Assuming no tripod, shutter speed is the first descision. Then increase
ISO if you need more DOF.

If you have a tripod, forget ISO, consider the DOF you want, set the
aperture & let the shutter land where it may.

EV is exposure compensation? You'll be able to brighten the room but the
window will blow out so make 2 exposures & merge later.

In my opinion you rarely need total manual settings and in 99% of cases they
don't give you much advantage.

I almost always leave the camera on "Program" mode (not "Scene mode",
because you cannot adjust anything there).
Let the camera select the defaults. Then I check the numbers and decide if I
need to adjust some parameter like aperture to correct the DOF or shutter
speed to emphazise or eliminate movement, etc. The "Program" mode will still
ensure a proper exposure! And then adjust the EV if I want a special effect
there.

Aperture priority or shutter priority are nice if you take multiple photos
in the same situation and you want to set limits to the one of those values.

Let the camera figure it out. Then adjust whatever parameter you think will
result in a better picture.

Probably not. The contrast between inside and outside is usually way too
large to have both areas exposed properly in a single shot, at least unless
you use artificial lighting (flash, studio lights, ...) inside.
Other option: take two photos, one with good exposure inside, the other with
good exposure outside, and merge them in a photo editor.

jue

Unless the window area is huge, there is often so much light difference
as to require a bit of flash indoor to bring the apartment up to the
exposure for the outside.

Think in terms of composition including depth-of-field.

Think in terms of image sharpness due to camera stability (tripod).

Think in terms of subject motion (if any).

Now re-think focal length, aperture setting (depth of field).

    re-think "motion freezing" (subject and need for tripod).

How much light is there?

Finally come to speed (shutter speed + subject motion) and thence
required ISO.

Reciprocity is three variables:
        film speed, shutter speed and aperture.

Cheers,
Alan

On Aug 27, 12:45 pm, "Just Shoot Me" <SpamSti...@SpamStinks.com>
wrote:

I can't really comment on any "program" or "scenic" modes because I've
never used them and have no idea how they work.  My guess would be
that they end up making a whole bunch of bad decisions for you.

If you need to start somewhere, put your camera in shutter priority
mode, often abbreviated Tv.  Now spin your adjustment wheel or do
whatever it is you do on your camera and set the shutter on 1/60th for
indoor without a flash or 1/200 otherwise.  Set your ISO to 400.  Use
200 if you are outside on a bright day.
Now your camera will take care of the rest, within reason.

If you want to go "manual", and that's not nessarily a bad idea --
then use the same ISO and shutter setting.  Start at your lowest
aperature indoors -- probably something like f2.8 or f4 or possible
f5.6.

Now look through your viewfinder and there should be some sort of
metering, possibly lights left and right of center.  Otherwise, just
take a picture, see what it looks like, and adjust accordingly.

I really wish my web site was up already.
While one of the places I took pictures turned out to be a waste of time.
Everytime I look at the pictures I start to laugh.
wall to wall clothes everyplace.  no place to sit with out sitting on
clothes.
i guess i should be happy that there was nothing floating in the water.

JSM

Shutter and aperture affect composition, so the first thing you do is
compose your picture and then choose your shutter and aperture to support
that composition.  There are some times (often times) other constraints,
such as low light and lack of a tripod, which will cause you to adjust
shutter/aperture, but ultimately you're there to make a picture, so it's
envisioning that picture that comes first.

And, if that's too ephemeral an answer, I've been shooting for over a
decade, and with my dslrs I tend to set ISO immediately upon entering a
scene I intend to shoot.  If I don't, I sometimes forget to set it
altogether, particularly if I was shooting with high ISO previously.  It
sucks when the department director says, get this portrait, and then it's
full of noise...

 I think that most people try to keep the ISO setting as low as
possible, in order to keep image quality high, and then raise it as
a last resort.  The setting to set first might depend on the type of
shot you're trying to take and whether you're using flash or not.
For pictures that have subjects or objects moving quickly, using a
fast shutter speed might be most important, so you'd try setting
that first.  You might set the aperture first if the most important
thing was to minimize or expand the depth of field.  Look at a wide
assortment of magazine pictures and try to imagine what aperture and
shutter settings the photographers might have used.  Not the
specific settings, but the general direction the photographer was
going to.

 So if you were taking a picture in a relatively empty room where
little or nothing in the image is close, you might be able to use a
wide aperture, which might be desirable if there isn't much light.
But if there are many objects in the room and many different
distances, you'd probably want a small aperture to keep everything
relatively sharp.  Unless for a particular effect you wanted some
objects to appear out of focus.  Then if you find that there's not
enough light to use the desired settings, you could increase the ISO
and you might be able to reach the desired settings.  If not, or if
only a very high, too noisy ISO setting would work, you might want
to use an old fashioned ISO fixing device, known as a tripod.  :)

 Set the camera on auto, half press the shutter, and see what
settings the camera chose.  If you're familiar with the effect of
changing aperture and shutter speed by a single stop, it should be
very easy after a little practice to be able to mentally translate
the camera's exposure setting into any other equivalent combinations
of apertures and shutter speeds.  If (as mentioned above) you have
an idea whether the shutter speed or aperture will be more
important, you can start off by putting the camera into aperture
priority mode or shutter speed priority mode, setting the associated
setting to a reasonable value, and see what the camera chooses for
the other exposure setting.

 ???  If you change the EV (exposure compensation?), the indoor and
outdoor light will change by the same amount, which wouldn't help.

  I think that to do what you're attempting, you need to be able to
control one source of light so that it's approximately equal to the
other.  For example, if it's bright outside, you might have to add
several indoor lights to get the indoor and outdoor levels equal.
If you can't control the indoor lights, you'd control the outdoor
light by shooting early enough (or late enough) in the day so that
the outdoor light level is reduced to the point that it's near to
the level of the indoor light.  :)