by the way...

[NikonNewbie]

just wanted to let ya know that last night I tried apeteur priority, and you were right as usual...it was much easier then trying to get the same pics in shutter (even tho girl told me to try shutter)....I didnt post them yet, but I will.
I didnt take as many as I did the night b4, because now I'm sick, but it was much easier for me to focus too for some reason...is this a coincidence?

 

[edouble]

Only one click away from full manual......

 

[NikonNewbie]

Only one click away from full manual......

I know right?! I'm excited...lol

 

[Stradawhovious]

it was much easier then trying to get the same pics in shutter (even tho girl told me to try shutter)....I didnt post them yet, but I will.
I didnt take as many as I did the night b4, because now I'm sick, but it was much easier for me to focus too for some reason...is this a coincidence?

Under most circumstances, a picture taken with a shutter speed of 1/250th of a second will look exactly the same as a similarly metered picture taken at 1/1000th of a second. Conversley, a picture taken at f/3 will quite often look and feel completely different than a picture taken at f/22.

I shoot in apeture priority almost exclusively, since it offers me the most effective "immediate" control over how the picture looks by manipulating the DOF. Shutter priority does not, unless my main goal is to freeze action.

FWIW. My .02, YMMV etc. etc. etc.

 

[ConverseMan]

Just wait till full manual! But it's good that you are getting the practice in with each setting

 

[flyingember]

each mode is a tool. use the tool that best works

as to the focus, it's all about DOF.

a bigger aperture number can see more distance range in focus, a smaller number can see less distance range in focus and different amounts will be in focus depending on how far away the object is. there's a lot of optics math involved, in the end you just need to know that's how it works

using a fake lens that doesn't exist, say you're focusing at something 1 foot away. at f2.8 you may get 0.2" of focus distance (for all numbers this tends to be some in focus in front of the distance, some beyond the distance). so if it's a person their eyes will be in focus but their nose won't be. at f5.6 you may get an inch and you get their nose too. at f8 you may get 3" so you can get ears in focus. if you focus 6 feet away the same f2.8 may get 0.4" of focus range. at infinity your focus range may be 10 feet on out. you can find DOF charts for your lens, sometimes it's with the paperwork, sometimes it's online.

super-serious super-good portrait photographers know the distance to take the photo, and their shutter and f-stop to get everyone's face in focus but not the background and then they can easily have their lights set perfectly for the optimal exposure every time

 

[NikonNewbie]

so that makes sense to me! thats why they say when you take pics of a family per say...to go up in apeteur! to get more in focus!
when I using the shutter mode to take the pics of the cup with the tree lights behind...i was getting good bokeh (at least I think so) but I couldn't get a great focus on the cup...but last night it was much easier to focus on the cup and still get the bokeh from the tree...I was super psyched! also.,.something else I noticed...when I was shooting in shutter, I noticed I had to keep watching the meter and it rarely was at 0, always one line b4 or after (over or under exposed) so I was also trying the EV (adding and taking away)...but when I used Apeteur, it was almost always dead on...
help me understand why...so I get the full picture.

 

[ConverseMan]

Shutter speed really only matters for exposure rate and such and sharpness of the photo when shooting moving things. So if you want a picture darker you would speed up the shutter speed and or stop down on the Aperture. I would imagine you were getting better bokeh, or OoF blur, because the camera was adjusting your Aperture for you and thusly giving you the best blur in the background - when shooting in Shutter Mode that is.

Aperture should be adjusted for your Depth of Field, or what is in focus. So if you don't want much of anything to be in focus behind the subject you would change the Aperture or F-stop to a smaller number/bigger aperture such as 3.5 on your lens. This will blur more of the background than if you had your f/ set to 5.6.

Also, I will say....sometimes zooming in will also blur the background more than not being zoomed in - something to consider as well.

BTW: I never want my pictures to be over-exposed. I always shoot for right under neutral exposure.

Does all of that make sense?

 

[NikonNewbie]

Shutter speed really only matters for exposure rate and such and sharpness of the photo when shooting moving things. So if you want a picture darker you would speed up the shutter speed and or stop down on the Aperture. I would imagine you were getting better bokeh, or OoF blur, because the camera was adjusting your Aperture for you and thusly giving you the best blur in the background - when shooting in Shutter Mode that is.

Aperture should be adjusted for your Depth of Field, or what is in focus. So if you don't want much of anything to be in focus behind the subject you would change the Aperture or F-stop to a smaller number/bigger aperture such as 3.5 on your lens. This will blur more of the background than if you had your f/ set to 5.6.

Also, I will say....sometimes zooming in will also blur the background more than not being zoomed in - something to consider as well.

BTW: I never want my pictures to be over-exposed. I always shoot for right under neutral exposure.

Does all of that make sense?

Yes!
thanks!

 

[Light Artisan]

I don't know why everyone is so gung ho on 'full manual', there's no need to use it if all you are doing is 'proper' exposure. I much prefer aperture or shutter priority + exposure compensation if necessary.

Manual mode has its place, there's no doubt in my mind about that - especially when you are starting out so you can get a better understanding of how each piece plays into the final product.

I guess if you're a control freak it's the only way to fly though.

 

[kundalini]

I don't know why everyone is so gung ho on 'full manual', there's no need to use it if all you are doing is 'proper' exposure. I much prefer aperture or shutter priority + exposure compensation if necessary.

Manual mode has its place, there's no doubt in my mind about that - especially when you are starting out so you can get a better understanding of how each piece plays into the final product.

I guess if you're a control freak it's the only way to fly though.

With my first SLR, there was no other option. Kinda set me for life. I've used and will continue to try the other modes, but I'm very comfortable with Manual.

 

[myko5]

I guess as a noob I assumed that all the pro's are using full manual. Does the camera IQ change with the higher end camera's?

 

[Bitter Jeweler]

I don't know why everyone is so gung ho on 'full manual', there's no need to use it if all you are doing is 'proper' exposure. I much prefer aperture or shutter priority + exposure compensation if necessary.

Manual mode has its place, there's no doubt in my mind about that - especially when you are starting out so you can get a better understanding of how each piece plays into the final product.

I guess if you're a control freak it's the only way to fly though.

I agree. No need to actually learn how the triad works together to become better at photography. :thumbup:

 

[flyingember]

I don't know why everyone is so gung ho on 'full manual', there's no need to use it if all you are doing is 'proper' exposure. I much prefer aperture or shutter priority + exposure compensation if necessary.

Manual mode has its place, there's no doubt in my mind about that - especially when you are starting out so you can get a better understanding of how each piece plays into the final product.

I guess if you're a control freak it's the only way to fly though.

Whith my first SLR, there was no other option. Kinda set me for life. I've used and will continue to try the other modes, but I'm very comfortable with Manual.

mine too.

I do agree that only using manual misses the point. I take a lot of photos in P mode with a TTL flash. I'll use exposure compensation to adjust if needed. I take a lot in S mode. I take a lot in manual mode.

 

[Light Artisan]

I don't know why everyone is so gung ho on 'full manual', there's no need to use it if all you are doing is 'proper' exposure. I much prefer aperture or shutter priority + exposure compensation if necessary.

Manual mode has its place, there's no doubt in my mind about that - especially when you are starting out so you can get a better understanding of how each piece plays into the final product.

I guess if you're a control freak it's the only way to fly though.

I agree. No need to actually learn how the triad works together to become better at photography. :thumbup:

Then we don't agree...