When you go to Disney, how do you shoot?

[MinnieForMe]

TV, AV, or manual?????? My family moves so fast that I'm terrified of not only missing the picture but using the wrong setting and having terrible pictures. It's one thing for me to sit and think about shooting manual at home but it's not second nature to me yet.

Where did you start with your DSLR on vacation?

 

[JoeDif]

I shoot about 75% of the time in Aperture Priority and add +/- EV as needed.

 

[ColleenG]

I mostly shoot in Av when at Disney and just in general. If I'm shooting something that is fast moving I use shutter priority.

 

[ukcatfan]

I usually do aperture priority outside during the day and shutter priority for inside, dark, and action. I sometimes go full manual when it is a tricky situation. When in aperture priority, I typically stay in the range of the lens that is sharpest and gives a normal DOF (usu ~ f/8-11). When I want to do a shot that needs a certain DOF, I adjust accordingly.

 

[SrisonS]

I use Av most of the time, and Tv in special situations. The only time I use Manual is when I'm using my tripod at night. I've never really tried going full Manual any others times though. I can sometimes be somewhat impatient; but I've also never felt like I was struggling to pull of shots in just Av mode. I'll just stick with what works for me.

 

[Chikabowa]

I use manual a majority of the time. Sometimes I'll throw it into A mode with auto ISO. But manual is very natural to me; pretty much second nature. That just comes with time and practice.

Definitely use another mode though if you find you are missing shots!

 

[Gianna'sPapa]

I'm in Av most of the time except on rides or low light action, then its Tv. For fireworks and night shooting with the tripod, I will use bulb mode, manual focus.

 

[Anewman]

I have always just shot Manual... When my new camera arrives I will give AV and TV a chance. I just prefer to decide instead of letting the computer decide, goes back to my film days. But I will give it the camera a chance this time.

 

[Peanut Giggleface]

I usually shoot manual. I'm no expert, but this seemed like a fun challenge to figure out the relationship between aperture, speed and ISO. At first I spent a lot of time playing with the settings and deleting lots of no good images. Now it's getting a little more familiar. It's one of the reasons I enjoy photography.

 

[roseharris]

I mainly use manual. It seems easy to me!

 

[MinnieForMe]

I'll try practicing more with AV before our trip in two months. Here's one further question: which lens do you use the most for your walk around lens at Disney? My 28-70 f2.8 almost never leaves my camera now. I think I already asked this question in the past so forgive me but I didn't feel like looking up the answer.

 

[ssanders79]

It is close to a 50/50 split between Av and M.

 

[NateNLogansDad]

I switch to Shutter Priority for a lot. I know the slowest I want it to be and go from there. During the day and outside I may go either way with Aperture Mode or Auto-no flash

Auto is the easiest when you have seconds to shoot while trying to keep an eye on two kids that just ran in different directions and I have no problem using it. When there is time to set up a shot, each one depends on what I'm trying to do with it.

 

[LPZ_Stitch!]

If I'm moving fast, or walking around and just taking "snapshots," I generally leave my camera in P ... both my Powershot S3 and my new T2i seem to be pretty "smart."

When I'm being more careful, it's almost always Av. Controlling the DOF is usually enough to get good shots.

If it's something I want to be the *best* I can get, or if I'm looking for a special effect like a smoothed waterfall or intentional motion-blur, I'll take my time in M.

 

[Gianna'sPapa]

I'll try practicing more with AV before our trip in two months. Here's one further question: which lens do you use the most for your walk around lens at Disney? My 28-70 f2.8 almost never leaves my camera now. I think I already asked this question in the past so forgive me but I didn't feel like looking up the answer.

My 28-70 f2.8 is my walkaround lens also, with my 70-200 f2.8 never far away! I have my 18-55 always lurking in case I need to go wider. Eventually, I would like to get an UWA and the Sigma 30. I think it would be interesting to take either of those and shoot a park all day without switching.

 

[cpbjgc]

Always shoot manual. When I first moved from a point and shoot to a DSLR I shot Av 90% of the time. After a while I tried manual and have stuck with it since.

As for my walk around lens, I always have my Sigma 17-70, but I also always carry some extra lenses as well - my Sigma 30mm f1.4, and this next trip will see a Tokina 11-16mm and Rokinon 8mm fisheye in my bag. Still deciding on whether to bring my Canon 70-200. I just choose the lenses before heading to the park, and sometimes will switch them up when we go back for our afternoon break (that's when I ususally pick up my tripod as well ).

 

[zackiedawg]

I shoot Program Auto, Aperture Priority, Shutter Priority, and Manual, splitting around between all of them as the situation calls, changing often throughout the day.

I don't subscribe to the idea that there's one 'right' way or mode to shooting, or that certain modes are only for poor photographers or unskilled masses...nor do I subscribe to the idea that one is a good photographer because they force themselves to use manual mode. My personal belief - a good photographer learns how to get the best results out of the camera in any mode, and decides which modes will provide the best, quickest, easiest, or most controllable path to a particular shot. A good photographer can control the exposure in any of the PASM modes...knowing how and when to use shift, when to adjust EV, using AEL, which metering mode or area to use for a given situation, which focus area to use or what to focus on, watching aperture/shutter indicators and manipulating them as needed...this can all be done in Program Auto. Or one can go to Manual mode, and use the same knowledge to set the ISO, aperture, shutter, then focus and shoot.

I'd encourage anyone to learn exposure, understand the shutter/aperture/ISO relationship, learn how metering and focus modes work, get to know all the functions on their camera, then choose the mode to shoot in that best works for the scene being shot. Maybe all your shots end up being handled in P, maybe you switch around to all the different modes, or maybe you find M works best for your style. As long as you get the results that make you happy!

 

[MinnieForMe]

Hi:
I agree with you that shooting in manual does not make one a photographer but I've really been trying to learn my camera as the few times I've used it on Auto I've been very disappointed with the results. Now, I've never used Program Auto (never even thought to check out what the P stood for, how bad is that?). I went right to trying AV.

I wonder if anyone has been happy with the Pentax K-X on P mode? I can tell you that my Pentax on Auto does not produce results as good as my Sony P&S. Of course, it's the person behind the camera that's responsble for so many user errors (I'm sure). lol

 

[ukcatfan]

Hi:
I agree with you that shooting in manual does not make one a photographer but I've really been trying to learn my camera as the few times I've used it on Auto I've been very disappointed with the results. Now, I've never used Program Auto (never even thought to check out what the P stood for, how bad is that?). I went right to trying AV.

I wonder if anyone has been happy with the Pentax K-X on P mode? I can tell you that my Pentax on Auto does not produce results as good as my Sony P&S. Of course, it's the person behind the camera that's responsble for so many user errors (I'm sure). lol

Give us some more details on what you do not like. Is it blurry, out of focus, poor exposure, grainy, etc. My K-x does just fine in P mode, but I have never used full auto.

 

[MinnieForMe]

Give us some more details on what you do not like. Is it blurry, out of focus, poor exposure, grainy, etc. My K-x does just fine in P mode, but I have never used full auto.

I find that in full Auto my shutter speed is never correct in low light situations resulting in blurry pictures. A photographer friend suggested I move to TV and last night was my 1st successful shoot in the school gym. I am over the moon that I finally got some good pictures.

I could pull out my manual but it's easier to just ask you. Do you mind telling me what I have control over in P mode?

Another question for you since you use a K-X. How do you know you are focused on the right location with the lack of LED focus confirmation? I've been told to focus on the eyes as much as possible but find that difficult without visual confirmation.

Thanks for always being patient with me. I'm learning just not fast enough. LOL.