Experienced photographers - please help me with selecting camera settings!

[atsolomon]

Here's my opinion:

1. In low light situations use the shutter priority mode, if not fully manual. Shutter priority is the Tv setting on your camera. This allows you to control what fraction of a second your shutter is open. Go as slow as you can without getting motion blur. For me, it's around a 30th of a second, depending on what I'm shooting.

2. After a given situation, always revert your camera settings back to your preferred neutral setting. For me, that's P program mode with auto iso and a manual focus point. This maximizes your chances of being to make a photo in an unexpected situation as you're walking around.

3. Shooting your kids interacting with the characters is not the time to learn something new. ;-) I almost never shoot in full auto, but I did when we were at character meals in my recent vacation this Aug/Sept. At the minimum, I shot coverage shots: with flash, without flash and then a couple more.

Have a great trip!

Adam

 

[meghead]

Definitely!!! I can't wait for these moments that my DD5 meets all her favorite characters, and want to catch it on film and hopefully have good pictures!

Thanks for your response!

 

[Sam241]

In response to the original post.


It's hard to give general settings for situations because every situation is different. Lighting changes, shadows move, etc and all these things effect a photograph. I'm happy to hear you took at 101 class to learn about Aperture, shutter and ISO. So many people go out and buy a DSLR shoot on auto and think "Sweet now my photos are professional!" when in reality all you are getting is higher resolution average photos.

Can you use auto? Yes, you can use auto but if that was your intention why did you buy a DSLR and why did you take a photography 101 class? You will never get "OMG" shot's with auto, you will get average shots with auto because that's what auto is designed to do. Auto makes your photograph average, it's designed to try and balance an image into a happy medium at any cost.


What I suggest you do is this. Pick an aperture you like outside, that delivers the depth of field you are trying to achieve and then simply adjust your shutter speed/ISO(do the same for inside). This is not the same as AP or SP mode as both those will adjust themselves in order to attempt to balance out your photograph according to what you camera thinks the image should look like.


In the end it's up to you, if capture the moment is more important to you then making it stand out use Auto. If making the moment stand out is more important to you then simply capturing it take the risk and use manual. Either way they are your photographs and as long as you like them they are perfect, don't let anyone tell you different.


Good Luck, hope I wasn't to confusing.


Sam241

 

[photo_chick]

What is wrong with Auto mode? Better yet, Program mode (which does not automatically pop up the flash *and* allows us to use RAW). If you don't want to miss great photo opportunities there is nothing wrong with letting the camera figure out the settings. Many times these settings will be similar to what we would select anyway!

There seems to be a feeling that Auto and Program are evil, the mark of a true newbie who doesn't know any better. Hogwash, says I!

I totally agree. If you don't have a good grasp on how an exposure is made and you want to make sure you get the shot then leave it on auto or program mode. And if you trust your camera's light meter and know it will deliver what you want, leave it on auto or program mode. The camera's light meter may not be infallible, but it's pretty darn good and if you don't like what it says you can always change it.

And to address the original poster... what settings you choose where will vary from person to person. I choose to stick to Tv mode 90% of the time I'm at WDW because it fits how I shoot when I'm there. Some will shoot AV, some swear that M is the way to go. There's a bunch of ways to go about it. But no one can tell you specific settings because 1.) they're not you and don't know how you want to capture the scene. And 2.) you don't know what the light is going to be for sure until you're in the situation.

Edited to add... and you can totally get OMG shots on auto. Not consistently and it takes some luck, but you can.