Manual settings in specific conditions

[MorningGlory]

As a novice with a camera, I was wondering if you had specific settings that you applied to different situations to achieve the best results? Im thinking about the following;

Portrait photos, like character greetings.

Close action photos - on a rollercoaster

Action photos of rollercoasters, or stunt shows, etc.

Night time photos of fireworks, etc.

Is there some of these just best left to 'auto' mode?

Does anyone know a website that explains, in laymans terms ( ), what effect settings like ISO, aperture, shutter speed and exposure have in specific conditions?

Edited to add: My basic understanding of the 4 settings is;

ISO - high settings for low light, low for bright light?
aperture -
shutter speed - lower shutter speed for action pictures?
exposure -

 

[KrazyPete]

I use manual all the time at my DD's cheerleading competitions. Sports in low-light is a photographer's nightmare. I run the ISO up to 1600, I open the aperture all the way up (because of the poor light). Then, I set my shutter speed as fast as I can so that the shot is a little underexposed (so the motion isn't blurred). I shoot RAW because I'm intentionally underexposing and I know that I'm going to be fixing it in Lightroom later. I really need a faster lens.

To put this in a Disney context, I think this would be similar to shooting some of the live shows.

 

[ukcatfan]

ISO - high settings for low light, low for bright light?
aperture -
shutter speed - lower shutter speed for action pictures?
exposure -

I will cover part of your post.

ISO is the sensitivity of the sensor. The more sensitive, the less light that is needed. The side effect is image noise. lower number = less sensitive = less noise

Aperture is the size of the opening that lets light in to the sensor. Larger apertures allow a faster shutter speed or a lower ISO to be used. The downside of using wide open is that you decrease your depth of field (range that is in focus) and the lens is not the sharpest at that setting.

Shutter speed is usually represented as faster or slower and is pretty self explanatory. The longer the speed, the more likely blurring will occur.

The exposure is the combination of those three elements. You might be thinking exposure compensation. That basically is telling the camera that the settings chosen by the camera are either too much or too little so it will compensate the exposure to meet what you think it should be.

Kevin

 

[handicap18]

There are many different answers to this based on the many different people who have different preferences in their shooting style.

Lighting has the biggest effect obviously.

Generally speaking:
For character greetings I would use either Aperture Priority with f/5.6 or 8 at ISO 400 with a flash or set it to AUTO if I'm in the pic and having someone else taking it.

For the rollorcoasters and other actions stuff. Up the ISO to 800 or 1600 depending on the light and your noise tollerance and set the shutter fast 1/250th or fasther depending on the lens. Unless you want to show the rollcoaster moving then a slower shutter.

Fireworks. Low ISO to cut down noise (100 or 200). Tripod. f/8-11 with anywhere from a 2 to 6 second shutter. Handheld is a different story.

Sometimes when your wandering around the parks and there is a lot going on its best to leave it in Program or AUTO. You never know when a pic op will present itself and in a spur of the moment you could miss it spending to much time changing the settings.

So take all factors into consideration, including what you would like the picture to look like.

 

[MarkBarbieri]

You can't pick your settings until you know what the light is like.

Portrait photos, like character greetings. - I use aperture priority mode to control depth of field. I want the character and my child to be in focus but I'd like to throw as much of the background out of focus as possible. The exact aperture depends on the focal length and the distance between the character and my child. If I have time, I spot meter off of my childs face. Usually we're rushed, so I just leave the camera in evaluative and adjust in photoshop. I set the ISO to the lowest reasonable number for the lighting, usually 100 to 200.

Close action photos - on a rollercoaster - High shutter speed is a top priority unless I'm doing something tricky like panning. I usually bump my ISO to 800 for sunny photos or even higher if the light is low. If I'm on the ride with the kids, I often go to aperture priority mode to get a reasonable depth-of-field and then just hope the shutter speed works out. Because light levels change so quickly, I stay in evaluative metering mode.

Action photos of rollercoasters, or stunt shows, etc. - Too many variables. I use different settings depending on how much motion blur I want, how much depth-of-field I want, how much light I have to work with, etc.

Night time photos of fireworks, etc. - I haven't shot fireworks in a while. When I did, I shot in manual mode and set an aperture and shutter speed to match what I was trying to accomplish. I wanted a shutter speed that allowed some movement of the fireworks in the frame (probably 1/4 to 1/30). If I have something like the castle in the frame, I'll set my shutter speed, spot meter off the castle, and adjust my aperture to suit. I'll adjust my ISO to the lowest value that will work with my shutter speed and a reasonable aperture setting. I check the histogram between shots to see how things look and adjust accordingly.

there some of these just best left to 'auto' mode? - I never use full auto mode, but there are times when I use program exposure mode. If conditions are changing vary rapidly and I'm not at all sure what I'm going to do, I use program exposure and shift it when necessary. I also drop into program mode before handing the camera to my wife unless I think I can set it up with a single setting that will work for all of her shots.

Does anyone know a website that explains, in laymans terms ( ), what effect settings like ISO, aperture, shutter speed and exposure have in specific conditions?

I imagine that there are lots, but I don't know any. The effects of each of those is the same regardless of conditions. The appropriateness is what varies. I'll try to summarize them.

ISO is how sensitive your camera is to light. The higher the ISO, the less light it takes to make an image.

Aperture is how big the opening in your lens is that lets light through. The wider the opening (lower f-stop number), the more light it lets in. Wider openings also mean that you have less depth-of-field. That's a photo-nerd way of saying that less of your picture will be in focus. That can be a good thing because it draws the viewers eye to your subject.

Shutter speed is how long the camera lets light in. The longer the shutter speed, the brighter the picture. Long shutter speeds also give more time for the camera and the subject to move, either of which will cause blur.

Exposure is a combination of ISO, Aperture, and Shutter Speed. They all combine to determine whether your picture will be bright, dark, or something in between.

 

[MorningGlory]

Thanks guys, this really helps alot

The only way I will learn is with experimenting. But knowing how the different settings interact with each other helps me understand how to apply them to different situations - if that makes sense?

Anyway, I understand more now than I did an hour or two ago

 

[cpbjgc]

One site I like to look at is Luminous Landscape which has lots of information. I know it has helped me to understand my camera's capabilities better.

 

[jann1033]

don't know what camera you have but i think most manuals would tell you what the auto settings do ie the portrait setting has what shutter, etc that might help you when you are out and about and need to remember..then you can at least have a starting point as to what to try. and like it's been said on another thread similar, if in doubt, use the auto till you are more confident of your choices...that way you won't end up not having any photos of your trip