Quickest Way to Start Shooting in Semi Auto or Full Manual part 1

Ever wondered why your friends who shoot full manual or semi auto modes on their cameras can make their pictures better? Are you frustrated that your camera doesn't do what you're hoping it to do? Are you tired of blurry pictures or having everything in focus when you want some bokeh? I am going to share the "shortcuts" to take great picture without learning too much. I hope you will have the confidence and the control to shoot in whatever mode besides auto after you are reading this. Disclaimer: this is just a quick guide and intended only for quick-and-dirty instant better looking photos. You, however, will benefit much more when you are learning the basic theories behind what I'm about to say to improve your understanding and control in photography.

Before we start, what you will need is to know how to change these settings in manual mode on your camera:

1. Aperture: usually marked F/some number or just Fnumber. Example: F/5.6 or F5.6
2. Shutter Speed: usually marked 1/some number or just simply the number. Example 1/200s or 200
3. ISO: usually marked ISO followed by number. Example: ISO 400, ISO 1600.
4. Mode dial: the rotating button on top of your camera with bunch of little icons such as P, A, S, M, Auto, Scenery, Art, etc. Sometimes your camera doesn't have the mode dial physically but it has the menu system to replace it.

Consult your camera's manual if you don't know how to change those settings in full manual mode.

Let's start! 

I am tired of blurry pictures of my kids running

There are two ways to tackle this problem.
1. Full Manual. Set the mode dial to M. Set shutter speed to 1/250s or higher, set aperture as big as you can(the bigger the aperture, the smaller the number is; f3.5 is bigger than f5.6), and adjust ISO to balance the exposure meter or simply set ISO to auto if possible. A quick guide on ISO that I usually use: 1600 indoor and 200 or 400 outdoor. Please note that you always want ISO to be as low as you can.

2. Shutter Priority. Set the mode dial to S or Tv(in Canon's/Pentax' language). Set shutter speed to 1/250s or higher, aperture will adjust itself automatically, set ISO to auto if possible or set it to 1600 when indoor or 100 to 400 when outdoor.

I want to get some bokeh/blurry background

There are two ways to tackle this problem. But before you tackle the problem, make sure you zoom the lens as zoomed as possible, set your subject to get as close as you can to the camera and get as far away from the background as you can. Now onto the settings:
1. Full Manual. Set the mode dial to M. Set the aperture as big as you can, set the shutter speed to at least 1/60s for living subject or 1/30s for still object. Set ISO to auto if possible or set it to 1600 when indoor or 100 to 400 when outdoor.

2. Aperture Priority. Set the mode dial to A or Av. Set the aperture as big as you can, set the ISO to auto or to as your liking as I previously mentioned. The shutter speed will adjust itself automatically to match the exposure.

I want to make some dreamy soft beach waves pictures or waterfall pictures

Bring a tripod for sure because you want to use tripod for this. There are three ways you can do this.
1. Full Manual. Set the mode dial to M. Set aperture to at least f8 or smaller. Set ISO as low as possible(if possible below 200 or 100) and set shutter speed as slow as possible(the ideal is more than 1 second). When setting those properties, make sure to match the exposure meter to as close to 0 as possible. Then shoot the picture with the camera on tripod using timer.

2. Shutter Priority. Set the mode dial to S or Tv. Set the shutter speed to at least 1 second or slower. Set the ISO to auto or set it as low as possible, the aperture will adjust itself automatically. Put the camera on tripod and fire away using timer.

I want to shoot candid on the street and I don't want to change settings

I use the following setting:

1. Aperture Priority. Set the mode dial to A or Av. Set the aperture to as big as you can, set the ISO to auto and the shutter will adjust itself. You can also set the ISO to either 400 for indoor or 1600 for outdoor.

2. Shutter Priority. Set the mode dial to S or Tv. Set the shutter speed to 1/250s or faster, set the ISO to auto and the aperture will adjust itself. You can also set the ISO as mentioned above.

I want to shoot landscape

I use the following setting:
1. Aperture Priority. Set the mode dial to A or Av. Set the aperture to at least f5.6 or smaller, zoom the lens out to the widest possible or zoom it in just a little bit from the widest possible. Set ISO until at least you can get 1/30s shutter speed when the landscape doesn't contain any moving objects. Shoot away!

To be continued in part 2.