Is it normal to feel like I am changing my settings all the time?

[TCampbell]

You're not missing anything. I suggested you do something in a particular situation that he doesn't do, therefore I've personally offended him and and suggested his 40 years of doing things--obviously--wrong because some random person on the internet suggested someone else do something different in a direct response to this statement: I shoot Manual and use the meter in the viewfinder to find the "correct" exposure.

This is the interenet afterall.

You haven't offended me in any way at all. You wrote something that I sarcastically replied to and you took it that I was somehow upset. Personally I really don't care one way or another how people do things, it's up to the individuals with the cameras to figure out what works best for them.

The regulars on this forum know what I shoot, I have explained many times how I shoot, what cameras I used to shoot with and my views on photography in general, and in some cases in detail. I tell the truth, I don't sugar coat what I say, for the most part I believe I am offering good advice, tips and suggestions on how to become better photographers. I base my observations on my skills and experience as a full time professional photographer.

I just take pictures.

I didn't take his initial post as sarcasm... I took it as sincere advice. It's exactly the advice I was going to give, but Braineack already suggested it.

I sometimes notice people will refer to "manual" vs. "automatic" and I think that's oversimplifying things a bit. I prefer to think of it as "auto", "semi-auto", and "manual". Nikon A and S mode (Canon Av or Tv mode) are modes I like to think of as "semi-auto". I tend to think of Program mode like "auto" but with the options to override (but that's another thread).

Think about what happens when you shoot "manual" vs. A or S.

1. You approach the shot and consider whether it is more important to control Aperture (e.g. suppose you want to control the depth of field) vs. shutter speed (e.g. suppose you want to control an aspect of motion... either to freeze it or to blur it deliberately). Let's just pick aperture for this example.
2. You dial the aperture to the setting you want (e.g. f/4)
3. You meter the shot and observe that the exposure meter in your camera does not indicate a correct exposure.
4. You adjust the "other" setting (in our case, shutter speed) and as you do, you continue to observe the exposure meter. You do this until the meter indicates a correct exposure.
5. You take the shot.

Now consider the SAME shot... done in Aperture priority mode:

1. You approach the shot as above, and choose aperture priority.
2. You dial the aperture to the setting you want (same as above... e.g. f/4)
3. You take the shot

In both cases, you get exactly the same result... I would suggest it is not merely close to the same... it is exactly the same. Neither mode has an obvious advantage over the other (I would tend to give the nod to the semi-auto mode as the better mode.)

Here's why: In both cases you are trusting your camera's light meter. If you dial in one aspect of the exposure (e.g. aperture) and then agree to trust the cameras light meter to adjust another aspect of the shot (e.g. shutter speed) until the meter indicates a correct exposure, then the shutter speed that you would have dialed in manually will be the very same one that the camera would have dialed in automatically.

In other words: If you intend to do exactly what the computer suggests that you do... why not just let the computer do it for you?

The difference between the two shots is that the EXIF data on one will say you shot it in Manual instead of Aperture priority but the ISO, Aperture, and Shutter speed, settings will all be identical.

I left ISO out of this, and sure... one could also choose to force ISO to a specific value vs. use auto-ISO. You can also decide to deliberately shoot above or below the exposure that the camera's light meter indicates as a correct exposure... but you could do that the semi-auto modes as well.

If you are in a situation where the light is changing rapidly, then shooting with a semi-auto setting is likely the better option because it's unlikely that a manual shooter would be able to adapt to the rapidly changing lighting fast enough (Consider concert events where the light-show is constantly altering the lighting on the stage.)

Understanding exposure is just one aspect of photography. Another aspect is learning to capture a shot at the "decisive moment" -- a whole new thread. But allowing the camera to speed things along by choosing to use a semi-auto mode may be a benefit when attempting to capture the "decisive moment".

I don't ding anyone for shooting manual or semi-auto.

I like to suggest that camera owners to learn to use all of the various modes on their cameras... not just manual. I think that fundamentally if someone intends to be a good photographer then they need to understand the concepts of "exposure" and I believe that learning to shoot in manual is perhaps the best way to learn this. But once you have learned this... go ahead and exploit all of the function of your camera... not just the manual mode. Many of these modes offer specific advantages and frankly it's the whole reason why your camera has more than one mode. If pro shooters were agreed that no pro should use anything other than manual, then neither Nikon nor Canon's flagship camera bodies would bother to offer any mode other than "M" on the dial.

 

[gsgary]

Its because you don't know what you are doing, set your exposure before you sit your model keep them waiting and you will not get the best out of them

 

[JacaRanda]

You're not missing anything. I suggested you do something in a particular situation that he doesn't do, therefore I've personally offended him and and suggested his 40 years of doing things--obviously--wrong because some random person on the internet suggested someone else do something different in a direct response to this statement: I shoot Manual and use the meter in the viewfinder to find the "correct" exposure.

This is the interenet afterall.

You haven't offended me in any way at all. You wrote something that I sarcastically replied to and you took it that I was somehow upset. Personally I really don't care one way or another how people do things, it's up to the individuals with the cameras to figure out what works best for them.

The regulars on this forum know what I shoot, I have explained many times how I shoot, what cameras I used to shoot with and my views on photography in general, and in some cases in detail. I tell the truth, I don't sugar coat what I say, for the most part I believe I am offering good advice, tips and suggestions on how to become better photographers. I base my observations on my skills and experience as a full time professional photographer.

I just take pictures.

I didn't take his initial post as sarcasm... I took it as sincere advice. It's exactly the advice I was going to give, but Braineack already suggested it.

I sometimes notice people will refer to "manual" vs. "automatic" and I think that's oversimplifying things a bit. I prefer to think of it as "auto", "semi-auto", and "manual". Nikon A and S mode (Canon Av or Tv mode) are modes I like to think of as "semi-auto". I tend to think of Program mode like "auto" but with the options to override (but that's another thread).

Think about what happens when you shoot "manual" vs. A or S.

1. You approach the shot and consider whether it is more important to control Aperture (e.g. suppose you want to control the depth of field) vs. shutter speed (e.g. suppose you want to control an aspect of motion... either to freeze it or to blur it deliberately). Let's just pick aperture for this example.
2. You dial the aperture to the setting you want (e.g. f/4)
3. You meter the shot and observe that the exposure meter in your camera does not indicate a correct exposure.
4. You adjust the "other" setting (in our case, shutter speed) and as you do, you continue to observe the exposure meter. You do this until the meter indicates a correct exposure.
5. You take the shot.

Now consider the SAME shot... done in Aperture priority mode:

1. You approach the shot as above, and choose aperture priority.
2. You dial the aperture to the setting you want (same as above... e.g. f/4)
3. You take the shot

In both cases, you get exactly the same result... I would suggest it is not merely close to the same... it is exactly the same. Neither mode has an obvious advantage over the other (I would tend to give the nod to the semi-auto mode as the better mode.)

Here's why: In both cases you are trusting your camera's light meter. If you dial in one aspect of the exposure (e.g. aperture) and then agree to trust the cameras light meter to adjust another aspect of the shot (e.g. shutter speed) until the meter indicates a correct exposure, then the shutter speed that you would have dialed in manually will be the very same one that the camera would have dialed in automatically.

In other words: If you intend to do exactly what the computer suggests that you do... why not just let the computer do it for you?

The difference between the two shots is that the EXIF data on one will say you shot it in Manual instead of Aperture priority but the ISO, Aperture, and Shutter speed, settings will all be identical.

I left ISO out of this, and sure... one could also choose to force ISO to a specific value vs. use auto-ISO. You can also decide to deliberately shoot above or below the exposure that the camera's light meter indicates as a correct exposure... but you could do that the semi-auto modes as well.

If you are in a situation where the light is changing rapidly, then shooting with a semi-auto setting is likely the better option because it's unlikely that a manual shooter would be able to adapt to the rapidly changing lighting fast enough (Consider concert events where the light-show is constantly altering the lighting on the stage.)

Understanding exposure is just one aspect of photography. Another aspect is learning to capture a shot at the "decisive moment" -- a whole new thread. But allowing the camera to speed things along by choosing to use a semi-auto mode may be a benefit when attempting to capture the "decisive moment".

I don't ding anyone for shooting manual or semi-auto.

I like to suggest that camera owners to learn to use all of the various modes on their cameras... not just manual. I think that fundamentally if someone intends to be a good photographer then they need to understand the concepts of "exposure" and I believe that learning to shoot in manual is perhaps the best way to learn this. But once you have learned this... go ahead and exploit all of the function of your camera... not just the manual mode. Many of these modes offer specific advantages and frankly it's the whole reason why your camera has more than one mode. If pro shooters were agreed that no pro should use anything other than manual, then neither Nikon nor Canon's flagship camera bodies would bother to offer any mode other than "M" on the dial.

STICKY

 

[bribrius]

don't know. seems I am in either auto or manual. usually manual. don't know why. I just put it on m. I think it is force of habit. I shouldn't be I am just making my shooting more difficult than it needs to be. I do use auto iso most of the time. I got lazy on that. so I fiddle with my camera a lot. Maybe it is a fiddle addiction. Addicted to fiddling. shooting a model, I don't see why you cant set up most of the shot before they are even posing everything is there but them. Agree with other posters. unless you have a fiddle addiction.

 

[Braineack]

Thank's for the in-depth explaination to what I was getting at. the key was shooting to the meter in M.

 

[gsgary]

I can't see what the problem is shooting manual first decide what DOF you want and adjust shutter speed for correct exposure if you want to change DOF adjust aperture then adjust shutter speed the same amount of stops

 

[fyeo]

I use to shoot in shutter or aperture priority with center spot focus/metering, but it made processing them in LR after a huge pain, every picture would have a slightly different exposure due to the spot metering and the thing I was focusing on wasnt always the same density.

I switched to manual and that removed a ton of headaches. I also set the white balance to daylight *or what have you* which made fixing that in post easier as well.

I rarely look at the exposure value in the viewfinder, to busy looking at the subject, I do chimp and look at the back of the screen at both the picture and histogram and compensate the exposure as needed that way. I find its faster.