Conundrum... Auto Modes Or Manual Settings?

[tdierikx]

As most of you already know, I am a lazy bugger and shoot predominantly in the Sports preset mode... and JPG only as well, as I'm not a fan of editing either...

Using this method, I'm having pretty decent success with capturing what I want, when I want - the most important thing for me is to be able to capture any action in a series of shots - for example, a tiger jumping up a pole to grab and tear down his lunch - or 2 tigers deciding to have a spat or play zoomies - things that happen quickly and out of the blue usually.

Obviously, as I'm getting to know most of the subjects that I'm regularly shooting, I can generally see a twitch of the ear or a glance from their eye which alerts me to the fact that something interesting is going to happen any second, and I'm more than often ready for it.

Lighting can be fickle when shooting in a zoo environment, and the animals aren't always going to be totally cooperative with their placement or how long they will be in one spot... funny that... *grin*

How many times I've seen other people fluffing about with their camera settings to try to get a single "decent" photo of something I've just shot 30 frames of doing something cool like yawning - only to find that they've actually missed the shot/opportunity simply astounds me. These are also the same type of people who seem to have the incessant need to have a look at each single photo they take on their back screen immediately after taking said shot... which I can understand if you are trying new things out, but can also be completely annoying when I'm standing behind them trying to shoot over their shoulder and they keep turning about and getting their body parts into MY photos... grr!

My throwaway rate is sitting at around 10%, and still dropping slowly.

So... if I were to attempt to dabble in manual modes, are there any idiot guides as to how I would go about learning that? I've read a few guides on the net, and I'm just getting totally confused, and really can't see any way to get what I want any better than shooting in my tried and tested (and much loved) Sports preset mode.

I shoot with a Canon 60D and use a Canon 100-400mm L lens pretty much all the time - occasionally swapping for the Tamron 18-270mm lens if the subjects are too close for the 100-400 (like in the Taronga Reptile exhibit).

T.

[persephone]

if it ain't broke, don't fix it !! ;)

I like manual for landscapes/photos in which things stay reasonably still..and some macro stuff

you may find useful stuff HERE and HERE :)

manual means controlling teh ISO settings , amount of light, and teh speed at which the camera catches that image , plus the depth of field. It can be a bit mathematical for me .... I LOVE manual focus though .

Edited May 30, 2014 by persephone

[RallyValley]

To be honest I like choosing the depth of field in my shots, as well as shutter speed and ISO. If I want my subject to be in focus and a nice bokeh background I need to know how to use AV or M modes. Sometimes what the camera thinks is the correct exposure is actually overblown or underexposed for your subject, I like knowing how to take a shot that shows the exposure as I want it.

There is no reason for you to change if you are happy your photos now.

[persephone]

There is no reason for you to change if you are happy your photos now.

zackly :D

[tdierikx]

Thanks for the links perse! Still confuses the hell out of me though... lol!

I suppose my preferred style of photography and my subject matter lends itself to using the Sports preset - and it seems to be doing a pretty effective job 90% of the time... *grin*

I'd still like to understand the theory behind manual settings, but am kinda leery that breaking down my photography into the technicalities of taking a shot could interfere with my "creative" process... if you get what I'm trying to say?

People, when finding out that I use a preset to take my photos, seem to also automatically think that if they get the same gear as me, that they will also take photos just as nice... but funnily enough there is actually more to taking a nice photo than what gear you use, yes? Thousands of dollars worth of equipment will still give you a crap photo if you don't at least have some sort of an eye for composition, right? And formulation of composition whilst aiming at a moving target does take some skill too methinks.

Then again, I look at some other people's photos who use manual modes and shoot in RAW, and think "WOW!" Surely a lot of extra time goes into post production to produce such shots, yes? And I'm the laziest bugger when it comes to post production - the most creative I get is to bump the contrast a bit if I've got some glare going on from shooting through glass... lol! I don't crop either.

T.

[persephone]

Your photos look good - you have successfully printed them - you like what you see a lot of the time - it works!

For sure have a play with manual ... it is interesting ...you may find it very useful to at least know where the controls are ,and what they do ..and for some subjects ..do a shot in both modes and compare :) No need to feel you HAVE to use manual ..but for me ,if it works ..IF... there is a strong sense of satisfaction ;)

[tdierikx]

That link is better perse... thanks!

I may tinker with some manual shooting at some point...

T.

[Little Gifts]

I bought my Lumix because I was on holiday with someone who had one and their pictures were just amazing! But in my useless hands I'm lucky if I get one out of ten photos that look 'ok'! Strangely I studied photography in high school (manual camera) and have also studied digital video and done quite a few productions so I do know the theory about lighting and quadrant positioning and all that but that doesn't mean I'm any good at it! I've read my Lumix manual back to front several times and made it my mission on holidays and at special events to try different settings to decide what works best but everything I take is still poo. I'm pretty sure my camera must be broken!

[raineth]

Maybe just have a play around with it T. Not necessarily at the zoo at first. Maybe just your own dogs in your house and backyard, so you can be more casual and not feel like you're wasting some good opportunities.

But otherwise if your photos are working for you on sports mode, then don't feel like you should switch just because others use manual or priority modes :)

That's my thoughts but I'm a pretty poor photographer.

[trifecta]

I look at some other people's photos who use manual modes and shoot in RAW, and think "WOW!" Surely a lot of extra time goes into post production to produce such shots, yes?

No!

With experience (& I am certainly not there yet ) you can tell the camera what you want, so that when the RAW file is processed you may not need to do any tweaking at all. This was the most interesting thing I learned from the Peter Coulson workshop, & shooting in monochrome (the raw files are still colour) you can see instantly which bits have blown out.

I have only just started shooting in manual, & confess I fall back on aperture priority or shutter priority if I don't have the time to compose the shot. However, on occasions I have surprised myself :laugh: my manual shots have needed little or no post production & look better than a back up shot I may have taken in P mode!

[CrazyCresties]

I use a 7D, so no sports, portrait etc. modes available anyway. I always used AV or TV mode but switched to manual a couple of years ago so I could get better control of my exposure. I think it depends on what drives you when you are taking photos, personally I am always trying to improve my technique to enable me to get the best shot I can. Sometimes I'm successful, the Carnaby shots I got recently I was pleased with, the exposure was good and they needed little editing. Other times like the lure coursing shots, I'm not overly happy with, but it means next time I'll try some different settings and learn more about the art of exposure. If I was using sports mode and they sucked, there is nothing to change to try to improve as I'm not in control anyway.

tdierikx, did you see the photography course coming up at Taronga zoo that I posted recently? Maybe go along to something like that and see if it is for you or not. There's no rule that says you have to shot manual, but my personal view is that why have that level of equipment if you don't make the use of it? It's like having a full blown Alienware pc just to read DOL. A decent point and shoot would also do the job.

Edited May 31, 2014 by CrazyCresties

[tikira]

As others have said, if it is working for you, then great. You have a camerera capable of taking great pictures in a mode that gives you results, so....

However,I would suggest think about getting the "money Shots" ( the ones you need to) in your preferred mode first, then do some fiddling, some practice work in Raw, and then check the difference in the results at home. You have lost nothing but a little time, and the more practice in Raw you have, the more you will understand. Then you can decide which you really prefer.

Have fun though, photography is not supposed to be stressful!

Di

[dotdashdot]

I like shooting in auto, I hardly have any idea of the manual settings and have trouble getting my brain around it (yet I can learn a million new things about dogs) but my husband studied that stuff hard and prefers manual, and makes me shoot in RAW most of the time as well and he honestly does get awesome shots.

I can too, but he seems to get them more often and he knows immediately what settings to use. I would say this comes from my early photography days in a marine park where we used auto and sports settings all the time as it was all that was needed for high volume photos in a short time period.

The only thing about RAW that bugs me is that I can't print my photos off straight off the card at say Big W photolab and I have to process them in PS before I can open them on my computer.

[CrazyCresties]

the most important thing for me is to be able to capture any action in a series of shots

Also with regards to the above, once you know how to use your camera you can judge the light, environment and use your meter reading to have your camera set up to capture the correct shot, as any pro wildlife/sports/ action photographer will tell you :) Also cropping is not a dirty word, cropping can help make the best of the composition.

[persephone]

..no one has to shoot in manual, or R A W - same as no one has to cook tart tatine ;)

It IS better quality ..and , done well, is fantastic - and we can live very happily without .( but to taste it occasionally, and get to know it is a good experience ;) )

[persephone]

once you know how to use your camera you can judge the light, environment and use your meter reading to have your camera set up to capture the correct shot, as any pro wildlife/sports/ action photographer will tell you

Hmmm ... and this is why I am no photographer ;) All that stuff is difficult for me to balance . I have great admiration for those who can shoot straight and on target , despite life happening all round :)

[CrazyCresties]

Oh yes you are pers, you always capture a lovely light and have the most interesting photos that tell a story :)

Edited May 31, 2014 by CrazyCresties

[huga]

Everyone already knows my thoughts on this subject. Recently I just started shooting my shelter animals in jpeg (because of the stupid file sizes on my new camera). They take me longer to edit, the wb is never quite right (especially in black or white animals) and for some reason, they need heaps more contrast. It's frustrating and I really don't like it. As a wedding photographer, I don't want to spend forever editing each image individually, especially when I have 500 to get through.

Obviously I shoot manual and always have. It doesn't slow me down at all - I set the iso and only change the aperture and shutter speed as needed. Often i shoot with quite a shallow DOF and will stop down in the next few frames because I'm shooting more than one person etc and they're positioned in different focal planes. I wouldn't ever trust the camera enough to shoot exactly how I wanted, just like how I'd never let it choose which focus point to use, that's the best part of owning good gear - using it to your advantage because you can.

I'm always trying to improve. Always. Using an auto setting kind of puts a ceiling on that. But again, if it suits you - there's no reason to change.

Edited May 31, 2014 by huga

[Guest Clover]

I don't see the point in having a DSLR and only shooting on auto/ sports modes. It just seems a waste to me.

[tdierikx]

Seriously, I think my learning curve has plateaued somewhat when it comes to understanding some technical stuff... which is a scary thought when you realise that I actually work in IT... err!

I start reading some of the online stuff about aperture, depth of field, ISO, white balance, etc... and my head just wants to explode. None of it seems to want to sink in at all - no matter how many times I read it, how many notes I take trying to convert it all into language I can understand... *sigh*

I just wanna point the expensive bit of kit at something interesting and take an awesome photo of it. Why is it so hard to learn this manual settings stuff so that I can do that?

I know that my current method certainly is giving me some pretty nice results, that also don't look completely out of place when posted/displayed alongside some professional pieces... but I'm also thinking that if I knew ALL the tricks, I could possibly get even better photos... if I don't smash the camera having a tanty while trying to learn this bloody manual stuff!

Camera courses and the like are well out of my price bracket unfortunately... some weeks, I'll spend my last few dollars just getting to and from the Zoo, rather than on food for myself... scary, huh?

T.