DSLR Learning Curve

Since I bought my new camera, I have been looking for places to take interesting photos and practice the manual mode on my camera. I visited the zoo on Sunday and today. Cleveland is fortunate to have a decent sized zoo with a lot of interesting animals and plants.

What I have found challenging about using manual mode on my camera is remembering to check my light meter before taking photos. I often take 3 or 4 photos before I realize I'm under or over exposed. Being off by a stop doesn't hurt the image quality, but sometimes I'm off by 4 or 5 and the image is unusable. I need to get in the habit of checking my light meter first.

I also often forget to change my shutter speed even if the shot is exposed correctly. Stationary subjects are fine at low shutter speeds, but quick moving animals often turn into blurs. It's also often difficult to tell how fast the shutter needs to be. Small birds seem to need to be exposed at over 1/1000th of second to freeze the action. Usually by the time my shutter is that fast, I've run out of aperture and ISO settings that can compensate for it.

I feel confident I understand the purpose of shutter speed, aperture, and ISO now. I'm thinking about changing my ISO to an auto setting and just worrying about shutter speed and aperture size. It will probably lead to fewer lost shots.

I thought I would share the fruits of my labor. Here are some photos I shot at the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo over the last few days. Enjoy!