Photographing Storms

[Beauty Through a Lens]

In manual mode what settings do you use to photograph storm clouds?

[Polar01]

Adrian there is really no settings, it all depends on the conditions and your vision of what you want. Myself the only time I have used manual settings is when the exposure I want is longer than 30 seconds. There is no special formula of settings, if you lined up six photographers, then asked them what their settings were you would likely find the same number or more. It is all in your vision and that takes practice lots of practice. Sorry I know that is not exactly what you are looking for, but the best I can do.

Cheers: Allan

[Manfred M]

My first question would be "why are you planning to shoot manual?". You have a sophisticated camera with a built-in metering systems that handles these things quite nicely. I generally try to shoot landscapes at base ISO, but might crank that up if it is getting too dark and the exposure is getting too long to properly hand hold and get a sharp shot. If using a tripod, I might go for a longer exposure.

If you are concerned, bracket your shots using exposure compensation; and I might do that even on manual. I would probably shoot aperture priority with an aperture around f/11 to maximize my depth of field; and might vary that a bit, depending on the specific lens I am using (focal length).

Depending on the specific scene being shot, I might bring out my graduated neutral density filters (I'd likely start with a 2-stop GND) to help accentuate the sky.

As Allan has said, there are simply too many variables to give you a simple answer.

[Geoff F]

There are occasions, Adrian, when I have to spot meter around to get readings for small bright areas which would cause over exposed hot spots. Then I set up manually based on those readings; but otherwise I shoot in aperture priority and play around with a little exposure compensation as required.

However, it is sometimes necessary to also consider shutter speed if there are any faster moving clouds; or if a low shutter speed would cause hand holding movement etc.

High Iso can cause some noise issues particularly with darker areas.

I suppose my average aperture would be around F11 to get plenty of focus depth but that is variable depending on each individual scene and my camera angle, which is similar to Manfred's comments.

[Beauty Through a Lens]

My first question would be "why are you planning to shoot manual?".

I read somewhere that you should always try to shoot manual to get the best results.

[Manfred M]

I read somewhere that you should always try to shoot manual to get the best results.

I would suggest that advice is 100% incorrect.

In all the photography I do, there are only two instances where I find I have to shoot 100% manual; studio shots with studio flash (and this is how they have always worked) and when I shoot a pano (where I don't want the camera's automation to screw things up so that the various frames can be stitched together problem free).

I do know how to shoot manual, as that was the only option when I first few years after I first got into serious photography. In those days, I would either select an aperture I wanted to use and I would have to find the appropriate shutter speed for the film I was using. Now the camera's automation does this very simple operation for me; aperture priority. If I wanted to shoot at a particular shutter speed for a given film speed, I would have to select the appropriate aperture; today the camera does that for me using shutter priority mode.

Of course that was generally the easy part; nailing focus was a lot trickier, especially with a moving subject; but again, automation has taken care of that for me in most instances as well.

I personally don't have a problem when people shoot this way; but I figured I paid a lot of money for a camera that takes care of those details for me and lets me spend more time worrying about composition.

[xpatUSA]

In manual mode what settings do you use to photograph storm clouds?

Going to answer you literally, Adrian:

Like Manfred, I choose the aperture first. I set the aperture to that which gives the best MTF for that lens because I would be looking for best captured contrast. Then, using spot metering, I'll seek out the brightest part of the sky and set the shutter speed for 0 EV then add a bit (of exposure, not speed). For really bright, I'd add maybe 2 stops. For less bright, maybe +1 stop. Of course, I'm already set to base ISO - so as to avoid obfuscation by exposure triangulation

Then I Point, Shoot RAW and Post-Process.

[Acorn]

Going to answer you literally, Adrian:

Like Manfred, I choose the aperture first. I set the aperture to that which gives the best MTF for that lens because I would be looking for best captured contrast. Then, using spot metering, I'll seek out the brightest part of the sky and set the shutter speed for 0 EV then add a bit (of exposure, not speed). For really bright, I'd add maybe 2 stops. For less bright, maybe +1 stop. Of course, I'm already set to base ISO - so as to avoid obfuscation by exposure triangulation

Then I Point, Shoot RAW and Post-Process.

My professional working life, as well as involving photography, was essentially writing technical articles for clients. One of the golden rules was never to use jargon or abbreviations unless you had first qualified them. And so, what is “MFT?”

[Manfred M]

And so, what is “MFT?”

I suspect you mis-typed here and really want to know "what is MTF"; which is what Ted typed. MTF stands for Modulation Transfer Function; rather than trying to explain it; let me direct you to the following article. A lot of people will know what a MTF chart is without knowing what the abbreviation stands for.

https://luminous-landscape.com/mtf/

[xpatUSA]

My professional working life, as well as involving photography, was essentially writing technical articles for clients. One of the golden rules was never to use jargon or abbreviations unless you had first qualified them.

I take offense easily and I don't appreciate that lecture at all.

And so, what is “MFT?”

That is a typo. Manfred has explained.

[flashback]

I take offense easily and I don't appreciate that lecture at all.



It was a typo. Manfred has explained.

Pedantry is not a felony...

[xpatUSA]

Pedantry is not a felony...

Ya got me there . . .

Still, the irritation comes when, after putting some time and effort into a supposedly informative or helpful post, a response ignores both the intent and the content, seizing instead upon some infraction of the rules of technical writing.

Going a little further, if correct technical writing is de rigeur in this and other fora, we all probably fail to conform at some time or other - even your resident Pedant as we have just seen.

[flashback]

I agree it's irksome to have a reply parsed for errors, on the other hand my reaction to MTF was...WTF?!
I like Phillip Stanhope, 4th Earl of Chesterfield's advice.

[xpatUSA]

I agree it's irksome to have a reply parsed for errors, on the other hand my reaction to MTF was...WTF?!
I like Phillip Stanhope, 4th Earl of Chesterfield's advice.

That was new to me, excellent advice. Will change my signature, I reckon