Am I using my camera right for what I am doing?

[Goldcoin79]

Hi

I'm just getting into photography so thought I would share how I have been using my camera to see what you think and if you have any suggestions.

When I have been taking portrait pictures I have been putting it in aperture priority mode and setting te biggest aperture (smallest f number) and slightly zooming into my subjects face then taken the picture. I am pleased with how these have come out so far as I like the effect of blurring out the background.

When taking general pictures I have been using my camera in shutter speed priority mode, I set the Iso first then fine tune the exposure by changing the shutter speed. As I am changing these settings I am holding the shoot button down half way to see what the picture will look like before I take the shot.

If I am taking pictures where I need to catch the moment quick (like for say street photography) and don't have to much time to play with settings, is it best to use shutter speed priority mode as I have said above or is there a better way of taking this sort of photography where you don't have much time to catch the moment?

Any comments on how I have been taking my pictures and answers to my question above would be gratefully received. Look forward to hearing your comments.

James

 

[Mrgiggls]

Hi James. Results are all that matters. If you like your results, keep doing what your doing. If you're not getting the results you want or expect, post a few examples in the galeries and get some image-specific feedback.


Personally I like to stay in Aperture Priority almost all the time so that I am in control of DoF. I typically set ISO according to what the available light is and use my EC to fine tune.

 

[Goldcoin79]

Thanks, I do also set the iso myself.

 

[KmH]

The biggest aperture, is also the biggest f-number - f/2 is a bigger number than f/8 is, because f-numbers are fractions. F-number - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[SCraig]

I use shutter priority when there is a lot of movement or low light. In other words when I need to know exactly what the shutter speed is set to. Sporting events, aircraft or birds in flight, or when the light is dim. Pretty much anything else I use aperture priority or, occasionally, manual.

 

[Espike]

As a FNG when it comes to photography, I use mostly manual mode so that I have have complete control over everything. I feel this helps me learn my camera and photography in general. However, when I don't have time to be f*cking around with the settings, I choose one of the other modes and do work. A recent example was at my son's first karate tournament. I had the thing on manual and messed up some decent shots. Switched it over to shutter priority to minimize speed blurring and all was well. As stated above, if it works for you, do it.

 

[scorpion_tyr]

For sports photography I shoot in aperture priority. I set the highest acceptable ISO for the conditions and use the fastest aperture. Most of the stuff I shoot has rapidly changing lighting conditions so this allows the camera to pick the fastest available shutter speed since it can do it much faster than I can. I only shoot in shutter priority if the light isn't changing and I'm trying to freez or show a speciffic motion.