Lesson 3. Manual

Read your manual. Yes, really. Download it if you have to, and read it. Chances are, it comes in several languages. Read it in yours. Then file it away in case you need it. You’re doing this so you’ll know what amazing things this glorified box with a hole in it can do. You’re doing it because creativity is about possibilities, and you never know what possibilities will leap out at you when you discover that this camera can create in-camera multiple exposures or show you your previews in high-contrast black and white. I’m not saying you need to use even a fraction of the tools that the camera offers—or even remember them. Just read the manual. Trust me.

Now I want you to put your camera on Manual mode and leave it there. Really.

“But I’ll miss shots!”

Yes, you will. (And stop calling them “shots.”)

My father’s Pentax Spotmatic and the book The Pentax Way, which was not the original manual but an expanded manual for SLR photography.

“But I don’t understand exposure. I’ll screw up.”

You’ll learn, and your screw-ups will be your best teacher.

“This is hard!”

Try painting.

Again, trust me. One day you can go back to Aperture Priority or whatever your preference is, but this is about learning your craft. You’ll do that faster and deeper if you stop letting your camera think for you, and you build this into your memory via manual exposure. While you go through this book—and I hope for longer than that—make your exposures manually. You can still let the camera focus for you.