Don't be afraid of Manual Mode

I was recently reminded of a website that I had seen some time ago regarding how to use your camera in manual mode.  There was a time (not that long ago) that the concept of setting the shutter and aperture all by myself was a very foreign, and scary concept.  After a lot of reading and experimentation I finally learned how shutter speed, aperture and ISO rating all effect the exposure of an image and what changes to the image can be seen with a change in each function.

While I could sit here and explain it all, I will save you what I'm sure would be the worst technical explanation ever and just point you towards the Canon Outside of Auto website.  It is a Canadian website, but I'm not going to hold that against them.  On the site you can adjust virtual camera settings and then take pictures of a scene with a moving object.  This gives you plenty of opportunities to see what each function of the camera does given the shooting situation.  There is even a challenge mode that tests your ability to shoot 6 specific shots.  I completed it 6 of 6 in 1:12.  See how good you can do...

Go on, get out of the green box....

now!