stupid question?

aztec

aztec

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Shaun
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:help:My stupid question of the day is this, with so many variables in getting yourself a great picture with the correct exposure and not taking composition into account has anyone seen a chart out their in the big wide world that would narrow things down somewhat ie a basic shooting guide for each type of photography so say PORTRAITS would be somthing like this :-

ISO 100 unless ligt drops
EXPOSURE MODE Aperture to help control DOF
DRIVE MODE continuous to caatch movement
METERING MODE Multi segment unless backlit then switch to spot metering
FOCUS POINTS Use single point and focus on eyes
AUTOFOCUS MODE Keep it on single shot so every frame is sharp

Etc etc so you have basics and then you could deviate to suit what you want to achieve. Just a thought:)
 
Just read my post Sorry for all speelling mistakes 2/10 will try harder next time blame it on the keeboard:)
 
Ever thought of doing your own. I've just got a book called understanding exposure and its great with the aid of this and a lot of testing you could make your own then send me a copy:lol::lol:
 
I thought I could pick your brains I am far to lazy, I mean busy to produce a chart of my own, and if I did it would probably be wrong
 
Forbiddenbiker said:
Photography doesn't work like a computer game, there’s no ideal combination, its all down to the light and effect wanted each time.
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:thumbs: Theres a comment in my book that states there are six combinations of aperture and shutter speed for a correct exposure. You have to make your mind up what you want.:shrug:
 
Maybe this is a good idea :shrug:

I know there isn't an ideal 'one size fits all' combination for, say, portraits but it could give beginners like me an idea of where to start.

Personally I feel like I cheat - I try auto first and see what the camera comes up with and then modify it from there depending on the result ;)

Foggy4ever - Could you give us the six combinations ? It would give us an idea of where to start from.
 
northernstar074 said:
Foggy4ever - Could you give us the six combinations ? It would give us an idea of where to start from.
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It depends on the exposure. Its basically states for a correct exposure say shutter 1/500 aperture f/4 you can change the aperture 1 stop up(f/5.6) and change the shutter speed 1 stop down(1/250) and you will still have the same exposure. The book is Understanding Exposures by Bryan Peterson you can find it cheapest at the Book depository @ £12 its a great read and is not too technical.

I'am still new to DSLR's and learning every day:thumbs:
 
Isn't this what the basic Scene Modes do, for Portrait, Landscape, Sport, Close-up and so on? Some cameras have about a hundred of them. All useless IMHO.

You need to learn what effect the different controls have, and then apply it to each individual subject. It really isn't that difficult, and once the penny drops, you'll be off and running. (That'll be in Sport mode then ;) )
 
Sounds way too complicated to me.

Learn what the aperture does, learn what the shutter speed does, go take photo. Photography's pretty easy really.

Metering is really personal preference. I never use anything other than spot, a lot of people swear by center-weighted as that's what they grew up with on old film bodies. Others understand matrix and like to work with that. If you understand your camera / lightmeter, it doesn't matter.

Focusing again, personal preference. Auto, manual, different modes of auto, doesn't matter provided you know how to use the mode you choose.

As for there being 6 combinations of aperture and shutter speed. Not sure what that's about, there's an infinite number of combinations depending on the equipment you're using.

Cheers,
Jamie.
 
Jayst84 said:
Sounds way too complicated to me.

Learn what the aperture does, learn what the shutter speed does, go take photo. Photography's pretty easy really.

Metering is really personal preference. I never use anything other than spot, a lot of people swear by center-weighted as that's what they grew up with on old film bodies. Others understand matrix and like to work with that. If you understand your camera / lightmeter, it doesn't matter.

Focusing again, personal preference. Auto, manual, different modes of auto, doesn't matter provided you know how to use the mode you choose.

As for there being 6 combinations of aperture and shutter speed. Not sure what that's about, there's an infinite number of combinations depending on the equipment you're using.

Cheers,
Jamie.
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ditto, well said :D
 
Jayst84 said:
As for there being 6 combinations of aperture and shutter speed. Not sure what that's about, there's an infinite number of combinations depending on the equipment you're using.
Click to expand...

I think the idea is that there are about 6 combinations of aperture and shutter speed that equal the same metered reading, ie it could be F2 for 1/500, F2.8 for 1/250, F4 for 1/125, F5.6 for 1/64, F8 for 1/30 and F11 for 1/15 for example.

so that's six settings that result in the same "exposure", but with wildly different effects. however, that just assumes you want to follow the meter, and don't want to under or over expose, etcetc

dave
 
The only stupid question is the one you don't ask!


For me on my D300:

Aperture priority to control DOF / Shutter Priority to freeze/blur motion
Matrix metering, unless there's a need for spot (high contrast lighting in the frame)
Autofocus on AF-C
Single point focus
Auto-ISO (200-1600)

I start from there, and adjust as required. The more you do it, the better your decisions will be, but I don't think there's a chart exists that covers every possibility:)

Practice, practice, practice!
 
Jayst84 said:
As for there being 6 combinations of aperture and shutter speed. Not sure what that's about, there's an infinite number of combinations depending on the equipment you're using.

Cheers,
Jamie.
Click to expand...


I did say it was a quote from a book and you need to read the whole chapter for it to make more sense. if you research it you will find it is highly recommended.

Infinite number is a bit of an exaggeration though:cuckoo:
 
fyonn said:
I think the idea is that there are about 6 combinations of aperture and shutter speed that equal the same metered reading, ie it could be F2 for 1/500, F2.8 for 1/250, F4 for 1/125, F5.6 for 1/64, F8 for 1/30 and F11 for 1/15 for example.

so that's six settings that result in the same "exposure", but with wildly different effects. however, that just assumes you want to follow the meter, and don't want to under or over expose, etcetc

dave
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But then there's also; f16 @ 1/8, f22 @ 1/4 and so on. :) Not that it matters really.

foggy4ever said:
...Infinite number is a bit of an exaggeration though:cuckoo:
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Not really. As I said, it depends on the equipment you're using, have a search for that one month pinhole photograph. Not sure what his aperture was, but one month is a pretty long shutter. I could have gone out and taken a correctly exposed shot of the scene with a shutter of 1/16000 as well.

Anyway, I'm sure everyone gets the relationship between the settings, which is what your first post was about.
 
fyonn said:
I think the idea is that there are about 6 combinations of aperture and shutter speed that equal the same metered reading, ie it could be F2 for 1/500, F2.8 for 1/250, F4 for 1/125, F5.6 for 1/64, F8 for 1/30 and F11 for 1/15 for example.

so that's six settings that result in the same "exposure", but with wildly different effects. however, that just assumes you want to follow the meter, and don't want to under or over expose, etcetc

dave
Click to expand...

That's only considering full stop change in aperture too - you can easily multiply that by 3 with any moder SLR, and extend f11 up to f22 for a lot of lenses
 
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