P means program mode

[espresso2x]

I use off camera flashes in Manual mode though.

 

[sergezap]

Yes, I am using it often. I get the feeling the camera is making better choices than i would otherwise. The lenses communicate distance? In low light the cameras still try to stop down a little bit (a good thing). For me it's a nice mode for documentary pictures. Efficient.

Guys, is anybody here using camera in "P" mode on a regular basis?
Since my first serious camera i tried, but couldn't find any purposeful use of it.
ASM with exposure compensation is pretty enough for all my needs.
Please, share your real life experience.

Stopping down from from real scene exposure, or from camera meter suggestion?

 

[mrca]

A wedding photographer I trained with who charges 40 to 50,000 per wedding told me he often shoots outside the ceremony in P. I jokingly told him that M is not for manual, but for manly and P is for, well a cat. But seriously, his approach was when he moved to a new location he would spot meter an 18% gray element while in P and lock exposure on both cameras. As long as he was shooting in that light he was on the money. Those shooting in aperature priority got different readings if they included brighter or darker elements as they composed when the light remained the same. He was a canon sponsored photographer and heavily used the 85 1.2 close to wide open. I spot meter/focus just below the eye and on caucasian skin add 2/3 stop of light. That puts the brides face and most important the gown properly exposed. I know where detail in pure white is there when the histogram dies slightly short of the r edge. I can double check spotting a portion of the dress to make sure it falls there. If the rented tux looses detail, no one cares.

 

[smoke665]

I spot meter/focus just below the eye and on caucasian skin add 2/3 stop of light.

Thanks for the tip. Would this be appropriate on any color dress or just for a white gown? Lastly what if you're shooting a darker ethnicity, how do you adjust???

 

[mrca]

In a wedding shot the gown and the bride are so important. Detail in the dress is critical. Test on a piece of white bath towel out doors. Spot and shoot and adjust exposure til you have detail. Check where the right side of your histogram dies. Now stay close to that when shooting the bride by spotting on bright area of gown where detail is desired. Metering skin understand how the in camera meter works. It tries to make what it measures middle gray. If it is brighter than middle gray, like skin, it subtracts light so you have to add it back in. 2/3 additional is right on my camera for white and not too tanned skin. If it is darker, you might add in less. For black skin you might have to zero out or subtract light. Again, test your particular camera. When spot metering under the eye, be sure there is light there, either on the main side or if shadow side, the skin below the eye is illuminated in the rembrandt triangle or loop area. You want the diffused, ie the illuminated (non shadow) skin properly exposed, not the shadow which in the light ratio is the relationship of the shadow to the diffused.

 

[espresso2x]

No overrides; using whatever P mode selects.

 

[smoke665]

If it is brighter than middle gray, like skin, it subtracts light so you have to add it back in. 2/3 additional is right on my camera for white and not too tanned skin. If it is darker, you might add in less. For black skin you might have to zero out or subtract light.

Thank you, I'm going to experiment with this approach.

 

[davidharmier60]

I grew up with aperature priority. I tend to use that a lot. However the Nikon Coolpix P60 I used for quite a while pretty much stayed on Program or Scene (Close up).

 

[sleist]

A great photo is a great photo.

Don't matter what mode you used.
Don't matter what camera you used.
Don't matter what lens you used.
Don't matter if it was digital or film.

It's just a great photo. Or not.

Shoot what ever way makes a great photo.

 

[mrca]

Smoke, when you can't afford to miss exposure or eyes sharp, shooting in manual this way spot focus and metering below the eye nails it. I am often shooting at wide apertures and can't risk the camera picking the wrong area of focus.

 

[sergezap]

A great photo is a great photo.

Don't matter what mode you used.
Don't matter what camera you used.
Don't matter what lens you used.
Don't matter if it was digital or film.

It's just a great photo. Or not.

Shoot what ever way makes a great photo.

That's funny!
If you do any type of commercial photography or video, there are no such thing as "great photo" but the "usable photo" or "unusable photo" is.
And it depends from technical parameters of your equipment somehow.
In real world you have specifications and requirements.

 

[mrca]

Serge, nothing worse than the shot of the day is unusable or not saleable because the camera picked the wrong focus point. Unrepairable in post. As a professional you quickly learn that Bambi Cantrell was right, beauty is in the eye of the checkbook holder. So when you show a killer lit, posed and conceived shot and they don't like it but like a ho hum cliched shot. Guess who is right? The customer. Landscapes and animals don't criticize your work. Serge is right, equipment can make a difference especially when working at the limits of your gear. Gear can set you apart from the crowd or enable shots lesser gear wouldn't. But for most folks, how much do they push the limits. As a former car racer, I always like Graham Hills quote from his book Life at the Limit, you don't know where the limit is til you cross it. A corollary to that is that's when you know you need better gear.

 

[chuasam]

I use A, M...the other two I'm very suspicious of and I never use them.

 

[nerwin]

P is professional mode!