Read the Meter
In Manual mode — the M on your dial — the camera stops deciding anything. You set the aperture, the shutter speed, and the ISO; nothing is automatic. That sounds like a lot to juggle, but you're not flying blind: the camera is still measuring the light and showing you exactly where you stand.
That's the light meter — a little scale, usually marked -2 . . 0 . . +2, in your viewfinder or on screen. As you change a setting, an indicator slides along it. Sitting on 0 means the camera reckons the shot is correctly exposed; toward + means brighter (more light), toward − means darker. Half-press the shutter to wake the meter and it'll come alive.
So Manual is really simple at heart: pick your three settings, watch the needle, and nudge any one of them until it lands on 0. You've been letting the camera do this in the priority modes — now you're doing it by hand, which means you get the final say.
Manual mode (M). Start at ISO 400 and aperture f/5.6, then turn the shutter dial until the light meter — the −2…0…+2 scale in your viewfinder or screen — sits on 0. Half-press to wake the meter as you go. Indoors and it won't reach 0? Raise the ISO; too bright? Lower it.
You dialed all three settings yourself and the photo came out about as bright as the scene looked — not washed out, not murky — with the meter near 0. If it's off, nudge one setting and watch the needle slide back toward the middle, then reshoot.
The assignment
Switch to Manual (M) and take one well-exposed photo — set the aperture, shutter, and ISO yourself until the camera's light meter sits at zero.
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With a free account your shot lives on this assignment — you earn the XP, your streak grows, and the next technique opens.
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