Digital on a budget - Further ramblings..

[oldgreygary]

I think I have had a bit of a 'light bulb' moment this weekend. I decided to set the program mode on the Canon G2 to manual. I also, found a chart that listed ISO settings with their respective aperture and shutter speed settings. This was set against EV number. So, this gave a guide to what I needed to set for the conditions. I use the word guide because thats how I saw it. It would give me a starting point and I could see what happened and adjust as required.

Well, it was a real revelation to me. As by setting these manually I actually could see the effect of settings that I had deliberately chosen.What was also an interesting discovery, was my perception of what I thought the conditions were like. When I set the camera's aperture/shutter speed I began to realise how my judgement was incorrect. What I perceived as being bright but overcast needed a setting more related to heavy overcast/shade.

Its was absolutely freezing this morning and I didn't hang about for long. But I did manage to take some images (a lot of duff ones!). But, it did put me in a different frame of mind as I was thinking more about what was the appropriate setting for this subject? I found the most difficult part was if the shot was under/over exposed that I made the adjustment the right way. I knew what I had to do but just at this moment haven't got those numbers fixed in my mind.


But today, a small lesson learned and a step forward. Interested to hear anyone's thoughts about this.

Cheers for now

Gary

[Daisy Mae]

Hi Gary,

Where did you find this chart and would it be possible to post it here.

[Geoff F]

The trouble with auto settings, Gary, is that your camera is programmed to act in a fixed way which may not be correct for the particular scene.

For instance, to always pick the lowest ISO number at the expense of other settings. So you end up with too low a shutter speed and a fully open aperture.

That is where experience matters and the ability to mix and match the available settings.

When faced with a scene, I usually try to do a quick calculation to work out my starting point.

For example, I normally start with shutter speed (too low a speed has caused more of my rejects than any other reason). So, is my subject moving, or occasionally, am I moving? In which case I would probably shoot with Tv setting at a suitable speed to overcome any difficulties.

Nb. foliage moving in the wind must be considered here.

If everything is stationary, or slightly moving, what depth of sharp focus do I need? If this is critical to the shot Av must be used. Always try to avoid using the extreme ends of the aperture range, if possible.

But still check that the shutter speed isn't so slow that camera shake problems could occur.

Then, what is the lowest ISO which will give me the required balance of shutter speed and aperture. But if this means using a high ISO would altering the other settings be feasible?

So my thought process puts the ISO setting as the least important and last to be considered; unlike the camera auto control.

When I started with my G2 I took many test shots, and noted my settings, plus my focus points etc, on a piece of paper. Then compared the results and tried to work out where I was going wrong.

Which resulted in more notes on a 'what to do next time' sheet.

One word of caution though. Looking at my camera review screen has sometimes caused me to think that my judgment was wrong so I readjusted my settings to suit the screen.

Then when I saw the results on my computer screen I realised that I was the correct one and the camera screen was showing an over bright incorrect representation.

Keep experimenting, one day everything will make sense . . .

. . . and then you move on to something more difficult and start all over again.

[oldgreygary]

Hello Sharon,

This is the website I got it from, it was mentioned in another post. I have found it very useful as a starting point to set the camera's exposure settings. I hope that you find it as helpful as well!

http://www.fredparker.com/ultexp1.ht...ntensity Chart

Cheers for now

Gary

[Daisy Mae]

Thank you very much for that Gary...appreciate it!

[rpcrowe]

Gary, it seems counterintuitive but, IMO, a photographer really needs to understand and be able to work with manual settings on a digital camera before any of the automatic modes can be fully viable...

Manual, AV, AT and Programmed exposure modes all have their place (However I never even consider the Automatic or the silly Creative Atotmatic modes).. IMO I don't think that a person can fully appreciate the more automatic settings unless that person is able to shoot manually. In fact, you have probably hit the nail on the head when you start working with manual camera settings without depending on the built in camera meter. So many photographers think that they are being creative when they use manual mode and simply match up the exposure determined by the meter. That is simply manually doing something that the camera does automatically.

It is when you interpret and adjust the manual exposure values that you are on your way to crativity...