Photo Trial One - Basic White Balance & ISO

As I prepared for my practice today - I realised I really should be cleaning my house instead of playing photographer. Anyway a quick tidy of my kitchen so I could show you the light in the room. Two windows please three overhead bulbs. We also have a picture window in the living room directly behind me...


I am going to use my tripod - for several reasons. The biggest reason - a baby and a 5 year old. There is no way I will get through this without interruptions (which I didn't). This will also help when doing longer shutter speeds.



Subject matter - Babe's new shoes (aren't they great!). Being a Mom 99% of my photos of are the kids - this will change as they grow and run from my camera.

1. Set the ISO - the higher the ISO number, the less light you need to make a picture.
2. Setting the White Balance (WB) tells the camera the type of light that is in the scene.
3. Program AE(P-mode)
This mode is fully automatic, but shiftable mode. You can change the exposure, shutter speed, aperture (so we are just getting our feet wet with a few minor white balance and ISO settings)



















Now a final test - which ISO setting was the best...?
no specific order....take a guess...

Today I will switch from automatic to manual...

I have be postponing making the switch for too long now. Perhaps with pregnancy I didn't have the capacity for new information. So today is the day I make the big switch. I have a vague understanding of photography terms having worked as a designer for years and often helping a photographer for a shoot. Also, being immersed in photoshop for years helps too. But it is still a big leap for me....this is my thoughts for today...

Trial and Error...I have to see to learn. Reading my book is great - but until I try it myself it does not stick.

Know my Camera...how do they do it, quickly changing White balance, ISO etc...I have to practice so I can do this quickly like a magician.

Anyone else making this journey to manual? I will post some experiments on here...hopefully along with the settings I used. Any tips, critiques would be great!

I am using a Canon Rebel XTi basic 18-55mm lens.