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Archive 2012 · Relinquishing control

  
 
Andre Labonte
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p.2 #1 · p.2 #1 · Relinquishing control


Available Light

I shoot manual exposure 99% of the time. I occasionally shoot A or S mode. I don't like P mode. I NEVER us auto ISO.


Using Flash "on the move"

I usually set my apeture, ISO and shutter manually and allow the camera to adjust the flash output using either TTL or TTL-BL mode. I then use the +/- for flash output to get what I want.


Using Flash "in a fixed set-up" (i.e. like a studio)

100% manual


AF for action & general

This is the one place where I like to let the camera do it's work. I press 1/2 for focus and use the focus lock button when needed. I never could get use to seperate buttons for focus and exposure.


AF for macro / close-up and landscapes

95% manual



Feb 14, 2012 at 12:08 PM
honorerdieu
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p.2 #2 · p.2 #2 · Relinquishing control


Photographers have different methods of taking pictures... and that's OK.


Feb 14, 2012 at 12:12 PM
static808
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p.2 #3 · p.2 #3 · Relinquishing control


honorerdieu wrote:
Photographers have different methods of taking pictures... and that's OK.


+1

i find it awesome how our cameras can cater to all the different ways we shoot, everything from pretty much completely auto to completely manual. good times...



Feb 14, 2012 at 01:26 PM
williamkazak
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p.2 #4 · p.2 #4 · Relinquishing control


I wish I could but I cannot just set the camera on Auto. Set it on auto and then tweak the settings? Why bother? Just set the camera on M and go from there, using your skills. Flash is an entirely separate bag of trouble.


Feb 15, 2012 at 01:08 AM
honorerdieu
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p.2 #5 · p.2 #5 · Relinquishing control


Wow. Was the OP's post really that offensive that got some people riled up about finding what works?

Maybe we should all go back to the days of Ansel Adams when he didn't have the sophisticated in camera light meter we have now.... 3D Matrix Metering, center weight, and spot metering!!! Get rid of them! Relying on them is so repulsive. UGH.



Feb 15, 2012 at 12:42 PM
rhyder
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p.2 #6 · p.2 #6 · Relinquishing control


workerdrone wrote:
^ok sure when you have time, but devil's advocate, in a faster moving situation you may not get to exercise the creativity you'd like to if you're focusing too much on manipulating manual settings. I've missed a lot of shots because I wasn't fast enough making adjustments.

If the camera can do much of the work for me, and I understand what it's doing, it frees me to focus on composition and ideas


Faster moving situation? A professional prepares for the situation. What could be changing so fast that you couldn't change aperture or shutter speed?



Feb 17, 2012 at 12:30 PM
rhyder
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p.2 #7 · p.2 #7 · Relinquishing control


trenchmonkey wrote:
I hear what you're saying, Joel. Good results are fine for the hobbyist...I expect GREAT, out of my gear.


+1000



Feb 17, 2012 at 12:30 PM
rhyder
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p.2 #8 · p.2 #8 · Relinquishing control


VinnieJ wrote:
How does this differ from the raw vs jpeg argument?


As a raw shooter myself...I tend to agree..BUT...When you're knowledgable about your situation and have your settings tailored to produce the results you need, jpgs are fine. You control it in camera.



Feb 17, 2012 at 12:35 PM
rhyder
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p.2 #9 · p.2 #9 · Relinquishing control


VinnieJ wrote:
I'm not on the offensive here. It was a legit question, the camera's internal jpeg processing engine (Relinquishing control) vs your own creativity on your computer. I guess I'm not allowed to participate here because I have "NO creds".


You do realize that some cameras have "controls" (settings) that you can use to determine how the jpgs come out...right?



Feb 17, 2012 at 12:38 PM
Monito
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p.2 #10 · p.2 #10 · Relinquishing control


rhyder wrote:
Faster moving situation? A professional prepares for the situation. What could be changing so fast that you couldn't change aperture or shutter speed?


Lighting while panning.

Machinery whirling and intermittently blocking light or casting reflections.

War.

....



Feb 17, 2012 at 01:39 PM
Rodolfo Paiz
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p.2 #11 · p.2 #11 · Relinquishing control


Some of this "manual only" stuff seems awfully like "I'm better than you" snobbery, guys. Get over it, OK? There is nothing wrong with using the technology, and especially in learning how to get the most out of the technology.

I've gotten a few of my best shots in full manual... but just a few. More often, I'm focused on composition, relating to the subject, light management (wherein flash is part of the equation, and not a separate anything), and actually finding/getting the moment. My matrix metering works just fine 99% of the time, thank you very much, and I know my tools well to know when that 1% happens and then go to full manual because I need to do so. In my personal opinion, not using the tool to its fullest extent is just plain silly.

My camera lives on A mode, usually EC +0.3 or +0.7, with Auto ISO on, AF-C, 21-point group dynamic mode. And if it didn't, I'd never get most of the images that I do get. I want to see the eyelashes on a cheetah, the tail feathers on an F-16, and the "full manual" gig just don't cut it when swinging a 500/4 around the sky.

If you know your gear and your photographic skills well enough to use full manual, and you prefer to do so, then great! Enjoy it, and be proud that you're able to get good results using your preferred techniques. But if you try to sneer down your nose at the technology or those of us who use it, I'm going to laugh at you. The camera's and the computer's abilities are part of the photographic process, and they are not impure or undeserving in any way.

Use 'em if you want to, leave 'em if you don't, but make no mistake: neither choice makes you a better photographer. I choose to use all the technology I can get my hands on and which makes good sense for the particular image I'm trying to capture.



Feb 17, 2012 at 02:02 PM
Rodolfo Paiz
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p.2 #12 · p.2 #12 · Relinquishing control


Manual focus this, or manually meter a partly-blue, partly-cloudy sky with patches of bright sunlight, and then we'll talk about how useless the technology is and how I'm supposed to be smarter than the camera.

Several of the "all manual" crowd around here are people whom I respect for their character and their images too. But as you can see, I very strongly disagree with some of the statements being made.

https://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/ufiles/52/611852.jpg



Feb 17, 2012 at 02:07 PM
afm901
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p.2 #13 · p.2 #13 · Relinquishing control


Rodolfo Paiz wrote:
Some of this "manual only" stuff seems awfully like "I'm better than you" snobbery, guys. Get over it, OK? There is nothing wrong with using the technology, and especially in learning how to get the most out of the technology.

I've gotten a few of my best shots in full manual... but just a few. More often, I'm focused on composition, relating to the subject, light management (wherein flash is part of the equation, and not a separate anything), and actually finding/getting the moment. My matrix metering works just fine 99% of the time, thank you very much, and I
...Show more

+ 1,000,000

The truly talented and best performing people I have dealt with in a variety of disciplines are the ones that never had to comment about how good they are....trenchmonkey's comment were just plain offensive and uncalled for.

Scott



Feb 17, 2012 at 02:27 PM
utildayael
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p.2 #14 · p.2 #14 · Relinquishing control


honorerdieu wrote:
Wow. Was the OP's post really that offensive that got some people riled up about finding what works?


Because a good number of photographers would rather argue on a message board about what is right or who has better creds than actually take photos. [this isn't aimed at anyone in particular, I <3 all of you]

Maybe we should all go back to the days of Ansel Adams when he didn't have the sophisticated in camera light meter we have now.... 3D Matrix Metering, center weight, and spot metering!!! Get rid of them! Relying on them is so repulsive. UGH.

I really think at the end of the day the ONLY thing that matters AT ALL is the final image. I don't care if you shoot in green box auto-everything or if you shoot manual focus and use a handheld light meter, the end result is all that matters.



Feb 17, 2012 at 02:43 PM
honorerdieu
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p.2 #15 · p.2 #15 · Relinquishing control


utildayael wrote:
I really think at the end of the day the ONLY thing that matters AT ALL is the final image. I don't care if you shoot in green box auto-everything or if you shoot manual focus and use a handheld light meter, the end result is all that matters.



Amen.



Feb 17, 2012 at 02:48 PM
trevanian
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p.2 #16 · p.2 #16 · Relinquishing control


I can see just using the p or auto if you're feel lazy and don't feel critical of the out come once in a while. On a permanent basis this would be insane on a d300. Why not just buy a point and shoot then. I think I have taken my worst pictures when I first went to manual but at this point I would never go back. It's a control issue, and having a greater part in creating the pictures then simply pushing the shutter and hoping for the best.


Feb 17, 2012 at 03:04 PM
Andre Labonte
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p.2 #17 · p.2 #17 · Relinquishing control


Rodolfo Paiz wrote:

Manual focus this, or manually meter a partly-blue, partly-cloudy sky with patches of bright sunlight, and then we'll talk about how useless the technology is and how I'm supposed to be smarter than the camera.

Several of the "all manual" crowd around here are people whom I respect for their character and their images too. But as you can see, I very strongly disagree with some of the statements being made.

https://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/ufiles/52/611852.jpg



For focus -- I agree with you 100%
For exposure -- about 50% ... I've found I can do a great job manually even in such demanding circumstances. Using auto mode in circumstances like this is often easier. This is one of those cases where I'd be inclined to use Shutter priority and focus on composition. With things moving as fast as they do in air shows, it's worth it and the keeper rate goes way up.



Feb 17, 2012 at 03:46 PM
Andre Labonte
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p.2 #18 · p.2 #18 · Relinquishing control


rhyder wrote:
Faster moving situation? A professional prepares for the situation. What could be changing so fast that you couldn't change aperture or shutter speed?



1) Air shows
2) Baseball games where the home plate is in deep shadow and the 1st base is in bright sunlight. Use S-priority or only get 1/2 the shots.

I'm fast and can change my setting supper fast and have done both situations 1 and 2 fully manual with good results ... but damb it's hard and to be honest I lost good shots for exposure that the camera in S-priority would not have.



Feb 17, 2012 at 03:50 PM
Ruahrc
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p.2 #19 · p.2 #19 · Relinquishing control


I agree, this argument is ridiculous.

It's all about knowing the capabilities of your gear, and using them as tools.

You don't chide airline pilots for "cheating" by using the autopilot. They use it as a tool, to allow them to focus on other tasks that are not as easily automated. The airplane can hold a specific altitude/heading better than the pilot can, and he effectively utilizes automation to increase the safety of the flight. That is not to say he doesn't understand the fundamentals of flight, or that he can't do it, rather the airplane can do it better the majority of the time, and the good pilot knows when he can delegate those tasks to automation and focus his cognitive abilities on other matters.

Same with cameras. People who don't know what they're doing use it as a magic box, and simply accept the results they get. However, if you understand how the meter works, you simply employ it as a tool to save you the trouble of having to guess the exposure, or measure it via other means. Knowing the tool is knowing the limitations, and that's when the "photographer's brain" part of it comes in to play, and says "I know from my knowledge of the tool, the scene, and my experience that the built in meter is going to lead me astray here" and use M mode to get the right shot. You employ your cognitive abilities to do things the camera cannot.

Offloading some of the workload to the camera frees you up to think about other things like composition. It's not about showing off how you're smarter than the camera, it's that you're smart enough to identify and leverage those things that the camera can do better than you (provide a quantitate measure of light intensity, or keep track of focus on a rapidly moving object).

Norman



Feb 17, 2012 at 04:14 PM
rhyder
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p.2 #20 · p.2 #20 · Relinquishing control


Monito wrote:
Lighting while panning.

Machinery whirling and intermittently blocking light or casting reflections.

War.

....


Photogrphers faced these situations before automation was availiable...they still got the shots.

War? Really? War? We've been photographing war since at least the Civil War. Things can happen fast in war, but nothing that would affect exposure. Photographers were capturing action long before autofocus...it did take skill and planning though........



Feb 17, 2012 at 05:26 PM
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