What settings should I use?

[cestlefun17]

I'm going to shoot the last roll of film that came free with my camera (Kruger brand, 400 speed, color). Last time I got gray-looking photos with poor contrast and color saturation. I shot that indoors on a cloudy day.

Tomorrow I'm going to shoot outdoors, around 5:00PM (it should be sunny.) These are going to be portraits, fairly close-up, so I want a narrow depth of field (lowest f-stop on my lens is 5.6). I also want my colors to pop as much as possible (this may vary, I understand, depending on the film).

What should my settings be in terms of f-stop, shutter speed, etc? Or should I just stick with the portrait pre-set for the time being?

 

[table1349]

Since you provide no information on the camera and what it is capable of, what mode you plan to use, auto, aperture value, shutter value, manual etc. and since we have no idea what the lighting conditions will be, there is really no way to know.

The best thing would be to know the camera a bit and understand how aperture, shutter speed, work as well as how to use the meter that I am assuming your camera has built in, so you can tell when you have a proper exposure.

There are no magic settings for a particular time of day. Every lighting situation is different and has to be evaluated at the time.

This might be a good book to pickup. It is an excellent book to learn the basics of exposure.

Amazon.com: Understanding Exposure: How to Shoot Great Photographs with a Film or Digital Camera (Updated Edition) (9780817463007): Bryan Peterson: Books

 

[cestlefun17]

Sorry for the lack of information. I will certainly look at the book, thanks. I will stick with the portrait pre-set I think, make sure my light meter is balanced, and try several different shots while tweaking the settings a bit.