Hoping for some advice on picking a great book that covers the basic tenets of photography. I really need to get out of using Program mode with moderate manual control and start shooting fully manual. My camera is a Canon PowerShot S5IS if that helps. I'm looking for something that really focuses on Aperture, ISO, Shutter Speed , Exposure and the like. Any suggestions?
I can't help you about a book, Rebecca, but the methods to get out the Program mode are not difficult.
1) The Program mode is setted by the camera itself. The camera choose the best aperture and speed regarding the light and the sensibility (iso)
If you are taking a landscape, without particular issues, I think it's the best use
2) If you want to choose yourself the DoF, this is setted by the aperture. The more it's open (f/2,8 or f/4,0), the more the DoF is narrow. So, if you want to take photos like this, you must set your cam on 'A' priority and set the biggest aperture (here: f/2,8). On my photo, the camera adjusted the speed at 1/640. The result is a photo with a very tiny focused area.
3) If you want to take action shots like this, you have to set your cam on 'S' priority. To avoid fuzzy subjects, you must choose a high speed (i.e. 1/500 s) and the camera adjusts the aperture automatically.
4) The full manual mode is reserved for artistic captures, when you want to play with very different settings about the light.
5) The iso setting increases the sensibility of the sensor when the light is poor. But with cameras like the Canon PowerShot S5IS, photos taken at more than 400 iso will be very grainy IMO.
Personally, I'm using the 'A' setting for many of my pictures, except for my mountains landscapes where the 'P' works very well.
Thank you, Pierre! Perhaps have had the faulty thinking that to be truly proficient, I must shoot in full manual mode. You've definitely given me some food for thought! I really appreciate you taking the time :)
Many photo websites add a dedicate field for the exif datas. With these exifs, you could see the choices made by the photographer. Unfortunately, Caedes doesn't use this...
and read a bunch of articles there (start at the top, and work ur way down). You may also want to read dpreviews little thing on digital photography...the exposure section nearing the bottom:
http://www.dpreview.com/learn/?/Glossary/
...pretty much the same info as c in c but less stuff..