Photographers and Advanced Amatures

[Redbarnphotog]

Do you shoot in auto on vacation?

 

I've been on this board for about a month and I can't believe I just found this set of threads! I'm so excited!

 

I'm Amy of Red Barn Photography in Indiana. Been in business for 7 years now and going on my first cruise next June!

 

I'm taking the 5D MKII (or MKIII) on he cruise and I'm wondering if I should just plan on shooting in auto for the most part? I don't want to spend 1/2 my vacation getting my settings perfect for a quick snapshot of my family.

 

Please tell me it's ok!

 

(I do plan on going manual for certain things, like a shoot with my daughter on Santorini)

[bionicman97]

Welcome Amy :)

 

I think you'll get a wide variety of answers. I think you'll get a variety of answers. I used to shoot in P Mode most of the time on vacation, but the last few cruises it has mainly been manual.

[awboater]

I usually shoot on Aperture Priority. But I reserve the right to revise and extend my shooting modes to meet the task at hand.

 

But in the final scheme of things it matters not if you use manual, automatic, or one of the priority modes.

 

It is the final result that matters, so if that is achieved in auto mode, so be it.

[pierces]

A mode 95%!

 

I can control Depth of field and the smart little guy controlling the shutter does a great job!

 

Take a P&S for dinner...unless you have a strap that matches your formal wear...

 

Shoot a lot and have fun!

 

Dvae

[TheRoff]

Welcome to the Board, Amy. I did find your web site, and you have very creative photography.

 

In the last two years I have gone to pretty much manual for cruise shots. I just feel much more in control. Ironically, I do tend to put the camera in aperture priority when I move around, just in case there is a very quick grab shot to be had. If I have time to set up a shot, things are manual.

 

Enjoy your cruise, and if you get that MIII be sure to post pictures here. Actually post pictures from any camera. :)

 

Larry

[karenjnz]

I shoot manual in the studio, but on holiday I use Av probably 95% of the time and Tv the rest.

Auto doesn't work for me cause I like to shoot RAW :-)

[chipmaster]

Shoot what works for you.

 

For all around shooting usually P/Auto, I have autoiso almost always on and just bump minimum shutter speed around based on motion I expect, cap ISO at 10,000 ( D3s ;) ) and click away!

 

When it matters usually shoot aperture mode wide open or stopped to diffraction limit to control DOF and let AutoIso take care of the rest.

[Fore on the Floor]

Yes, shoot in auto......there I said it

[mskaufman]

I also use P/Auto - No appologies. It allows me to combine my hobby of taking pictures with also get spending all of my time doing that. Its vacation, do whatever makes you feel good.

[zackiedawg]

I use many different modes of my camera, even having been a photographer for over 30 years. I am not actually a fan of 'auto' mode, but Program Auto which is very similar, is a wonderful mode, and I'll use it often. The main differences between the two for me is that in P mode I can still choose to manually take over a variety of settings, and even adjust the exposure via either program shifting or EV adjustment...I can let the camera be as 'auto' as I want it to be. I use Aperture Priority and Shutter Priority when I want to make sure I control a certain parameter, such as depth of field or a faster shutter speed. And I use Manual when I need complete control over the settings, such as night photography long exposures.

 

To me, a good photographer uses any or all of the tools provided to them to get the shots they want or need and make them enjoy the process, and I don't like to leave tools unused too often. MY camera has a good P, A, S, and M mode, so I'm gonna use them! I break the rule on the 'scene' modes and 'auto' mode, mostly because as a photographer there's a little control-freak living inside of me that doesn't want to cede all possibilities of control to the camera, but I have no problem with using a capable and well designed automatic mode when it can get the same job done faster or easier.

 

Use what works for you!

[dodger501]

I have never liked aperture priority because I find myself in less-than-ideal light situations often and the shutter becomes too slow.

[PrettyPictureLady]

Amy, your portraits are lovely (I checked out your FB page)!

 

I shoot strictly in manual and would find shooting in auto mode frustrating. Are you comfortable shooting in auto?

[pierces]

I have never liked aperture priority because I find myself in less-than-ideal light situations often and the shutter becomes too slow.

 

If you are in manual with the aperture wide open and the shutter speed required for proper exposure is too slow...how is being in manual or auto an advantage over A mode? :confused:

 

Aperture + Shutter + Sensitivity = Exposure It doesn't matter how the three criteria are arrived at (auto, manual or poking a hole in a box), the exposure is the same.

 

Excuse me if I am missing something in your statement.

 

Dave

[chipmaster]

AutoISO baby!

 

Doesn't matter what mode you use, shooting wide open will give you the best in a low light if you can accept the narrow DOF. Using any other mode won't help much IMHO. The tip is boost ISO to your acceptible IQ limit, these days on many cameras 3200 and on some 12800 or higher, far car from film days when 400 was fast!

 

I have never liked aperture priority because I find myself in less-than-ideal light situations often and the shutter becomes too slow.

[dileep]

I am lazy. I use intelligent Auto most of the time and Aperture sometimes. I do set White Balance and Exposure Compensation at times.

But then I use a long zoom P&S.

 

For landscapes, I often do multiple shots - Aperture, iA, Landscape.

 

For our Antarctica cruise I think I used Auto almost all the time!

[pierces]

I am lazy. I use intelligent Auto most of the time and Aperture sometimes. I do set White Balance and Exposure Compensation at times.

But then I use a long zoom P&S.

 

For landscapes, I often do multiple shots - Aperture, iA, Landscape.

 

For our Antarctica cruise I think I used Auto almost all the time!

 

I have to admit, the auto mode on P&S cameras is getting really smart. I find myself using P mode on my HX5V and just tweak the exposure compensation when needed.

 

Can I call it "frugal with my time" rather than "lazy"? :)

 

Dave

[dodger501]

If you are in manual with the aperture wide open and the shutter speed required for proper exposure is too slow...how is being in manual or auto an advantage over A mode? :confused:

 

Aperture + Shutter + Sensitivity = Exposure It doesn't matter how the three criteria are arrived at (auto, manual or poking a hole in a box), the exposure is the same.

 

Excuse me if I am missing something in your statement.

 

Dave

 

Manual mode means I set both aperture and shutter. Mostly I do not want big depth of field and want minimal movement. I don't get the confusion here . . .

[woan]

The only time I go to auto is with a flash indoors; otherwise, I almost always shoot shutter or aperture priority. I have to admit that I shoot auto-ISO almost all the time.

 

Basically I care about primarily about depth of field for pictures of non-moving objects (often times I will shoot the same scene shallow and deep and decide what I like later on the computer) and care about shutter speed whenever there is something moving, i.e. wildlife.

 

For quick shots I might leave the camera set on shutter priority at the slowest speed I feel comfortable with when handholding, i.e. 1/30 or so with IS which I guess is a kind of program.

 

With a Canon at least you will have to worry about focus mode as well if you are shooting moving objects.

 

I also have a custom setting to get to auto-bracketing for HDR shots (which the 5D III can do in camera apparently).

 

If you take a lot of pictures, you might consider an expodisc and set custom white balance to save computer time later though for me I can DXO or LR white balance and copy settings so I rarely do that.

 

Ron

 

 

Do you shoot in auto on vacation?

 

I've been on this board for about a month and I can't believe I just found this set of threads! I'm so excited!

 

I'm Amy of Red Barn Photography in Indiana. Been in business for 7 years now and going on my first cruise next June!

 

I'm taking the 5D MKII (or MKIII) on he cruise and I'm wondering if I should just plan on shooting in auto for the most part? I don't want to spend 1/2 my vacation getting my settings perfect for a quick snapshot of my family.

 

Please tell me it's ok!

 

(I do plan on going manual for certain things, like a shoot with my daughter on Santorini)

[pierces]

Manual mode means I set both aperture and shutter. Mostly I do not want big depth of field and want minimal movement. I don't get the confusion here . . .

 

My curiosity is why manual is better than A mode in a similar low light situation. I also prefer control over DOF but at a typical indoor light level of EV 6, you would need a 1/4s exposure at f/4 with an ISO of 100 regardless of the mode. If I have my aperture set to f/4, and the camera sets the shutter to 1/4s for a proper exposure, I don't see how flipping it to Manual and setting the shutter to f/4 myself would be any different.

 

I prefer A and you are happy with M. I am merely curious as to the reasoning behind your choice.

 

 

Dave

[knittinggirl]

Got to be a little careful in S or Ap mode. My nikon has been known to automatically adjust the Exposure Compensation, and it stays there when I move it back to manual. So, all my shots from then on are either way overexposed or way underexposed. While I shoot in Raw + Jpeg, if it's been adjusted 5 stops, no amount of post work will fix it.

[dodger501]

My curiosity is why manual is better than A mode in a similar low light situation. I also prefer control over DOF but at a typical indoor light level of EV 6, you would need a 1/4s exposure at f/4 with an ISO of 100 regardless of the mode. If I have my aperture set to f/4, and the camera sets the shutter to 1/4s for a proper exposure, I don't see how flipping it to Manual and setting the shutter to f/4 myself would be any different.

 

I prefer A and you are happy with M. I am merely curious as to the reasoning behind your choice.

 

 

Dave

 

Two words: Motion Blur. Why should I use 1/4s? I do 1/80s and let my D700 handle some high ISO.

Just has not been a problem for me.

 

On edit: In looking at your galleries, you do a lot of scenery, landscape type shots. They way you describe it is perfect.

[beyond2k]

Do you shoot in auto on vacation?

 

I've been on this board for about a month and I can't believe I just found this set of threads! I'm so excited!

 

I'm Amy of Red Barn Photography in Indiana. Been in business for 7 years now and going on my first cruise next June!

 

I'm taking the 5D MKII (or MKIII) on he cruise and I'm wondering if I should just plan on shooting in auto for the most part? I don't want to spend 1/2 my vacation getting my settings perfect for a quick snapshot of my family.

 

Please tell me it's ok!

 

(I do plan on going manual for certain things, like a shoot with my daughter on Santorini)

 

Why would you buy a 5D MK II and shoot in auto? I also have a 5D MK II and have never used auto on any of my dslr's. It's not really difficult to shoot manual and it gives you the most control. It get's much easier as you get used to it. :)

[pierces]

Why would you buy a 5D MK II and shoot in auto? I also have a 5D MK II and have never used auto on any of my dslr's. It's not really difficult to shoot manual and it gives you the most control. It get's much easier as you get used to it. :)

 

Makes you wonder why they even put Auto and scene modes on a camera obviously designed for sophisticated photographers. They could probably shave $1k off the price if they replaced all of the complex metering and scene analysis algorithms with good ol' selenium cell match needle metering!

 

But seriously, I have shot in A mode since there was an A mode because I like having control over depth of field. Lately though, I have found that the P mode has really come of age. The advent of truly powerful processors driving the metering analysis has made them far more accurate than ever before. Granted, there will always be situations where shooting in full manual is going to work best but for casual shooting or while travelling and having fun, P mode is a great tool. Fiddling with manual settings at a child's birthday or at a family picnic is just too tedious for me and takes the spontaneous fun out of casual photography...not as bad as always shooting in RAW and having to process every little frame, but almost!

 

My 4¢...(adjusted for inflation)

 

Dave

[TLCOhio]

Good luck, Amy, on your first cruise. Lots of great and interesting things to see and do in the Greek Isles. Like pierces, I use Program or P most all of the time. I like letting the camera do the work on settings and focus so that I can be more concerned on framing and subject options.

 

You can get too concerned on the technical issues at times and forget that so much of it is the "subject" that is the star and the need to be creative on different angles, involving people, trying a variety of views, etc.

 

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

 

Did a June 7-19, 2011, Solstice cruise from Barcelona that had stops in Villefranche, ports near Pisa and Rome, Naples, Kotor, Venice and Dubrovnik. Enjoyed great weather and a wonderful trip. Dozens of wonderful visuals with key highlights, tips, comments, etc., on these postings. We are now at 71,930 views for this live/blog re-cap on our first sailing with Celebrity and much on wonderful Barcelona. Check these postings and added info at:

http://www.boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1426474

 

For details and visuals, etc., from our July 1-16, 2010, Norway Coast/Fjords/Arctic Circle cruise experience from Copenhagen on the Silver Cloud, check out this posting. This posting is now at 64,793 views.

http://www.boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1227923

[chipmaster]

Sometimes because shooting on Auto, in JPG yields something far better than what any P&S can do. Control isn't always the bottom line, you still want/like fast focus, ability to shoot 6400 ISO ? Opps maybe not with the 5Ds... :p

 

Why by a Porsche or high end peformance car with Auto.. because sometimes the experience is still good enough even on Auto :)

 

 

Why would you buy a 5D MK II and shoot in auto? I also have a 5D MK II and have never used auto on any of my dslr's. It's not really difficult to shoot manual and it gives you the most control. It get's much easier as you get used to it. :)