Going to Try Straight Manual Today

chrisburke

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I'm going outside, and think I'm gonna give straight manual a go as opposed to Shutter mode of aperture...

what is the general rule for a portrait type picture outside, with shutter and aperture??? i've read it here somewhere before, but couldnt find it when i searched.
 
When using a camera with a light meter, I would eschew anything like "Sunny 16" in favor of using your light meter. It's probably more accurate.
 
that doesnt answer my question.... maybe I wasnt clear in what i was asking...

when shooting outside... what should my shutter speed and aperture be set at?
 
elemental actually did in a roundabout way by mentioning Sunny 16 rule:

On a sunny day, for 200ISO, shoot at f/16 and 1/200

However, rules are made to be broken and various lighting conditions will make you deviate from that "setting." Things like cloud, haze, pollution, shadows from trees/buildings/whatever make that rule break down unless you know how to compensate for them. The best way to compensate is to use your light meter.
 
that doesnt answer my question.... maybe I wasnt clear in what i was asking...

when shooting outside... what should my shutter speed and aperture be set at?

What ever gives a correct exposure...

We can't tell you specific settings!
 
Sunny 16 is really 'the' rule of thumb. Otherwise you can kind of put parameters on it and just watch your in camera meter and histogram and go from there. For outdoor portraits (in shade) I personally try to stay between ISO 100-400, have a aperture between 1.8(if I am feeling really adventurous) and 4 and a shutterspeed over 1/200.
 
What ever gives a correct exposure...

We can't tell you specific settings!

Exactly the correct answer. Seriously, your settings could change 10 times during the course of your shooting. When the sun ducks behind the cloud your settings will change. The angle of the sun versus where you are shooting will change it too.

Set your aperture where you want it (say F8), then set your shutter speed while watching your meter. When you've got it properly exposed (or under/over if that's what you want) based on your meter, frame it and click it.
 
I don't know what the general rules of thumb are (I am a newbie/novice after all), but I'd try to focus on the subject more than the background. To that end, I'd try to keep the aperature as wide open as possible to reduce the depth of field.

I'd also try to avoid having the sun directly overhead (Noon) so that there aren't funky shadows being cast (unless you're looking to play with shadows). A strong overhead sun can also cause parts of the image to wash out.

To avoid squinting and pinched face expressions, you can put the sun behind or off to one side or another and then use a fill flash to brighten the face and reduce goofy shadows (be careful of lens flare, though).

For shutter speed you can try keeping a fixed aperature and then bracketing the shot with a faster and slower shutter speed (a half or whole stop in either direction) to help ensure that the shot is properly exposed.
 
that doesnt answer my question.... maybe I wasnt clear in what i was asking...

when shooting outside... what should my shutter speed and aperture be set at?

The answer to your question is. . . what the light meter says is correct (well, that should be your starting point).

As others have suggested, a good method is to choose either an aperture or shutter speed and adjust the other to zero the light meter (though this is really just shooting in shutter/aperture priority and making your life more difficult). There is no "good setting" to use- if clouds are blowing through, your exposure could be changing drastically every thirty seconds.

For portrait type shooting, you will want a large aperture, so pick maybe f/2 or whatever it is that you want, then set the shutter speed according to the light meter. Shoot, examine results, adjust, repeat. Essentially aperture priority by hand.
 
yes.. it's good to explore and experiment with all of your cameras modes.... but don't expect any miracles image quality wise... as mentioned above if you are shooting f2.8 in aperture priority it will select the same shutter speed as you would meter in manual...
 

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