle shot, ser­vo, etc.)
• How to keep mov­ing sub­jects in focus

In-depth

Con­trary to the pop­u­lar belief of many novice pho­tog­ra­phers, using man­u­al expo­sure is both straight­for­ward in its sim­plic­i­ty and works with the aut­o­fo­cus system.

This work­shop will unwrap the mys­tique sur­round­ing man­u­al expo­sure pho­tog­ra­phy. You’ll dis­cov­er how cam­eras mea­sure light to deter­mine expo­sure and how to use that infor­ma­tion to cre­ate con­sis­tent man­u­al­ly exposed pho­tos. This work­shop will instruct you on the sig­nif­i­cance of mid­dle grey tones to meter­ing light and how this ties into your camera’s meter­ing modes. Last­ly, you’ll be taught how to accu­rate­ly read and under­stand the infor­ma­tion pro­vid­ed by the expo­sure lev­el indi­ca­tor. The sec­ond half of our pho­tog­ra­phy les­son will show you how to use your camera’s built-in aut­o­fo­cus fea­tures cor­rect­ly, select aut­o­fo­cus points, increase your camera’s focus accu­ra­cy, and keep mov­ing sub­jects in con­stant focus. 

Dur­ing the work­ing por­tion of the work­shop, we’ll explore how you can apply the con­cepts learned in the for­mer half of the les­son to real-world pho­tog­ra­phy by prac­tic­ing man­u­al expo­sure and engag­ing in sev­er­al aut­o­fo­cus exercises.

Important Details

This is the last of our four-part series of pho­tog­ra­phy cours­es for begin­ners. You’re wel­come to take one, some, or all of the class­es at your leisure; how­ev­er, we rec­om­mend tak­ing mul­ti­ple cours­es in their cor­rect order. 

Enrol in 104: Man­u­al Expo­sure as part of our begin­ner pho­tog­ra­phy 4‑course pack­age and save.

Course 104 is also avail­able as a pri­vate pho­tog­ra­phy course for 1–2 people. 

Meeting Location:

In front of The Roy­al Con­ser­va­to­ry of Music.

Accepted cameras:

• We accept all cam­eras capa­ble of man­u­al mode.
• We accept all brands of dig­i­tal cameras.
• Con­tact us if you’re unsure about your camera’s suit­abil­i­ty for this course.

What to bring:

• Cam­era and lens
• Bat­tery (ful­ly charged)²If you’re par­tic­i­pat­ing in more than one work­shop, please bring your bat­tery charg­er or a sec­ond bat­tery to ensure you can oper­ate your cam­era through­out the day. 
• Mem­o­ry card (emp­tied)
• Cam­era manual
• Notepad and pen
• Ques­tions and a thirst for knowledge!

Recommended prerequisites

• 101: Cam­era Basics
• 102: Aper­ture and Lens
• 103: Shut­ter Speed