A Quick How To...

So how do you use the numbers on the back of your camera to get a good exposure?

A quick run-down of what the back of your camera is telling you:

M = Manual Mode

1/1600 = Shutter speed is 1/1600 of a second

F1.4 = The F Stop or Aperture. The lower the number the wider the aperture is open. F1.4 is the widest aperture on the 35mm lens I was using.  I wanted a shallow depth of field (i.e. all of the background out of focus).

ISO400 = This is the sensitivity of you sensor to light.  The higher the number the more sensitive to available light your sensor is.

That row of numbers from -3 to +3 is your exposure. What you're aiming for is to get the little moving arrow in approximately the centre (this is a little simplistic but it's what we'll go with for now).

Like this:  Here I've changed the ISO to 200, the shutter speed to 1/200 and the aperture stays at f1.4. 

A quick change of settings: Aperture stays the same but the ISO is 400 and the shutter speed is 1/320. Note how the arrow is slightly to the right.  I've slightly over exposed this because I didn't think the whites were bright enough.