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Back to Basics – Mastering Manual Mode on Your DSLR

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About Course

SHUTTER MASTERY / BACK TO BASICS

From switching it on to choosing your own settings.

Learn what to change, why to change it and how to create the photograph you have in mind.

Perhaps your camera has spent more time in its bag than in your hands. Perhaps you use Auto and sometimes get a photograph you love, but cannot explain why it worked. Back to Basics gives you a practical route from those first steps to understanding and using Manual mode.

A clear goal for your first day

The course is designed to take you from turning on your camera for the first time to making deliberate choices in Manual mode within a day of focused learning and practice.

Follow it as a dedicated learning day or spread the lessons and exercises across shorter sessions. You can pause, repeat a demonstration and practise until the decisions start to feel familiar.

Built from teaching real beginners

Join photographer and tutor Darren Woolway for an online course developed from his one-day workshop, taught to more than 1,500 students.

You will start with the camera itself, including essential controls, lenses and focusing, before exploring how each exposure setting changes your photograph. Key ideas return throughout the demonstrations so you can see them working in different situations.

APERTURE

Choose the depth

Explore soft backgrounds, subject separation and keeping more of a scene acceptably sharp.

SHUTTER SPEED

Shape the movement

Freeze action, introduce deliberate motion blur and practise panning for a sense of speed.

ISO

Balance the result

Understand image brightness and noise, and use ISO to support the aperture and shutter speed you need.

Watch it happen. Try it yourself.

Real-world demonstrations connect the settings to visible results. Follow shutter-speed experiments at Brands Hatch, explore depth of field with seed heads, and bring your decisions together with beach huts and a moving flag.

You can practise the same principles with everyday subjects close to home. Each experiment gives you something specific to change, observe and compare.

01

Understand the choice

See what each setting controls and decide which effect you want.

02

Make the photograph

Follow the practical exercises using your own camera and subjects.

03

Review and adjust

Check the result, identify what needs changing and try again with a clear reason.

Bring it together in Manual mode

The Manual Mode Checklist gives you a repeatable process to take into your own photography. Learn to start with aperture when depth of field matters most, or shutter speed when movement is your priority, then balance the remaining settings.

Along the way, you will explore composition, white balance, RAW and JPEG, metering and histograms, helping you judge the photograph as well as operate the camera.

“I know what I want this photograph to look like, and I know which setting to change.”

That is the confidence this course is designed to build.

What is included

  • Video lessons with practical demonstrations and guided experiments.
  • Lesson summaries and transcripts to revisit as you practise.
  • Quizzes and interactive learning activities to check your understanding.
  • Downloadable exercise instructions and reference guides, including the Manual Mode Checklist.
  • A Facebook community where you can share your experiments, ask questions and learn from other photographers.

Buy once. Keep learning.

Your enrolment includes lifetime access, future updates to this course and additional course resources as they are added.

Work through the course at your own pace, repeat the experiments and return to the lessons whenever you need a reminder.

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What Will You Learn?

  • Find your way around your camera’s essential controls and focus settings.
  • Choose aperture to soften backgrounds or keep more of a scene sharp.
  • Use shutter speed to freeze action, show movement and practise panning.
  • Balance ISO with aperture and shutter speed while considering image quality.
  • Use composition, white balance, metering and histograms to make more deliberate photographs.
  • Bring everything together in Manual mode using a practical checklist.
  • Review your photographs, recognise common problems and decide which setting to change.

Course Content

Module 1 – Start Here FREE Course Preview and User Guide
Introduction to the course, how to use it, and what to expect. Sets the foundation for your learning journey in photography.

Module 2 – Mastering Your Camera, Lenses, and Accessories
Learn the essential controls, buttons, and features of your DSLR or mirrorless camera. Understand lenses, focal lengths, and accessories so you know what tools to use and when.

Module 3 – How Your Camera Works
Explore the inner workings of your camera: the sensor, shutter, and aperture. Get introduced to the exposure triangle, understand stops, white balance, and learn the differences between RAW and JPEG.

Module 4 – Mastering Shutter Speed
Explore how shutter speed affects motion in your images. Learn to freeze action or create motion blur for creative effect, and understand its role in the exposure triangle.

Module 5 – Mastering Aperture
Dive into depth of field and learn how to control which parts of your scene are in focus. Understand the creative power of wide and narrow apertures.

Module 6 – Mastering ISO
Understand how ISO affects exposure and image quality. Learn to balance sensitivity, light, and noise for different shooting conditions.

Module 7 – Mastering Manual Mode
Bring it all together. Learn to take full control of your camera by setting shutter speed, aperture, and ISO deliberately to achieve your creative vision.

Module 8 – Bonus Tips
Extra advice, practical tips, and exercises to help you refine your skills, experiment with your camera, and develop your personal style.

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