Photographers and Auto Modes

[Derrel]

Accomplished photographers go out and get the job done with the best tools available for the job.

Without the need to constantly remind others that they always,always,always use MANUAL exposure mode all the time?

Imagine that...

Exposure modes don't mean squat. Now real photographers...well, they coat their own plates minutes before exposing them!

 

[Gavjenks]

I think I misread the statement. I thought it referred to professional photographers. I didn't believe it. LOL!!

Most professionals probably do use auto modes.

Auto modes are usually not NECESSARY, but they do increase the speed and automation of your shots, which is often important in a highly competitive or fast-paced environment.

Think about what you do when you're in manual mode. 95% of the time (not including studio lighting), if you're in manual, you are just trudging through a bunch of robotic, automatic motions that don't require very much or any intelligent thought. Usually, you will choose some variable that is important to the shot, like shutter for action or aperture for landscapes first. Then, you look at the little indicator in your viewfinder, and you adjust it until it is in the middle (or +1 -1 whatever) using the other variables at your disposal.

Why spend time doing robotic things that are always the same? As an artist, my time is not best spent clicking a dial in an indicated direction until a screen says I should stop clicking. That's the sort of mindless step-following that a computer could do just as well and more quickly than me.

So... why not LET the computer do it just as well and more quickly? That gives me more time and brainpower to devote to artistic decisions.



Manual is still crucial sometimes, like when you have fixed lighting, especially flash lighting, that is going to remain constant throughout a shoot. Then you should be using manual to make the shoot look internally consistent and to ease post processing.

But any time when you find yourself mindlessly adjusting each shot based on what the dial tells you, and are not overriding it for any artistic reason, you could generally speed yourself up by using one of the automatic modes. Which is exactly what a lot of professionals are going to do.

Others may just always use manual. Usually these are pros who were around before auto modes and just aren't used to them. For them, it might not be worth it to relearn (and it could screw up their consistent style, which might hurt business, even), but for you if you're just starting out, it will almost certainly be worth it to learn to use all the tools available.

 

[bratkinson]

It seems to me that being able to say that one "Shoots In MANUAL!" has become a badge of honor, especially among newer photographers. I see numerous posts here from people who recently got a camera and are already trying to make manual mode work for them and can't. They are disappointed and annoyed and wondering WHY they can't get decent photographs when the answer is simply that they are trying to do something that they don't know how to do.

I am puzzled trying to figure out how newbies to photography are led to believe that shooting in manual is 'the holy grail' of photography. They apparently read some book that quotes the sunny 16 rule and then make those settings manually and can't understand why the picture came out terribly dark, or terribly overexposed shooting other than outside on a sunny day.

Clearly, the biggest 'magic silver bullet' to learn in photography is the exposure triangle and the various tradeoffs that result with each adjustment. The advantage todays' newcomers have that us old-fogies didn't have is the computer in the camera. Nowadays, as one learns photography and the exposure triangle, moving from Auto mode and 'dabbling' in the 'creative zone' modes lets the photographer learn and apply what they know and let the camera figure out the rest. Changeable brightness in similar light source? Av to retain desired DOF. Fast moving subjects? Tv to get a fast enough shutter speed. And so on. Those are the kind of decisions photographers make every day. Let the situation 'direct' the shooting needs. And for those shots that need an 'acceptable compromise' (I love that phrase that someone used here about a month ago), M is how to set up that compromise and get the shot.

Like the mechanic uses more than just open end wrenches in their job (or hammers!), experienced photographers use all the tools in their bag. Everything from Auto to Zoom, Manual to Macro, Flash to Focus, and all f-stops in between are part of that tool bag. Knowing when and how to use them is what makes amateurs into good photographers, and good photographers, great photographers. (I know the list doesn't make sense, but I wanted to get A->Z and went from there).

 

[Gavjenks]

Also note that if you are using manual mode, but you rarely or never actually set ISO manually, then you would probably be better off in Program mode (on Canon that's what it's called at least). It makes it so that one dial click simultaneously adds one aperture and subtracts one shutter in balance.

A lot of people say they shoot in "full manual mode" but actually either have ISO on auto, or just rarely ever touch their ISO. If so, that's a waste of finger energy, because all you're usually doing is bumping down one variable and bumping up the other the same amount, whereas in program mode you do half the number of clicks to accomplish the same thing.

 

[The_Traveler]

I use _every_ mode of my camera. Most of the time I find my cycling through Av, Tv, or M -- probably with nearly equal measure in each mode. I will _occasionally_ use Program, but that's rare (and upon reflection I realize I never actually use "A" but "P" is basically "A" with the ability to override settings and shift to equivalent exposures whereas "A" locks out any changes in attempt to be "foolproof".)

I'm a heavy user of exposure compensation and/or don't center the digital "needle" on my light meter when shooting in M. Basically I'm always thinking about whether the subject I'm metering is likely to yield a middle-gray.

As Dao points out... if you're taking the meters advice on every shot, then you may as well be shooting in an automatic or semi-automatic mode because you were going to set the exact same exposure that the camera was going to set anyway... you're just taking longer to dial it in because you used manual.

this

 

[amolitor]

Manual mode is best used as a kind of super exposure lock, and if you don't understand what that means you probably shouldn't be using manual mode.

Not that you have to use manual as a super exposure lock, there are other uses. The point is that if you don't understand what that means, then you probably can't effectively use it any other way either.

 

[Reverendus]

I am most definitely a beginner when it comes to photography. Right now I am shooting mostly in manual, not because I think it's the "Holy Grail of Photography" as many other beginners (and from what I have seen, some who are not so new to it) seem to think it is. I am doing so in an attempt to learn as much about how the different settings affect my results as I can. Personally, I feel that the better I understand manual mode, the better I will understand the automatic modes as well.

 

[Tailgunner]

I'm new to Photography and Auto modes as well as Consumer modes drivers me nutz. Manual mode allows me to choose how I want to expose my photos and it locks in that setting allowing me to be consistent.

 

[SCraig]

I'm new to Photography and Auto modes as well as Consumer modes drivers me nutz. Manual mode allows me to choose how I want to expose my photos and it locks in that setting allowing me to be consistent.

The problem with that is that you will only be consistent as long as the light on the subject doesn't change. If a cloud covers the sun or your subject walks from sunlight to shade then your exposure requirements will change but your camera settings will not. If you turn and shoot in a different direction (back lighted or side lighted) the light on the subject will change. As time passes and the sun rises or lowers the light on the subject will change to. As long as you are aware of the conditions and make changes to your exposure to compensate everything is fine, but if you don't then you will get inconsistent exposures that might have been prevented by using one of the semi-auto modes.

 

[Tailgunner]

I'm new to Photography and Auto modes as well as Consumer modes drivers me nutz. Manual mode allows me to choose how I want to expose my photos and it locks in that setting allowing me to be consistent.

The problem with that is that you will only be consistent as long as the light on the subject doesn't change. If a cloud covers the sun or your subject walks from sunlight to shade then your exposure requirements will change but your camera settings will not. If you turn and shoot in a different direction (back lighted or side lighted) the light on the subject will change. As time passes and the sun rises or lowers the light on the subject will change to. As long as you are aware of the conditions and make changes to your exposure to compensate everything is fine, but if you don't then you will get inconsistent exposures that might have been prevented by using one of the semi-auto modes.

Of course, light is always changing, and sometimes rapidly. Thats why I repeatedly check for light changes. I tend to shoot 2-3 shots of a subject, especially sport related and one reason I like my settings to be locked in place.

 

[amolitor]

Whoa, really?

I bought my camera, set it to M, and locked in the settings then and there. Never changed 'em.

 

[runnah]

I just used auto mode and TTL today. There goes all my street cred.

 

[Tailgunner]

The site is full of wise guys...not to be confused with Wisdom.

I shot 100 photos of downtown yesterday at 12:30 am at night. I made a couple changes to my settings but other wise the settings stayed the same. There was no need to change and the auto mode would have been all over the place completely ruining the shots.

 

[Gavjenks]

The site is full of wise guys...not to be confused with Wisdom.

I shot 100 photos of downtown yesterday at 12:30 am at night. I made a couple changes to my settings but other wise the settings stayed the same. There was no need to change and the auto mode would have been all over the place completely ruining the shots.

? For night shots, you just set it to a broader metering (not spot metering, because it lands on a lamp and ruins everything, but anything broader is fine), and dial in maybe -1EV to -2EV compensation, so that it doesn't try to make it look like daytime when it's not, and it works just fine on auto, in my experience.

In fact, photographing downtown areas is likely to be a little sketchy when left in manual with no settings changes, because the lighting is varying dramatically from full nighttime storefronts with neon to alleyways with one bare bulb 50 feet away. Were you shooting a bunch of the same sort of thing?

 

[VABuckeye]

I'm new to Photography and Auto modes as well as Consumer modes drivers me nutz. Manual mode allows me to choose how I want to expose my photos and it locks in that setting allowing me to be consistent.

I'm new to photography as well and it makes sense to me to learn how to use the various settings and interactions one at a time. I travel a lot and nothing would be more frustrating to me than "having to shoot in manual" before I'm ready to make the decisions necessary to get good photographs. Nothing would upset me more than taking a ton of photos in an exotic location I may not visit again and having none of them turn out acceptably.

As with anything else, slow and steady wins the race. IMO, a person that takes the time to work with the various settings individually will be better prepared to make decisions with multiple settings down the road. JMHO.