Photo Cheat Sheets

[jimim]

Hello everyone. Leaving for Easter in 2 weeks. So I feel I'm kinda becoming a seasoned shooter at the parks being there so often now. A lot of the places I'm shooting at are the same meet and greats. I have really been trying to shoot manual to get the best exposure and on my last trip I was saying to myself that I wish I knew what I shot last time since the lighting is very similar. So I decided to make cheat sheets for myself as starting points.

Do any of you do this? How do you set it up?

Right now I am using a word doc for each park that has the smaller font I can read and I'm keeping everything in columns. Figured it will be easier to carry it.

Also, I have noticed that most of the meet and greats that are indoors I am shooting at ISP 1250 to get to at least a 7.1 f stop to keep everything sharp.

I want to be as sharp as possible when my 2 kids are in the pics with the character. I just don't think I can go any more open that 7.1. What do you guys usually try to shoot for f-stop wise for character pics with people also in them to stay sharp enough? I took a few with my daughter and ariel one year at 3.5 and they weren't bad at all, but the next trip i went up to 7.1.

just looking for some brain storming and opinions to create some dialogue. helps calm me and get my head in the game for the trip.

I'm even more nervous about this trip cause I'm taking my neighbor with us and their 2 kids have never been to Disney before and I'm the camera guy. I get very nervous when I have to shoot other people besides my family cause I don't want to let them down.

jimi

 

[photo_chick]

I don't do cheat sheets. They've always seemed unnecessary for me. There's a light meter on the camera and I know my gear well enough to know what kind of situations I'll have to adjust up or down from that base meter reading. I think a lot of how I shoot comes from the fact that I learned on an all manual 35mm SLR and my early formal photo training was extremely technically oriented. To the point where we had to be able to adjust exposures on the fly in our head.

Likewise I don't have a "base" aperture for anything. It just depends on the situation, the distance to subject, the focal length... I don't even try to make a prediction until I'm in the situation, even if it's a situation I've been in before. But again I think a lot of that comes back to how I was trained. The one thing to remember on depth of field is that it really is only the area of "acceptable sharpness". It's not the area that is in focus as many try to define it, there is only one plane of focus. And what constitutes acceptable sharpness can vary depending on the size you display the image at as well as the individual's personal opinion. So while one person might only shoot at f/11 in a situation another might be perfectly happy with what f/4 gives them. It's a really subjective thing and even depth of field charts are just a guide to be used according to personal taste.

All of that said.... that is how I work and not everyone works the same way. If you feel comfortable making a cheat sheet to give you a starting point for settings then you should totally do that. There's no right or wrong, just what gets the shot you want.

 

[disneybride96]

I think that is a great idea if it works for you! I know I often have to "stop and think", because it does not always come naturally. One thing I would suggest is seeing if you can program your "most used settings" into your camera. I am still learning my new Olympus, but it has something called "my sets" that allows you to save your most used settings to be recalled when you need them. Set one for outdoor and another for indoor low light etc. It then gives you a baseline to start from in each situation.

 

[jimim]

I think that is a great idea if it works for you! I know I often have to "stop and think", because it does not always come naturally. One thing I would suggest is seeing if you can program your "most used settings" into your camera. I am still learning my new Olympus, but it has something called "my sets" that allows you to save your most used settings to be recalled when you need them. Set one for outdoor and another for indoor low light etc. It then gives you a baseline to start from in each situation.

already there. my c 1-2-3 is all programmed. i have a av setup for action vs spot. i also have a starting manual setup set for 400 iso, 4.5, 1/125

works well for a starting point.

i think i'm just going to use 1250 iso for all inroad meet and greats and start at 7.1 and 1/125 and go form there.

 

[disneybride96]

I just followed you on Flickr. Can't wait to see your disney pics!

 

[jimim]

I just followed you on Flickr. Can't wait to see your disney pics!

hey thanks! Don't mind the random construction pics. Those r to document my theatre build and basement finish. I design theaters for a very close friends business. So u will notice random construction pics now and then!

Sent from my iPhone using DISBoards

 

[handicap18]

I don't use cheat sheets, but at this point I've been shooting Manual for at least 5 years (before that I would almost exclusively shoot in Aperture Priority). After a while you get used to knowing what settings to use for when. Whats good about digital is that you can take a shot, look at it real quick on the screen to make sure you have the right setting or close to it and then make a few adjustments from there.

Till you get to that point if you want to use a cheat sheet and it works for you, then go for it.

 

[boBQuincy]

It is probably worth investigating where your lenses are at their sharpest if sharpness is one of your main criteria. As an example my main walkaround lens is at it's sharpest wide open, f/2.8, which is not what I would have guessed.

 

[jimim]

I don't use cheat sheets, but at this point I've been shooting Manual for at least 5 years (before that I would almost exclusively shoot in Aperture Priority). After a while you get used to knowing what settings to use for when. Whats good about digital is that you can take a shot, look at it real quick on the screen to make sure you have the right setting or close to it and then make a few adjustments from there.

Till you get to that point if you want to use a cheat sheet and it works for you, then go for it.

i hear ya. i'm kinda at that point for manual that i know in a given light i will have to start here or there, but u never have time when u get up there with meet and greats. i always fee lso rushed and this time i got 4 kids to worry about. and 3 are younger. i usually do the take a few pics of another family and then delete em. that usually gets me started.

i'm just more stressed cause this trip 2 of the kids aren't mine and i want to get good pics for them since it's their first trip. not like it prob will matter cause if i wasn't there they would be using an iphone anyway.

 

[jimim]

It is probably worth investigating where your lenses are at their sharpest if sharpness is one of your main criteria. As an example my main walkaround lens is at it's sharpest wide open, f/2.8, which is not what I would have guessed.

thanks bob, that is something to think about. i learned that last trip when i learned my 24-70 2.8 is much sharper at f11 vs f16

jim

 

[boBQuincy]

thanks bob, that is something to think about. i learned that last trip when i learned my 24-70 2.8 is much sharper at f11 vs f16

jim

By f/16 diffraction is reducing sharpness, not so much for full frame but noticeable on APS and getting bad on micro 4/3.

 

[jimim]

By f/16 diffraction is reducing sharpness, not so much for full frame but noticeable on APS and getting bad on micro 4/3.

thanks bob. I figured I would be safe still for f 16 but I was wrong but at least I know now. I really need to stay at f 11 pretty much.

Sent from my iPhone using DISBoards

 

[disneybride96]

hey thanks! Don't mind the random construction pics. Those r to document my theatre build and basement finish. I design theaters for a very close friends business. So u will notice random construction pics now and then! Sent from my iPhone using DISBoards

Lol. My husband does video calibration and has done our theater all himself. Very proud of him!