How can I become a FASTER photographer? please help

[SergeTheBlerge]

I haven't posted in a while but recently got hired for a couple's engagement photoshoot. Pictures came out OK, but I was fairly disappointed in my overall SPEED. Previously I would always do nature and landscapes, but have become more interested in animals and mostly people. The issue here is that I've only been using Manual mode but it's been a hassle coming out with good SHARP shots due to my constantly reworking the exposure wheel.

Currently shooting with a Canon Rebel T6i, have mostly stuck with my 50mm 1.8 lens for portrait shots for those blurred backgrounds, but at times interchange with my standard 18-55mm to capture wider backdrops. While I usually set the ISO, aperture and shutter speed decently enough, it's the exposure which proves difficult to adjust to obtain an exact center considering my focal point. It's like for each shot the wheel needs to be adjusted over and over, and it seriously impedes on shooting fast enough, especially for those outdoor shoots. Sure I can adjust exposure and brightness in post, I find myself with far too many over or underexposed shots.

Should I set the camera to another setting other than Manual? I'd hate to use auto, but am not entirely practiced as much in shutter or aperture priority.

Anyway, any tips would help. thanks a million!

[Manfred M]

How can I become a FASTER photographer?

Practice. Lots of practice.

Shoot so much that you can handle your camera instinctively. The famed photojournalist Henri Cartier-Bresson once said "your first 10,000 shots are your worst". That was in the film days and when everything was shot on manual...Some modern photographers suggest that number should be around 100,000 images. Are you close yet?



I don't understand why you hate to use Auto. Why do you write that?

Take your camera off manual and let all that money you've spent on the fancy focus and metering do its job. If you are shooting for a specific depth of field, then shoot aperture priority. If you want to freeze motion, use shutter priority and an appropriate shutter speed. Understand how your camera meters and override it (with exposure compensation) when you know it will get fooled, for instance in back-lit situations.

I'm not suggesting that shooting in manual mode is something you shouldn't do, but I tend to tell people to shoot that way when I want them to slow down. There are definitely situations where I will shoot 100% manual, but the conditions have to be right and I have to know that will work better than trying one of the automation modes.

[William W]

Practice, lots of practice.

Structured Practice is best.

There are guidelines and exercises which you might consider -

For example, I doubt you'd consider learning to play the piano and balk at your teacher telling you to practice your Scales, Arpeggios and Hanon exercises.

If you wanted to swim with some dexterity, you'd probably learn the basics with definitive Stroke Correction from a good Coach to unlearn all the naughty things you have in your muscle memory...

Learning to use a camera at any high output level is no different, though many think it is as simple as picking up the camera, half glancing at the user manual, and getting a few (selective) tips from Youtube or a Forum ...

Similarly, many people think they walk and run correctly and efficiently, simply because they have two legs... it is the same with most people and their cameras.

I am interstate and at a big gig at the moment, and it is about to start, yet this is a topic about which I am passionate and I shall respond later, with some basic exercises.

WW

[pnodrog]

Manual mode is a teaching tool not a suitable mode for doing photography in rapidly changing light environments...

On some forums I would need to protect myself from the backlash.

[george013]

There's no difference between M and the half auto modes A and S. In all of them you select one and then adjust the other, aperture or shutter.
If you have a rather constant light condition but different reflecting lights just put it in M and don't adjust based on the light meter, just on your histogram. Already one tool more as Henri Cartier-Bresson.

George

[Donald]

There's no difference between M and the half auto modes A and S. In all of them you select one and then adjust the other, aperture or shutter.
If you have a rather constant light condition but different reflecting lights just put it in M and don't adjust based on the light meter, just on your histogram. Already one tool more as Henri Cartier-Bresson.

George

If by 'M' George means Manual, then this advise is not correct. I suspect that he is referring to the settings on a camera that I don't know in which 'M' means something different that Manual.

[george013]

If by 'M' George means Manual, then this advise is not correct. I suspect that he is referring to the settings on a camera that I don't know in which 'M' means something different that Manual.

The steps you do when you set exposure in M, manual.
1) set a first variable, shutter speed or aperture.
2) adjust the second variable according to the light meter in your viewfinder

Now when using a half automat function like A or S
1) select a first variable
2) the camera automatic adjust the second variable according to the light meter.

The results are exactly the same.

George

[Shadowman]

Are you mostly shooting candids, are you moving in and out of environments? If you know the venue and arrive early enough you can do a few practice shots to see what exposure/white balance works best, after that the big issue might be dealing with skintones, clothing, reflections from nearby surfaces, etc. You didn't mention the use of flash at all, was it not allowed or are you not that experienced with external lighting?

[pschlute]

The results are exactly the same.

George

The results are the same, but what the OP is after is to get the results quicker.

He wants to concentrate on framing and posing his models, not framing; posing; and checking the light meter.

Unless he is using a flash set-up he would be best served by aperture priority.

[george013]

The results are the same, but what the OP is after is to get the results quicker.

He wants to concentrate on framing and posing his models, not framing; posing; and checking the light meter.

Unless he is using a flash set-up he would be best served by aperture priority.

I don't understand what's to difficult to understand. The gain in speed is 1 dial, or even no dial at all.

....It's like for each shot the wheel needs to be adjusted over and over.....

It could also be a matter of metering.

George

[pschlute]

I don't understand what's to difficult to understand. The gain in speed is 1 dial, or even no dial at all.



George

During which time the model has blinked, or is running around his garden into varying degrees of illumination.

I honestly don't know the exact circumstances but aperture priority will serve him better.

[Manfred M]

I honestly don't know the exact circumstances but aperture priority will serve him better.

It depends Peter. One of the commercial portrait / wedding photographers I know told me that his default shooting mode for these types of events is shutter priority. That way he can guarantee that there is no motion blur in the image, the most common fault, rather than aperture priority where it is all too easy to drop the shutter speed below an acceptable point. While we photographers are quite in tune with depth of field, most people who are not photographers are not.

It of course depends on the light level and if the light conditions change quite quickly adding auto-ISO to the mix would be worth considering as well. Dealing with a bit of noise is an easier fix than working with an image that is not sharp.

So far as I know, Nikon has one mode that Canon does not (although I think I have heard some of the newest Canons have this too now); 100% manual exposure with auto-ISO, so the photographer can select an appropriate shutter speed to eliminate motion blur and set the aperture to give the DoF the photographer wants and the camera will choose an ISO value to get a good exposure.

[Manfred M]

On some forums I would need to protect myself from the backlash.

Been there, done that. I still haven't received an answer from people espousing that view that makes any sense. That advice tends to be pedagogical or philosophical; neither of which have much of a role in an event shoot.

[xpatUSA]

The steps you do when you set exposure in M, manual.
1) set a first variable, shutter speed or aperture.
2) adjust the second variable according to the light meter in your viewfinder

Now when using a semi-automatic function like A or S
1) select a first variable
2) the camera automatic adjust the second variable according to the light meter.

The results are exactly the same.

Indeed the results will be exactly the same - and will usually be wrong, sorry!

In either case, the metering recommends an average mid-gray image, usually needing some exposure compensation either way.

That is to say that a step 3) is missing after your metering step 2) ...

Not referring to fancy kajillion-point intelligent metering, BTW. Myself, I always use 'spot' in combination with my brain.

Lately, I've been favoring an incident light-meter - tends to eliminate exposure adjustment in Manual.

Or, one could get good at estimating the lighting value and setting the camera EV without even metering (like they used to).

Or, slow yourself down with one of these, perfect for sports and weddings:



https://wikivisually.com/wiki/Actinograph

[Manfred M]

Indeed the results will be exactly the same - and will usually be wrong, sorry!

In either case, the metering recommends an average mid-gray image, usually needing some exposure compensation either way.

That is to say that a step 3) is missing after your metering step 2) ...

Not referring to fancy kajillion-point intelligent metering, BTW. Myself, I always use 'spot' in combination with my brain.

Lately, I've been favoring an incident light-meter - tends to eliminate exposure adjustment in Manual.

Or, one could get good at estimating the lighting value and setting the camera EV without even metering (like they used to).

Or, slow yourself down with one of these, perfect for sports and weddings:



https://wikivisually.com/wiki/Actinograph

Hmm. Doing an engagement shoot with a view camera that uses glass plates sounds like an exercise in SLOW.

That being said, calculating the exposure with that device looks like it would be extremely quick when compared to setting up the camera and focusing it.

[DanK]

So far as I know, Nikon has one mode that Canon does not (although I think I have heard some of the newest Canons have this too now); 100% manual exposure with auto-ISO

My Canon bodies have this, including the 7D gen 1, which is a pretty old model. In fact, that is the only way I use auto-ISO.

There's no difference between M and the half auto modes A and S. In all of them you select one and then adjust the other, aperture or shutter.

This is incorrect. In Av or Tv, the user selects one parameter and the camera selects the other. In M, the user selects both. The results are the same only if the user makes the same decision in M that the camera would make in the semi-automatic mode. Generally, IMHO, the reason to switch from semi-automatic to fully manual is precisely because you don't think you will want the camera's decision.

[pschlute]

It depends Peter. One of the commercial portrait / wedding photographers I know told me that his default shooting mode for these types of events is shutter priority. That way he can guarantee that there is no motion blur in the image, the most common fault, rather than aperture priority where it is all too easy to drop the shutter speed below an acceptable point. While we photographers are quite in tune with depth of field, most people who are not photographers are not.

Yes good point Manfred. What i would do in a changeable light situation would be before shooting, to point the camera around first at the darker lit areas and using my chosen aperture and ISO see what the slowest shutter speed I am likely to get is. If it is too low then ramp up the ISO accordingly or choose a wider aperture.

So far as I know, Nikon has one mode that Canon does not (although I think I have heard some of the newest Canons have this too now); 100% manual exposure with auto-ISO, so the photographer can select an appropriate shutter speed to eliminate motion blur and set the aperture to give the DoF the photographer wants and the camera will choose an ISO value to get a good exposure.

I have this mode on my Pentax K1. They call it TAv mode (shutter and aperture priority). I find it very useful when photographing my dogs running around. Of course one still needs to review the results in instant preview and if I feel that the ISO is too high for my liking then i have to make choices.

[george013]

My Canon bodies have this, including the 7D gen 1, which is a pretty old model. In fact, that is the only way I use auto-ISO.



This is incorrect. In Av or Tv, the user selects one parameter and the camera selects the other. In M, the user selects both. The results are the same only if the user makes the same decision in M that the camera would make in the semi-automatic mode. Generally, IMHO, the reason to switch from semi-automatic to fully manual is precisely because you don't think you will want the camera's decision.

No, both in M and A S the user selects a first parameter. Both manual. The only difference is how the second parameter is adjusted: manual or by the camera. There're some circumstances where I would prefer manual and they're all based on the idea to disable the control of the light meter over the cameras.

Ted,
The question was how to become a FASTER photographer.

George

[Manfred M]

No, both in M and A S the user selects a first parameter. Both manual. The only difference is how the second parameter is adjusted: manual or by the camera. There're some circumstances where I would prefer manual and they're all based on the idea to disable the control of the light meter over the cameras.

Ted,
The question was how to become a FASTER photographer.

George

George - I think everyone is saying the same thing, but your choice of words (English is not your first language) is what is causing the confusion.

I believe that what you are saying is that for a given (fixed) ISO setting, the photographer can select either the shutter speed or aperture setting. In order to get the correct exposure under those conditions, it doesn't matter whether the photographer selects the appropriate third setting by doing so manually (assuming he or she follows what the camera's metering system is recommending) or letting the camera make exactly the same choice (but much faster) using aperture priority or shutter priority mode, whichever is appropriate.

[george013]

George - I think everyone is saying the same thing, but your choice of words (English is not your first language) is what is causing the confusion.

I believe that what you are saying is that for a given (fixed) ISO setting, the photographer can select either the shutter speed or aperture setting. In order to get the correct exposure under those conditions, it doesn't matter whether the photographer selects the appropriate third setting by doing so manually (assuming he or she follows what the camera's metering system is recommending) or letting the camera make exactly the same choice (but much faster) using aperture priority or shutter priority mode, whichever is appropriate.

Exactly.
And using A or S or even P gives a opportunity to become a FASTER photographer. But I think this isn't his only problem.

George